South Carolina immigration raid tears apart community

[jamesw62]

booohooo cry my a river. no one is to blame but the illegal parents themselves. they knew the consequences when they took possession of the forged, stolen, or bought documents sayng they were legal when they knew they were not


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spe ... 48171.html

South Carolina immigration raid tears apart community
By MITCH WEISS and JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press
Oct. 8, 2008, 11:31PM

GREENVILLE, S.C. — When Magdalana Domingo Ramirez Lopez moved to this South Carolina city nearly two years ago to work at the chicken processing plant, she felt at home.

On weekends, the neighborhood near House of Raeford's plant was filled with the sounds of salsa music and the scents of Guatemalan cooking. She would shop with her three young sons at nearby businesses that catered to the immigrants — some in the country legally, others not.

While the sights and sounds reminded Lopez of her native Guatemala, she said she was happy living in the United States — a place that offered a better life for her family.

But those hopes were shattered Tuesday when federal agents swooped into the plant, arresting 330 suspected illegal immigrants, six of them juveniles, effectively shutting down the factory and tearing apart the close-knit community.

Lopez was arrested and could be deported, as her husband was two years ago.

"My whole life has changed," she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I don't want to go back. My sons are better off here. The country is so poor. There's nothing there."

In response to requests Wednesday for comment on the raid, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman said only that those arrested were violating immigration law.

A day after the raid, families waited to hear from loved ones at detention centers. Meanwhile, businesses and streets were vacant because those not rounded up stayed home, afraid agents would return.

Just days before, poultry workers visibly filled the neighborhoods around the plant.

The community's transformation was slow but steady over the last 15 years as the newcomers replaced working-class whites and blacks. Neighborhood residents who knew about federal charges against plant supervisors accused of helping illegal immigrants forge documents didn't think the trouble would trickle down to them.

After all, they were only here to give the plant long hours of joint-aching work and local officials didn't seem to mind. That thought was likely shared by immigrants in communities nationwide including states throughout the South, Iowa and New York who have been caught in similar raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Lopez, 29, believed she was safe. But she spent most of Tuesday being fingerprinted and questioned by federal agents and a day later was coming to grips with being sent back to Guatemala. Her sons — ages 4, 5 and 6 — were all born in the U.S.

"The whole time I was there with police, I cried. I kept thinking about my sons. That I wouldn't see them again," she said.

She left Central America because she didn't want her family to grow up in a place where she was so hungry at times that she had to eat grass and dirt.

"I came to the U.S. for work. I came in peace. My goal was to help my sons grow up in a better place. Now that's gone," she said.

House of Raeford processes chickens and turkeys in eight plants in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana and Michigan. The Greenville plant and its nearly 900 workers have been under scrutiny for almost a year as authorities looked into allegations the company knowingly hired illegal immigrants. Eleven supervisors and the plant's human resources director have been arrested, mostly for falsifying immigration documents.

The company has issued a statement saying it never knowingly hired illegal immigrants and was cooperating.

Many workers say they had no idea about the legal troubles or that a raid was imminent.

"We never thought they would come in and start arresting everyone," said 35-year-old Jorge Mendoza, who missed the morning raid because he works second shift. "That would be like shutting down the plant. They wouldn't do that, we thought. The plant is too busy."

Mendoza said he plans to move his family because it's too dangerous to stay.

Greenville County deputies couldn't do much about illegal immigrants because no provision in South Carolina law makes it illegal to be in the U.S. without permission. Instead, deputies who thought they arrested or spoke to an illegal immigrant were told to contact federal immigration officials, said Master Deputy Michael Hildebrand.

Those arrested in the raid face various charges, including re-entry after deportation, counterfeit documents and false statements. All are in the U.S. Marshal's custody and have been processed for deportation.

Luis Garcia, an interpreter in the area, said removing so many people will devastate the community.

"They're breaking families. Everyone is worried," said Garcia, who visited Lopez to see how she was doing.

Lopez is under house arrest and has to wear an ankle monitor until her deportation hearing Nov. 14. She has no money to hire a lawyer.

Her 4-year-old son, Issias, is recovering from surgery she doubted he would get proper medical care in Guatemala, where she plans to take her children to rejoin their father.

When immigration officials asked her to sign a deportation order, she said she refused, replying: "First you kill me, then I'll sign it."

Several miles down the road, Emilio Espinoza manages the Guatemala Restaurant in a strip mall with a grocery store, bakery and nightclub, all catering toward Hispanics.

His usually packed restaurant was empty at lunchtime Wednesday for the first time since he opened seven years ago. Half his employees didn't show up because they were scared immigration agents might be in the area.

