Another Immigration Sob Story:

Marchers protest immigration arrest
Maria Garriga, Register Staff
08/25/2007
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm ... 1007&rfi=6

HARTFORD — Demanding the release of a Wallingford man seized from his home Monday to be deported, 140 marchers Friday rallied before the Immigration Court of Hartford with bullhorns and banners as they chanted "Free Said" to morning commuters on Main Street.

"Who's Said?" asked a number of passers-by.

Said Zaim-Sassi, a Moroccan with an American wife and three children ages 2, 4, and 7, had been working through the immigration courts to see if he could stay in the United States. He worked for Metro-North, volunteered to help with other immigrants and played soccer.

He lost his final appeal in January. Last Monday, officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized him at his home at 5:45 a.m. as his wife and children stood by.

"It was so horrible. I thought they were burglars. They came pounding on the door and said, ‘Open the door or we will break the door down.' They were screaming and using profanities. They stripped the blankets off the beds," sobbed Said's wife, Souhair Zaim-Sassi, a Morocco-born American who has lived in Wallingford for more than 30 years. "My sister asked for a warrant. They flashed her a piece of paper but wouldn't let her look at it. There was no need for them to do it this way. They took him away like an animal in front of his children."

Immigration officials disagreed with that description.

"Our officers conduct themselves in a professional and humane manner," said Paula Grenier, ICE's spokeswoman for New England. "We were granted consent to enter and when we got there the family was evasive as to his whereabouts. We found him hiding."

But his wife said, "He was in my bedroom asleep." She added that she has not been able to see her husband since the arrest and does not know what she will do next or how she will support her children.

Grenier said that Zaim-Sassi had been permitted to stay in the United States while appealing his case before the courts. He lost a final round in the Second Court in January, she said. Zaim-Sassi is currently at a detention center in Rhode Island and will be transported back to Morocco under the court's decision, Grenier said.

Immigration officials have alleged in court documents that Zaim-Sassi's first marriage was a sham marriage to obtain citizenship, a violation of immigration law.

Marcher Steve Fournier, 62, an attorney from Hartford, said he joined the effort because he believes immigration policies are selectively enforced based on the race and ethnicity.

"This is pure bigotry," he said. "There are ways to enforce immigration law that are constitutional, this is unconstitutional. These are immigration laws, we have arbitrary pogroms. They are not deporting white people are they? When was the last time you heard of an illegal Irish immigrant being deported?"

Marchers wore T-shirts that said "Keep Families Together" and held up signs that called for a stop to immigration raids.

Undidad Latina of Connecticut organized the rally, and members of various peace movements in the state joined in.

"All these movements are connected," said Leslie Angeline, a member of Code Pink, a women's peace movement, who had fasted for nearly a month to get an audience with U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., concerning his stance on Iran.

"These are Muslim immigrants. People don't realize Muslims are being targeted. Americans have been programmed to believe that all Muslims are terrorists," said Liz Aaronsohn, 70, a member of a consortium of peace groups called We Refuse To Be Enemies.

Khalil Iskarous, 40, of New Haven, a native of Egypt, helped organize the demonstration to help Americans understand the issues behind the problem.

"I'm for people being able to come to the United States without harassment. There is a legal issue, but there is also a humanitarian issue," he said. "I think the main reason for the recent (immigrant) arrests has been because immigrants are working together for immigrants' rights, but we are not going to be silent any longer."

Iskarous said that Americans who fear immigrant labor will drive down wages do not realize that better protections and wages for immigrants will raise wages for all Americans. "When we've had amnesty, everybody's wages go up."