Thread: Further reforms urged in immigration raids

Further reforms urged in immigration raids
March 07, 2008 6:00 AM
NEW BEDFORD — Immigration advocates are calling for an end to federal immigration raids that have "dehumanized" undocumented workers.

A year after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents seized 361 illegal immigrants at the Michael Bianco factory, the agency continues to carry out raids across the country that strip people of their dignity, said Ondine Galvez Sniffin, an immigration lawyer for Catholic Social Services.

"There is a right way to do it," she said. "First, they must stop the raids. Then they must evaluate how to carry them out with consideration for civil rights and human dignity."

During the Bianco raid, undocumented workers "were rounded up and dehumanized ... they were just numbers," she said.

Julie L. Meyers, assistant secretary of homeland security for ICE, has defended her agency's handling of the New Bedford raid, saying agents took "extraordinary steps" to account for the humanitarian needs of the detainees.

During a press conference Thursday, the Rev. Marc Fallon of Catholic Social Services said testimony from Bianco detainees shows the agency's conduct was "profoundly to the contrary" of Ms. Meyers' statements.

He said workers' hands and feet were "shackled" during the raid and that detainees were "referenced in a dehumanizing way."

U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, D- Mass., echoed immigration advocates' concerns in a letter he sent to Ms. Meyers on Thursday.

"One year after the raid in New Bedford, we are still hearing stories of ICE agents intimidating immigrants, horrible detention conditions and families being torn apart," Sen. Kerry wrote.

In the letter, he requests that Ms. Meyers provide a detailed update on the internal actions she is taking to ensure that the agency's guidelines for work-site enforcement raids are being followed.

"Specifically, I would also like to know if you will consider taking the discretion away from ICE agents to follow the guidelines and make them enforceable rules," he wrote.

In November, following conversations with U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and U.S. Rep. William D. Delahunt, both D-Mass., ICE codified its guidelines for treating illegal immigrants and their families during raids involving more than 150 workers. The guidelines, which were distributed to ICE personnel, were not new, but rather existing rules pulled together into a single document, ICE spokeswoman Pat Reilly told The Standard-Times.

Sen. Kerry said in the letter that he will renew his efforts to enact the Families First Immigration Enforcement Act, a bill designed to protect children, sole caregivers, the elderly, the sick, and pregnant and nursing women during work-site enforcement raids.

"We can all agree that our immigration laws should be enforced, but we must ensure that they are done so humanely," he wrote. "My bill requires ICE to take several common-sense measures to help enforce the law without inflicting undue suffering."

During Wednesday's press conference, immigration advocates praised New Bedford residents for showing compassion to the families affected by the Bianco raid.

"Our community stepped up, and there was an outpouring of compassion and support," said Corinn Williams, executive director of the New Bedford Community Economic Development Center.

Craig Dutra, president of the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts, said 103 families with children impacted by the raid have benefited from the more than $196,000 raised for the New Bedford Immigrant Families/Ninos Fund. Donors from around the country contributed to the fund, he said. A lot of the money has gone toward helping families pay for food, utilities and housing. The remaining $60,000 will likely go toward reunification efforts such as paying to escort a minor child back to his parents' home country, Mr. Dutra said.

www.southcoasttoday.com

Immigration advocates are calling for an end to federal immigration raids that have "dehumanized" undocumented workers.

I hardly think this is so. It's just another ploy to get their way.

Kerry needs to be blasted as well as ordered to spend a day in the shoes of an ICE officer and obtain first hand experience that these agents are professionally trained and enforcing the law.

As far as those "children and the cost to transport them back to their home countries" maybe that should lie upon the illegal alien's home country or they can work with religious organizations for re-unification. I can't see where it would cost $60,000 to reunite a child with an illegal alien parent in their home country - THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS AND EXPLOITIVE!!

Immigration advocates are calling for an end to federal immigration raids

They will...