Thread: New York State Community Groups condemn recent raid at Stewa

New York State Community Groups condemn recent raid at Stewart Airport

Joint Press Statement on Stewart Airport Raid

December 22, 2009
Contact:
Milan Bhatt: 845-331-6615
Betsy Palmieri: 914-977-3295

The Worker’s Rights Law Center of NY and Hudson Valley Community Coalition strongly condemn the recent raid at Stewart Airport in Newburgh, NY.

In the early hours of December 17th, in the midst of the holiday season, over a dozen workers of Empire Warehouse Solutions were swept away and detained in the Orange County Jail, a facility that recently entered into a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The whereabouts of several workers are still unknown.

Immigrant and worker advocates are well-aware of the disturbing trend of mass workplace raids in states such as Iowa and Mississippi and increasing cooperation nationwide between local law enforcement and immigration authorities.

The sting at Stewart Airport could not have set a more dangerous precedent for New York, a state with one of the country’s highest illegal immigrant populations and one that has historically been a leader in protecting their rights.

Low-wage illegal immigrant workers in New York, already vulnerable to wage exploitation and other abuse, now face heightened fear when showing up to work.

Last Thursday’s raid also ripped apart entire families in the region, many of whom were comprised of U.S. Citizens. Advocates throughout the region and state reject any new policy by ICE in New York that accelerates detention and deportation of hard-working illegal immigrant populations.

Those who have been devastated by this raid are our neighbors-the fabric of our communities and the driving force in many sectors of our local economy.

They deserve to be treated fairly and humanely. As Congress last week has once again taken up the issue of comprehensive immigration reform, it is critical that New York continue to model pro-illegal immigrant policies, not practices that punish hard-working communities for political gain.

http://immigrantbondfund.wordpress.com/ ... t-airport/

Why is it always poor immigrants that need sympathy when "families get ripped apart?" Doesn't that also happen to American citizens when one family member gets tossed in the clinker?

vortex wrote: "Doesn't that also happen to American citizens when one family member gets tossed in the clinker?"

EXACTLY RIGHT!!!! BUT YOU SEE, THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE ENTITLED TO EVERYTHING THE U.S. CITIZEN AND THEIR CHILDREN CANNOT BE ENTITLED TO... FREE WELFARE BENEFITS, FREE HOUSING, FREE CARS, FREE DRIVERS LICENSES, FREE COLLEGE TUITION, FREE EVERYTHING... BUT THE U.S. CITIZENS ARE FORCED TO PAY FOR EVERYTHING FREE FOR THE ENTITLED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS... AND ALL THEY DO IS WHINE EVEN MORE!!!!!!!!

Why is it always poor immigrants that need sympathy when "families get ripped apart?" Doesn't that also happen to American citizens when one family member gets tossed in the clinker?

Right you are ....Oh boohoo don't you just you feel so sorry for them...these people are destroying our Country when they take over we WILL be a THIRD world Country....and we will all be in the clinker.....

Kathyet