Thread: Judge allows 10 women in Iowa raid to go home

Judge allows 10 women in Iowa raid to go home

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Ten women detained in an immigration raid at a northeast Iowa meatpacking plant have been allowed to return to their homelands.

A federal immigration judge in Chicago granted requests from the women in a move that was opposed by federal immigration officials.

"It's essentially a legal slap on the wrist," Tim Counts, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Thursday. "We believe if somebody has violated federal immigration laws, there should be consequences for it."

The women have been in legal limbo since the May 12 raid, the biggest such action at a single site in U.S. history. They were among 389 Agriprocessors workers accused of entering the country illegally.

Counts said the U.S. attorney's office prosecuted 305 people on criminal charges. The others, including the 10 women, were not criminally charged but faced immigration violations. Federal agents allowed a number of women to avoid initial prosecution because they were caring for children. They were ordered to wear electronic monitoring devices on their ankles.

Counts said Judge James Fujimoto of Chicago last week granted the women's requests for voluntary departure to return to Guatemala and Mexico.

Counts said he did not know the reasons behind the judge's decision.

"In this situation, we said we opposed it. We believe that since most of the other people arrested had been ordered deported that everyone should have the same consequence," Counts said.

Counts said 20 to 25 people arrested in Postville are still wearing electronic monitoring devices while awaiting a hearing before a federal immigration judge. He said 30 others have been deported, and the rest are serving prison sentences for criminal convictions.

Sonia Parras Konrad, an immigration attorney in Des Moines, who represents some of the women, told The Des Moines Register that some have left the country since the judge's order. She said others did not ask for voluntary departure because they are seeking special visas to stay in the U.S.

A message for Parras Konrad by The Associated Press on Thursday was not immediately returned.

The federal immigration court, formally the Executive Office for Immigration Review, is under the U.S. Department of Justice.

Court spokeswoman Elaine Komis said Thursday that under voluntary departure a person can voluntary leave the country within a specific period and is not subject to penalties against returning to the U.S. legally.

If a person is removed, or deported, and wants to return to the U.S., there are certain restrictions limiting their ability to enter the country. Komis said in some cases, people can be permanently barred from returning.

"That's the benefit of obtaining a ruling of voluntary departure rather than removal," she said.

The Rev. Lloyd Paul Ouderkirk of St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church in Postville, said two of the women have returned to their home countries. He said officials at the church, which helped the women with housing and food, were told by lawyers not to name the immigrants.

Ouderkirk said he wished the women could have remained.

"It's a sad feeling, even if it's progress for these women," he said. "We've supported them and gotten to know them. They're going home, but it's our loss, too."

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Related thread:
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-127926-james.html+fujimoto

Court spokeswoman Elaine Komis said Thursday that under voluntary departure a person can voluntary leave the country within a specific period and is not subject to penalties against returning to the U.S. legally




This is where that judge was wrong, wrong, WRONG

These arrogant bit......emmmm, witches.......openly displayed their sense of entitlement and complete lack of regard for the laws of this country very publicly and on numerous occassions as they were not shy about informing the media that they have no intention of getting out or staying out of the US illegally.

If EVER there was a need to allow ICE to obtain deportation orders against illegals who could then be forcibly removed and criminally prosecuted to the fullest extent if they dared set foot in this country again, this was it.

And the judge screwed up.

There is, however, a bright side that I see in this.

ICE displays an uncanny ability to go with the flow while, in reality, they are allowing IAs and their advocates to dig themselves into a deeper hole.

They responded to criticism and demands for more "humanatarian" treatment of women with children and this is what they inevitably got into return.......as I'm sure ICE fully expected WOULD eventually happen.

LOL....I suspect that, thanks to these women and this judge, IA women arrested in future operations, and the IA advocates, should not be surprised when they are shown far less compassion and leniency in terms of being detained, criminally prosecuted, and imprisoned.




The Rev. Lloyd Paul Ouderkirk of St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church in Postville, said two of the women have returned to their home countries. He said officials at the church, which helped the women with housing and food, were told by lawyers not to name the immigrants.


Why not?

There was certainly no problem with revealing names and identities of these women when it came to their dramatics for the media. Why are lawyers interested in being so secretive now?

To any reasonable person it might appear that the intent is to aid and abet the women who have not left and do not plan to leave. After all, if LE doesn't know who has left, they will not know who to be looking for here.

How they plan to get away with it, on the other hand, is anyone's guess. Somehow, knowing what they do, I can't imagine ICE not knowing precisely where these women can be picked up after they fail to leave and are running around once again using stolen personal information.