Letters to the Editor
Raids on illegal immigrants justified

BY Luke Schieve
PUBLISHED: 03/29/2009

Letters like Kevin Werner’s really make my blood boil. Werner has masterfully demonstrated the ignorance that so many people share concerning the activities of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Werner, like many others, seems to be under the impression that ICE treats all illegal immigrants as though they’ve committed crimes against humanity, alleging that they conduct unprovoked and violent raids on the homes of innocent families, break up families and cause a great deal of the problems minorities face. With minimal subtlety, Werner has suggested that ICE conducts hateful discrimination toward minorities, specifically the Latino community that he mentioned.

This is ridiculous.

First, ICE officers don’t break down doors and rush the aliens in a V-for-Vendetta-like fashion. The only time doors are broken down is when illegal immigrants refuse to open them. The only time raids are conducted is when there’s a warrant for arrest out for the illegal immigrant, meaning that they have committed a pretty serious crime. You may be surprised to know that many illegal immigrants are not captured by ICE but brought before them by police officers for traffic violations, drug and alcohol abuse/sale and even for seeking benefits when they aren’t even naturalized!

I could say a whole lot more about what ICE does and doesn’t do and why, but let me summarize it for everyone who needs a crash course on ICE activities. They do not conduct violent raids, they do not break up families and they do not cause the problems minorities face. All they do is put individuals who have entered or remained in America without respecting our immigration laws (therefore committing a crime) through the legal process. In reality, they just bring lawbreakers to justice.

Luke Schieve

University student
http://www.mndaily.com/2009/03/29/raids ... -justified

The referenced letter by Werner is here:

Letters to the Editor
Immigration raids unjustified

BY Kevin Werner
PUBLISHED: 03/25/2009

A recent speech on immigration raids by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, D-Ca., has members of the right-wing media up in arms. “Who in this country would not want to change a policy of kicking in doors in the middle of the night and sending a parent away from their families?â€