Thread: OP:Only Congress, not raids, can fix immigration mess

Only Congress, not raids, can fix immigration mess
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By Mary Sanchez
Kansas City (Mo.) Star
May 23, 2008 6:00 AM

The federal government has been hard at work in Iowa lately.

In May, federal officials quietly leased a huge cattle complex in Waterloo, Iowa. Soon residents were speculating about what might be coming to the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds. A simulation exercise for federal officials to practice responding to an incident of mass terrorism? Soon it was learned that the acreage was to be used as a giant holding facility. The stock would be human. On May 12, federal agents raided the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in the tiny nearby town of Postville, hauling in 390 immigrant workers, the majority from Guatemala. Most were accused of working illegally in the U.S.

Postville, federal officials boasted, is the largest immigration raid in history - so far.

Clearly, such operations, as the raids are known in fedspeak, have increased astronomically. Federal workplace arrests of immigrants have increased tenfold in five years.

For the "deport 'em all" crowd, this is no doubt cause for joyous applause.

For those prone to deeper thinking, an obvious question presents itself: Are the raids really affecting the problem of illegal immigration? Clues to the answer can be found in towns such as Greeley, Colo. A plant there owned by Swift Co. was part of a six-state operation against that firm that netted nearly 1,300 immigrants in December 2006. As a result of the raid, Swift claims, the Greeley plant lost $30 million worth of productivity. The plant was sold to a Brazilian firm and is still in operation but reportedly has had trouble filling shifts. People in Greeley say many of the illegal immigrants simply have returned or been replaced by newer, also illegal workers. Others report that the raid created an anti-Latino mood, causing some legally resident Latinos to leave town lest they be targeted too. And there is a new influx to Greeley: hundreds of Somali refugees, who are allowed to live and work legally in the U.S. The same situation is playing out in Grand Island, Neb., also the scene of a 2006 Swift raid. Hundreds of Somalis, many from Minnesota, are arriving to take the jobs once held by the Latino immigrants. But officials there also do not believe the illegal or legal Latino population has changed much.

Some argue that undocumented Latinos are taking jobs that could be filled by native-born workers. In the case of slaughterhouses - where wages start at $12 and hour - this seems not to be true. If it were, why are they now being filled by Somalis who have crossed the world and then the nation to resettle in midsize U.S. cities? Somalis and other refugees are hardly the answer to this nation's low-wage labor needs, however one may feel about their appearance in Greeley and Grand Island. Those needs can be solved only by Congress - which, by failing to alter immigration laws so Latino immigrant workers could arrive and be hired legally, laid the path for these federal raids.

The real quarry of these raids, to hear federal officials tell it, are the employers who hire undocumented immigrants. And a few have been ensnared. But cases against them are far more difficult to build and prosecute. According to immigration officials, "Developing sufficient evidence against employers requires complex, white-collar crime investigations that can take years to bear fruit." Meanwhile, the ones who suffer - in addition to the poor immigrants and their families - are the communities. Postville school Superintendent David Strudthoff perhaps summed up best. "We had 10 percent of our entire community arrested in 12 hours," he told the Des Moines Register.

"We're into new territory here in Postville that's never been seen before. It's just like having a tornado that wiped out an entire part of town." And the town's mayor noted that if Agriprocessors closes, "it'll be a ghost town here." This is the best the government can do? The very officials who argued to Congress about how "broken" the immigration system was, with the hope of reform, now are enforcing the very laws they once criticized.

Addressing true labor needs? Solving illegal immigration? That will be for another day. The feds have leased the Iowa cattle fairgrounds until Sunday. After that, the place likely will be turned back over to its normal inhabitants, cattle. And it will be off to the next "operation."

Contact Kansas City (Mo.) Star columnist Mary Sanchez at msanchez@kcstar.com.

http://tinyurl.com/3ureew

For the "deport 'em all" crowd, this is no doubt cause for joyous applause.
For those prone to deeper thinking

For those prone to deeper thinking???

Our side is the one advocating enforcement through attrition. You know, the one option everyone else (including the author) fails to mention. Those "prone to deeper thinking" have found this to be the most practical option.

When was the last time Congress FIXED ANYTHING? (except election results)

Nope, not buying it. The 1986 amnesty promised to be the last one and the laws would be enforced. 1996 more laws were added. None of these were enforced til now. Why? Because we the people rose up and said HELL NO to another amnesty.

We already have the laws on the books, let's ENFORCE them. The ONLY immigration problem we need to fix now is streamlining the process and reducing the backlog for LEGAL immigrants who have been waiting YEARS in line, to come in.

Only Congress, not raids, can fix immigration mess

Ms Sanchez, that would be called Amnesty! Wouldn't you just love that if 30 to 40 million illegal's got that. Be serious . . .

Originally Posted by Texan123

When was the last time Congress FIXED ANYTHING? (except election results)

Good One!!
I'm still laughing!
Can I steal that line? LOL

This is a duplicate post:
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-116179-mary.html+sanchez
However will leave open since more comments are left here than the original.
Please use our search engine before posting.
Thank you.

I just sent Ms. Sanchez this e-mail regarding her article. I hope you all like it

Dear Ms. Sanchez,
I'm writing in regards to your article, "Only Congress, not raids, can fix
immigration mess". Within it you wrote:

"For the "deport 'em all" crowd, this is no doubt cause for joyous applause. For those prone to deeper thinking..."

While I agree that using tax dollars to find and deport illegal immigrants
is fiscally unwise, I find it troubling that you would label that entire
group advocating enforcement as lesser than deep thinkers. Is it any
deeper or wiser to turn a blind eye and let the onslaught of 3rd world
mass migration continue, uncontrolled? It appears your definition of deep
applies more to those who can bury their heads in the sand the deepest,
rather than those simply looking to have their laws enforced.

Our elected officials, immigration advocacy groups, and even you
continually and conspicuously fail to mention the most effective and
proven way to solve illegal immigration, which is attrition through
enforcement. Although it's different from the "deport 'em all"
philosophy, it at least recognizes the role law enforcement plays in the
satisfactory ending to any prescribed scenario.

Instead, you chose to use the "straw man" argument of "let them stay" or
"deport them all" rather than look at enforcing our laws, the lack of
which not-so-ironically caused this situation. It appears you and your
deep thinking crowd have brilliantly succeeded in avoiding the most
practical solution we not-so-deep thinkers have known about for a long
time.

In closing, I thank you for your article, as it provoked thought and
continued debate on the subject matter. I might only suggest that you
leave the subtle argumentum ad hominem references where they belong, on the cutting room floor.

Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXX
Evanston, IL

It appears your definition of deep
applies more to those who can bury their heads in the sand the deepest,
rather than those simply looking to have their laws enforced.

This part was my favorite! Your letter was very articulate...good job.

Excellent letter Squire!