Thread: Judge tosses immigrants’ lawsuit claims; Case involves facto

Judge tosses immigrants’ lawsuit claims; Case involves factory owned by Pembroke man

May 8, 2007

By The Patriot Ledger staff

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the treatment of 360 immigrants seized in a raid of a New Bedford factory owned by a Pembroke man.

But the judge extended a stay on some deportations for three weeks to give lawyers time to appeal.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled yesterday that the court has no jurisdiction over the immigrants’ claims. A 2005 law stripped the district courts of most authority on immigration appeals and gave the federal Courts of Appeals exclusive power to decide challenges to deportations, Stearns said.

Bernard J. Bonn III, one of the Boston attorneys representing the detained workers, said they will appeal and will also ask the Court of Appeals to extend the stay on deportations.

‘‘We think the court has misunderstood our claim,’’ Bonn said. The immigrants are not directly challenging their deportations, he said.

‘‘We are arguing that the process by which (the workers) were arrested, detained and processed interfered with their rights,’’ Bonn said.

Federal agents raided the New Bedford plant March 6 and took away 361 workers who couldn't prove they were in the country legally.

Factory owner Francesco Insolia, 50, of Pembroke, and two other managers were arrested and charged with conspiracy to hire unauthorized aliens and to induce aliens to live in the United States.

They pleaded innocent and are free awaiting trial.

After the raid, immigration officials flew 206 of the workers to two detention centers in Texas. Stearns issued an order barring authorities from taking any other detainees outside Massachusetts.


http://ledger.southofboston.com/article ... news07.txt

Factory owner Francesco Insolia, 50, of Pembroke, and two other managers were arrested and charged with conspiracy to hire unauthorized aliens and to induce aliens to live in the United States.

If these employers were charged with inducing the aliens to live in the U.S., then why hasn't Bush been indicted? He has done this everyday since he was elected. What with promising them amnesty, giving them Social Security benefits, inserting a BILLION dollars into the federal budget for free healthcare, to telling them they are needed here to do the jobs us lazy Americans refuse to do, he has done everything except send them gold plated presidential invitations to break every immigration law on the books. I'd say that was clearly inducing aliens to come here illegally.

My question is why these people have rights to begin with. A tourist or somebody who enters the country legally - yeah. By all means, extend them every opportunity to defend themselves as a citizen. Somebody who isn't supposed to be here though? Where do their rights come from? The broke laws coming here. They aren't supposed to be here. Then they break laws while here. And after all of that, they get red carpet treatment by our judicial system? That makes about as much sense as serving wine to the guy that broke into your house to steal your t.v.

Stearns issued an order barring authorities from taking any other detainees outside Massachusetts.

It would see to me that this judge has no authority over Federal officers. They should just go ahead and deport all of them. That would make the judge look stupid and discourage future legal challenges.