http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/di ... 6589d7597d

Of 'illegal immigrants' and migrants

June 19, 2006

If you’re wondering why you seldom see headlines about federal agents hitting one workplace and snatching up large numbers of workers who are in the country illegally, it’s because the emphasis on rounding up illegals has changed.

These days, the feds are concentrating on snagging bad actors – those who are or have been involved in criminal doings.

“The point is that the same investigative resources that used to be involved with rounding up large numbers of illegal aliens are now being used to conduct investigations with the intent of filing criminal charges,” Tim Counts of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency told the Lincoln Journal-Star.

In other parts of the country, such as San Diego, California, agents are trying to discretely comb Hispanic neighborhoods and take illegals into custody, often one at a time.

Such operations have caused a great deal of fear in neighborhoods that are home to large numbers of illegals. Meanwhile, reporting on such operations has also drawn the ire of critics who argue it reflects liberal bias in the mainstream media.

Another side of the story of Hispanic workers in America is reflected in the work of Alma Becerra, whose job it is to find migrants who are working in agricultural jobs in Lexington. She is employed by the public school system.

Regardless of race or nationality, anyone who comes to Lexington to work in agriculture, which includes meatpacking, qualifies as a migrant worker. In the migrants’ first three years in Lexington, the school qualifies to receive federal funding for them, the Kearney Hub reported.

Becerra said Lexington leads the state in its number of migrant workers.

The issue of workers in the country illegally is a hot political issue these days. That's obviously why the Republican and Democratic parties in Lancaster County tip-toed around it in their recent conventions. Actually, they didn't tip-toe; they just plain ducked