by John Hill
Stand With Arizona


The inmates are running the asylum. This Administration has served notice on every illegal alien invader across America: do not be afraid – you are above the law.


Eleven illegal aliens who claimed ICE agents “violated their rights” in 2007 raids on their New Haven neighborhood have won a $350,000 settlement from the U.S. government, which also agreed to halt deportation proceedings against the plaintiffs, their attorneys said Tuesday.

New Haven is American’s most notorious “sanctuary city”- the first in the nation to offer identification cards to illegal immigrants, and critics including the mayor have contended the federal sweep was retaliation for the ID program — a charge denied by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying planning for the raid began the year before.
The settlement appears to be the largest ever paid by the United States in a lawsuit over residential immigration raids, and the first to include compensation as well as immigration relief, according to Mark Pedulla, a Yale law student who was involved in representing the plaintiffs.

They hope to be able to offer an example of what can happen when you stand up for your rights,” Pedulla said.

“Rights”? These are foreign nationals, residing in the United States in violation of Federal immigration laws. They have the
“right” to be detained and deported.

Ross Feinstein, an ICE spokesman, said the settlement is not intended as an admission of liability on the part of the U.S. government.

The government is settling in order to avoid the additional time and expense of further litigation,” Feinstein said.

When does the Federal government EVER do that?
The Feds have unlimited legal resources. The Bush Administration fought this case tooth and nail on behalf of ICE and the DOJ. It is obvious that the Obama crowd wanted to send a message with this “settlement” and amnesty: illegals aliens are a new “protected class”, and that only the illegals they deem unwelcome, will be prosecuted. the rest may stay.
Here is the backstory of what happened in 2007:
The plaintiffs were among roughly 30 people arrested on the raid in the early morning hours of June 6, 2007.

The men argued the agents drew their weapons, forced them out of bed and frightened young children in some of the homes. They claimed the federal agency was retaliating against New Haven, which has a reputation as a “sanctuary city” for its embrace of illegal immigrants, and that they were targeted solely because of their Latino appearance.

“I remember everything that happened to me that morning as if it were yesterday,” plaintiff Edinson Yangua Calva said. “There are things I haven’t been able to get over, it is something that stays with you forever.”


If I commit a crime, and am arrested in my home, am I absolved of that crime if law enforcement agents “frighten” my children? This is the theater of the absurd.

Excerpt...read rest HERE