Thread: Raid rumors panic illegals in NH

Rumored raids stir fears of deportation in Nashua, NH

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbc ... -1/opinion

It was 11 p.m. on a Sunday when the telephone rang at Maria Madalena's apartment. On the other side, the voice had a friendly but concerned tone. The messenger delivered a warning she would want to follow. "Don't go to work tomorrow; immigration agents will be in Nashua."

Madalena is among the vast undocumented community in Nashua. But before she defied the advice – and went to work at a local factory on Monday, Sept. 10 – she shared the news with a few friends. Her decision may help explain how a friendly warning can morph into a rumor. Or, at least, it sheds light on why many undocumented workers figured "it's better to follow than face deportation."

In recent weeks, at least two other New England immigrant communities experienced the same environment of fear. First it happened in Framingham, Mass.

Several listeners called WSRO (650 AM), a 24-hour Portuguese-language station, to report live on the whereabouts of immigration raids.

The situation prompted programming director Karl Abraham to write a memo prohibiting all disk jockeys from broadcasting rumors. "The station can be liable for the wrong information it sends out there," he said.

For Roberto Silva, talk show host of "Pare e Pense" (Stop and Think), Abraham's decision was right on.

"It was out of control. People confused public service with spreading panic through the airwaves," Silva said.

In Lowell, Mass., rumors canceled a festival celebrating the Brazilian Independence Day. Mayor William F. Martin Jr. was among the confirmed guests. When the word got out that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were pulling cars over at the intersection between Interstate 495 and Lowell Connector, shoppers started vanishing from downtown.

Dr. Elisa Garibaldi of Malden, Mass., visited several immigrant-run stores and confirmed how seriously people took the warning.

"Everywhere I went, everyone knew about it," she said.

In Nashua, just like in Framingham and Lowell, nobody could cite the primary source. It was always a "friend of a friend."

It was 7 a.m. when freelance photographer Hyran Brum heard the rumors. He packed the camera and "went to all of the spots I was told they were conducting raids. I did not see anything."

Telegraph reporters called ICE officials and the Nashua Police Department and were told there was no immigration enforcement activity in the city that day.

"I've inquired with several people, if the feds are here, they're working on their own," said Community Policing Coordinator Edward Lecius.

ICE spokesperson in Boston, Paula Grenier, said she would "need names of individuals arrested in order to research/verify" the case.

Still, the fear was real. Undocumented families know that the deportation statistics turn the odds against them.

In 2005, ICE data shows that 167,700 undocumented immigrants were deported from the United States; and in 2006 this number increased to 186,600, according to the Detention Watch Network.

Eduardo A. de Oliveira, originally from Brazil and now living in Nashua, founded and publishes a Portuguese/English newspaper based in Malden, Mass., called The Brazilian Journal. His column appears every other Monday in The Telegraph. He can be reached at Eduardo.ao@hotmail.com.

My husband and I talk to people about illegals in NH- we try to talk to people at work, around town, etc. A few get involved. Most think that we are crazy-that NH could never become overrun with illegals. I was told on another board-one not related to immigration- that Nashua, NH did NOT have an illegal population-that I assumed people who are "different" are automatically illegal. I was also called all the normal names they love to spew-racist, xenophobe, etc.

Well-here is the local paper writing about the illegal population in NH-guess they are also wrong about Nashua having an illegal population. Wake up people in NH-one of the Manchester, NH legislators tried to introduce a bill earlier in the year that would have made NH a SANCTUARY STATE. Luckily it did not get through, but it could be proposed again.

We need to call, fax and E-mail. NO AMNESTY-EVER!

Originally Posted by Nicole

My husband and I talk to people about illegals in NH- we try to talk to people at work, around town, etc. A few get involved. Most think that we are crazy-that NH could never become overrun with illegals. I was told on another board-one not related to immigration- that Nashua, NH did NOT have an illegal population-that I assumed people who are "different" are automatically illegal. I was also called all the normal names they love to spew-racist, xenophobe, etc.

Well-here is the local paper writing about the illegal population in NH-guess they are also wrong about Nashua having an illegal population. Wake up people in NH-one of the Manchester, NH legislators tried to introduce a bill earlier in the year that would have made NH a SANCTUARY STATE. Luckily it did not get through, but it could be proposed again.

We need to call, fax and E-mail. NO AMNESTY-EVER!

You can go back to those same ostriches (head in the sanders) and tell them "I told you so. Now get your head out of your *** (or the sand, if you want to be more polite) and do something about it. Unless you do, your present is in jeopardy and your children's future is ruined."

added to homepage

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... e&sid=2581

I don't understand. After all, aren't we continually told that illegal aliens aren't criminals? Or that this country actually belongs to them so therefore they cannot be illegally present on land that is theirs?

Yet, mere rumors of raids send them running to hide?

The contradiction here really makes you wonder........