Thread: Chattanooga Agencies Ask for Help to Fight Affects of Pilgri

Chattanooga Agencies Ask for Help to Fight Affects of Pilgrim's Pride Immigration Raid

Submitted by Reneé LaSalle on June 2, 2008 - 6:57pm

The fallout from April's Immigration Raid continues in Chattanooga's immigrant community.

Local Social Service Agencies, already stretched to the max, have combined forces to help those affected.

Still, the need is great...

April 16th in Chattanooga hundreds of lives were disrupted in an immigration raid at Pilgrim's Pride Poultry Plant.

More than 100 accused illegal immigrants were arrested, leaving families without an income and children without caregivers.

Local social service agencies stepped in for assistance.

Rev. Mike Feely, Executive Director of the St. Andrew's Center says, "The reality is, like a lot of other situations, whether it's a flood or something else, two months later people are still in need."

Several of those agencies now make up the Hispanic Displacement Relief Coalition, including leaders from La Paz de Dios; the Holston Methodist Federal Credit Union; the St. Andrew's Center; Episcopal Metropolitan Ministry; Hamilton County Baptist Association; the Salvation Army; the Chattanooga Catholic Deanery Hispanic Ministry; the Partnership for Families, Children, and Adults; and Catholic Charities.

Kimberly George, Director of Marketing and Development for the Chattanooga Salvation Army says, "We've just kinda come together for better communication, so that we don't duplicate services and so that we can assist one another and we can stretch the funds further."

HDRC agencies provided more than $30,000 emergency assistance after that immigration raid.

Continued immigration activity adds to the problem.

Feely says, "Its not just these families, but these families all have brothers and sisters and other family groups with them. So the ripple affect it's a huge affect on the whole community."

Court hearings for those arrested are not expected until July or August.

Advocates say many have been released, but are not allowed to work.

That leaves household with little to no income, and a problem that isn't going away soon.

George says, "Gas prices are going up, food is going up and so we know that people's income is being stretched a little bit more."

Agencies in the HDRC ask the public to reach a little further to help cover the cost.

After huge initial support, they say donations have continued...but more help is still needed.

Feely says, "We've not found an exhaustion of people being interested in what's going on. But, and I think it's typical of our society, there's always the next story."

The HDRC agencies plan a town hall meeting to address concerns and look for solutions.

They say their mission is not political, but purely humanitarian.

Financial contributions may be made to La Paz de Dios or to Episcopal Metropolitan Ministry.

Link

LOL........they ARE kidding, right?



More than 100 accused illegal immigrants were arrested, leaving families without an income

And those more than 100 illegal immigrants had left more than 100 American workers without the jobs they stole.

Apparently the churches have forgotten that one reaps what one sows.



Kimberly George, Director of Marketing and Development for the Chattanooga Salvation Army says, "We've just kinda come together for better communication, so that we don't duplicate services and so that we can assist one another and we can stretch the funds further."


Translated: The different agencies have had to network because they had the illegals going from one place to the next collecting money, food, and other items hand over fist until they bled these places dry.

The churches and other social service agencies in this area eventually had to resort to the same "better communication" system too awhile back after they found themselves being robbed blind and taken advantage of by IAs running the same scam.



Continued immigration activity adds to the problem.

Feely says, "Its not just these families, but these families all have brothers and sisters and other family groups with them. So the ripple affect it's a huge affect on the whole community."

He is not only saying that extended family, not directly effected by the raid, are living off the hand outs, but that the IAs effected have more family members continuing to come in illegally and are living off the charitable funds as well. Does the gall ever end?


Court hearings for those arrested are not expected until July or August.

That leaves household with little to no income, and a problem that isn't going away soon.

Oh I don't know about that. The government is processing them out of here pretty quickly these days and July or August isn't that far off. I'd say that most, if not all, will be leaving quite soon.


b]Advocates say many have been released, but are not allowed to work[/b].


Such an assinine statement does not deserve to be dignified with a response

Catholic Charities turns away americans in need but has funds (I believe governmental) to spend on illegal aliens. It's disgraceful.

I've been saying this over and over... Let those wacky Liberals help all the illegal aliens they want, as long as we are not paying for it. Illegal aliens are not the financial responsiblity of the taxpayers so help them with private funds.

Thing is, if they aren't sucking your pockets dry they can not afford to help them. That's exactly why they are putting all this pressure on our government to fund their Liberal Illegal Hugging agenda. Foreign Nationals are not my problem.

Dixie

We've got no more to give, send them home and let their government take care of them!

Feely says, "Its not just these families, but these families all have brothers and sisters and other family groups with them. So the ripple affect it's a huge affect on the whole community."

In other words, there is a huge problem with illegal chain migration in this community. One illegal invader gets a job and every relative he has ever had makes a run for the border to join him.

Also, notice how none of these squatters chose to go back to where they came from. Rather, they remain here and as azwreath has so aptly pointed out, "because the illegals going from one place to the next collecting money, food, and other items hand over fist until they bled these places dry. "

Looks as if ICE has some more work to do...