Thread: ICE raid on Swift plant demonstrates choices and consequence

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2006 ... /112170098

ICE raid on Swift plant demonstrates choices and consequences


Guest Commentary by Ken Buck
December 17, 2006

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Choices. We make them every day, and every choice carries with it a consequence. Last Tuesday, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office conducted operations at Swift & Co. in Greeley, and the nation watched the domino effect of choice and consequence as it relates to the issue of illegal immigration.

For decades, our federal government has had the choice to either address the issue of illegal immigration or to ignore it. Historically, Congress has chosen to ignore it. Members of Congress may refer to the tougher sanctions they've enacted; however, the fact remains that Congress has chosen to not allocate the resources needed to expedite the processing of legal applications or to effectively enforce existing immigration laws. The length of time people must wait before receiving permission to enter this country is discouraging. So, millions bypass the legal system altogether, knowing we are lax when it comes to enforcing immigration laws. This is the consequence of Congress' choice.

For decades, employers have had the choice to either lobby Congress for a more practical guest-worker program or to settle for the illegal laborers who apply for their jobs. Routinely, employers have chosen to not encourage change of the existing labor process but instead to look the other way when it comes to verifying that those they employ actually have the legal right to work here. The result is a steady flow of illegal immigrants into our workforce. This is the consequence of the employer's choice.

The people detained in the ICE operation chose to come into this country illegally. They chose to commit a crime knowing the consequence was arrest and deportation. Some people detained in the ICE operation chose to purchase false personal identifying information in order to get a job, buy a house or set up accounts. They chose to commit a crime knowing the consequence was possible arrest and jail. Some people detained in the ICE operation chose to enter the country illegally and start a family. Having children is certainly not a crime, but when a child is born to parents -- one or both of whom are in this country illegally -- the parents subject their children to the consequences of their choices. They run the risk of having their families separated through jail or deportation.

Some people have asked if the ICE operation had to do more with illegal immigration or with identity theft. My answer -- it had to do with both. It is the federal government's responsibility to deal illegal immigration. It is my responsibility to deal with criminals who commit crimes in Weld County. What happened on Tuesday was enforcement of those responsibilities.

The 25 arrest warrants filed in the Weld County courts were for criminals -- people who committed crimes against American citizens, and they committed those crimes here in Weld County. There are real victims at the other end of those warrants. Some are people whose credit is damaged as a result of someone illegally using their personal information. Some are people who have been contacted by the IRS regarding collection of unpaid taxes for wages earned -- wages earned by someone falsely claiming to be them.

These victims did not have a choice when it came to the theft of their information, yet they will feel the consequence of that crime for years. The children of the illegal immigrants did not have a choice when it came to their family situation, yet they will feel the consequence of their parents' choice daily.

As a community, we have our own choice to make. We can choose to let this incident fade into the background or we can choose to encourage enforcement of our laws. In the past, our city chose to ignore serious problems as they were brewing: meth, gangs, illegal immigration. We have recently seen consequences from that choice: large-scale drug operations within the county; numerous gang-related homicides; shoot-outs with our law enforcement officers.

The time has come to re-evaluate the choices we have made regarding our community. I believe Congress, employers, immigrants and our community must choose to dedicate the resources needed to confront these problems -- all of these problems. If we don't, the consequences will become increasingly severe.

Ken Buck is the Weld district attorney.

Kenneth R Buck
915 Tenth Street
P.O. Box 1167
Greeley, CO 80632
Phone: 970-356-4010
ext. 4750
Fax: 970-352-8023
kbuck@co.weld.co.us

http://www.co.weld.co.us/departments/da/index.html

I agree with everything Ken Buck said. But the fact is what we have been seeing is nothing more than window dressing. We that post here all know we get about 4000 illegals crossing the border every day. Although it does raise your spirits a bit to see these types of raids we also know usually most of these illegals will be fingerprinted and released. I would support a huge crack down on illegals. Complete with bounty hunters, tip hotlines and everything else that would come in handy or help. But it's discouraging at times because the way things stand right now we probably have a much better chance of seeing an amnesty passed than acutal comprehensive interior enforcement.

I'm glad I finally found this website though. I was beginning to think I was one of the only ones around that really opposed these illegal invaders.