Thread: Immigration Raids in Worthington, MN AGAIN!!!!

Worthington, Minneapolis, and St. Paul are all Minnesota sanctuary cities.

Worthington had many gangs. It's about 61 miles from Cottonwood where the bus tragedy took place.


02/27/2008
Worthington Feeling Same Effect As Last Raid
Many in Worthington's Hispanic community are turning to the same places for comfort as they did during the Swift raid in December 2006.

And Wednesday one woman's phone started ringing off the hook when ICE agents showed up in town again Wednesday morning.

Many families were torn apart when ICE agents showed up in Worthington at the Swift meat-packing plant. While details are still coming out about Wednesday's operation, Sister Karen Thein at Saint Mary's church says these raids impact the entire community.

When Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided the Swift meat-packing plant in Worthington just more than a year ago, it caused many in the Hispanic community to lock themselves in their homes and away from the community.

Sister Karen Thein says, "And all the questions and dis-trust that we had experienced a year and a half ago on December 12th."

Wednesday, those same questions and that same dis-trust were brought up again Saint Mary's church in Worthington, when ICE officials showed up in town.

Thein says, "It's fear again. Where people say what should we do? Where should we go? What can we do? Is it true?."

Sister Karen Thein quickly learned it was true. She started hearing from some of the same people who she helped following the last raid .

Thein says, "So when they call us here at the church they need to be in connection with someone, someone they can trust, so I think that's why they call to let us know that they are there that they are suffering and that they are afraid."

Afraid of what happened a year ago and what is happening again to the friends and relatives impacted by this latest round of raids.

Thein says, "The whole community feels this because the Latino population is part of this community and so when one is hurt the whole community is hurt."

Thein doesn't know yet how many families were impacted by Wednesday's ICE operation. But she heard from one person who knows of a family with a sick child, whose mother was taken away.

http://www.keloland.com/news/NewsDetail ... Id=0,66902

Boo - hoo

Businesses Struggling With ICE Raid

Immigration and Customs enforcement agents still aren't releasing many details about the latest raid carried out in Worthington.

Businesses owners in town say they don't need to know the details to see the impact the raid is having on their businesses. We visited Worthington today where residents say many of the town's businesses are already struggling, and the latest raid is making things even worse.


http://www.keloland.com/news/NewsDetail ... Id=0,66923

Now we're getting the SOB stories:

By Kent Erdahl

Story Updated: Feb 27, 2008 at 10:55 PM CST

Immigrations and customs officials were in Worthington, Minnesota Wednesday.

Arresting people believed to be illegal immigrants.

They say they could be making arrests through the end of the week.

And for now, they are not saying much.

We do know several families have already been affected.

Many of them came here to the old West Elementary School tonight in search of answers.

An immigration lawyer from Minneapolis was in Worthington by 7:00 tonight to meet with people like Emilio Argueta. "They took 2 girls. my girlfriend and my sister in law."

Emilio has been in the US since 1998 and has a work permit, but his girlfriend and the mother of this 14-month-old daughter is undocumented and 6:40 this morning officials came to this home and took her away.

It was one of many targeted arrests ICE officials made in unmarked cars at homes throughout town. Ana Ordaz saw it happened to her neighbors. "My husband called and said that it was ice. That those cars were ice. And that they had taken like 4 people out of a house a couple houses down from where I live."

Though not many people know much of anything about the current ICE activity. This Mexican restaurant is virutually empty and it's far from the only business affected. Ordaz also tells KSFY; "My dad owns a store downtown on 10th street and he said that it's been very slow. Not like usual, no customers at all."

In addition to lost customers, several businesses have lost employees.

Emilio said he lost work at Highland Manufacturing and he doesn't know when he'll be able to go back. "I don't know who is going to take care of my daughter now because I have nobody to take her."

Tonight, Emilio's biggest concern was finding out where his girlfriends was taken.... because she happens to be 6 months pregnant.

And so far he is still looking.

http://www.ksfy.com/news/local/16061617.html

Worthington Businesses Concerned Following Raids

It's a quiet day in downtown Worthington - too quiet for business owners. They say sales have dropped noticeably since word of another immigration raid swept through town.

Kerry Cuate of Panaderia Mi Tierra Bakery says, "I think there's a lot of people that don't want to come out of their houses, and not necessarily people who are undocumented but even others because the don't want to be bothered."

And for businesses, that raises some major concerns. Kerry Cuate of Panaderia Mi Tierra Bakery says Latinos make up the majority of her customers.

Cuate says, "That's a big concern. And it affects everybody because both populations like out product, but you need both populations to sustain the community, I think."

And while the workers at this bakery know the law is the law, they'd rather see some form of reform, instead of these raids every year and a half.

"People don't realize how difficult it is for people to get papers,â€

And another evening update

02/28/2008
Immigration Operation Impacts Everybody

When Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up in Worthington Wednesday, it wasn't emotional for only the Hispanic community, because when one of these raids happens the impact isn't limited to the illegal immigrants.

Maria Parga has lived legally in Worthington for 15 years and works hard to make a better life for her family.

Worthington store owner Maria Parga says, "When I was in Mexico my situation was hard. I worked the whole day and I didn't even have a car, even a house, how can I live like that."

That's why Parga and many others have moved their families to Minnesota, to make a better living and take advantage of more opportunities.

Parga says, "We don't want to go to another place where it's harder to work, to make money, to have a good job."

But Parga says when federal agents come to Worthington looking for illegal immigrants the entire Hispanic community goes into hiding.

Parga says, "We see many people scared, they don't go out, the businesses are empty."

And while Parga understands why ICE agents come to Worthington looking for illegal immigrants, she says the raids' impact can be far-reaching.

Parga says, "Sometimes when the bad people do something everybody is involved and scared too because they don't know what's going to happen."

And that's why no matter their legal status, many Worthington immigrants are staying inside Thursday because they don't know what's next.

ICE officials have not released details about their sweep through Worthington because they're not finished with the operation.


http://www.keloland.com/news/NewsDetail ... Id=0,66932

ICE pays Worthington another visit
Justine Wettschreck Worthington Daily Globe
Published Thursday, February 28, 2008

WORTHINGTON — Immigration officials were closed-mouthed Wednesday about what they were doing in Worthington, but did say they were conducting an enforcement operation targeting specific individuals in the area — a very different operation than the roundup that took place at the Swift & Co. plant more than a year ago.

What wasn’t different was the reaction from the Latino community.

“There was a lot of fear,â€