"People are afraid to leave their homes," said the 35-year-old Espinoza.

David Wynn said he has watched the neighborhood change around his heating and air conditioning supply store across the street from the plant.

Everyone knew the plant hired illegal immigrants, said Wynn, who added no one wanted to do anything about it because they figured the workers were doing jobs no one else wanted. With the economy getting worse, that's probably no longer true and he worries what is going to happen to all the people caught up in the raid.

"We need to pray for them," Wynn said.

[nomas]

In one sentence it says her 3 sons were born here in the US. A few sentences later SHE states she came here to give her family a better life? What family? She didn't have these 3 kids until she GOT HERE!

"Her sons — ages 4, 5 and 6 — were all born in the U.S. "


"I came to the U.S. for work. I came in peace. My goal was to help my sons grow up in a better place. Now that's gone,"

So, which is it? She can't keep her lies straight! In my book it goes to prove once you start lying you have to keep it up, until your entire life is one big fat LIE.

[SicNTiredInSoCal]

These types of stories are all sure to follow after ICE does it's job. They are turning into a BIG FAT YAWN.

[SOSADFORUS]

"Her sons — ages 4, 5 and 6 — were all born in the U.S. "

"I came to the U.S. for work. I came in peace. My goal was to help my sons grow up in a better place. Now that's gone," she said.

This is the reason it is so hard to believe the excuses given by these people, we Americans must look like real fools to these people

[millere]

These types of stories are all sure to follow after ICE does it's job. They are turning into a BIG FAT YAWN.

I think Bush directed some of these ICE raids so that they would generate the most negative publicity, hoping that the specter of 'children torn from their parents' would force a "public outcry" to treat illegal aliens better and ask for amnesty. But that's George Bush's goofy view of the American public...

Had these ICE raids been well planned, I think we would have seen alot more well coordinated efforts to see the largest corporations and largest pools of illegal aliens arrested all at once and better investigative methods used. Instead, everything so seems to "scatter shot" and the numbers of arrests are really much lower than they should. Everything reeks of another famous Michael Chertoff "half-assed" effort which could have been so very much better if someone well-intentioned and patriotic were in charge.

I am so sick and tired of the government being a source of the problem instead of the solution.

[JoeCitizen]

Not trying to pick a fight or anything here, but I do want to respond to a couple of your points above, Millere. Hope that's cool...can't hurt to consider a dissenting viewpoint, right?

Had these ICE raids been well planned, I think we would have seen alot more well coordinated efforts to see the largest corporations and largest pools of illegal aliens arrested all at once

How do you know they weren't "well-planned," honestly? "All-at-once" approaches have been tried in the past and in truth only make operations MORE difficult and less succesful because it creates a situation where there is a WHOLE lot more micro-management than necessary.

and better investigative methods used. Instead, everything so seems to "scatter shot" and the numbers of arrests are really much lower than they should.

"Better investigative methods used"...? Such as...? Normally, the specific investigative methods used to develop the case are not released to the public, so I'm really not seeing how this assertion is possible for those of us who weren't on the inside of the case that led to this operation. Also, I'm not sure what you're comparing the number of arrests to when you claim the numbers are much lower than they should be. Obviously the numbers are entirely dependent on the number of illegals working at the target location at the time of the raid.

Everything reeks of another famous Michael Chertoff "half-assed" effort which could have been so very much better if someone well-intentioned and patriotic were in charge.

Disagree with Chertoff about his policies or opinions, sure, but I don't think any of us can really claim he isn't well-intentioned or patriotic in his view of our nation or its future. Personally, I think he's done a heck of a good job given the difficult political climate surrounding the immigration issue as a whole. *shrug* just my two cents' worth...

[millere]

Not trying to pick a fight or anything here, but I do want to respond to a couple of your points above, Millere. Hope that's cool...can't hurt to consider a dissenting viewpoint, right?

You are right. I just have impressions, so it is good to see other opinions.

[JoeCitizen]

No worries. Obviously my opinions are just based on my own vantage point and impressions, as well. I think where we can probably ALL agree is that the current state of the immigration problem facing our country is quite frustrating, and it would be very nice indeed if the efforts that are being made in terms of enforcement were making a greater overall impact in terms of the scope of the problem as a whole.

[browneyes106]

Just another story of people throwing personal responsibility out the window.

[Gogo]

A more balance viewpoint.


Raid on plant exposes price of illegal immigration

Illegal immigration carries a terrible price. It mocks the rule of law upon which this nation was founded, it punishes those who play by the rules, and it ultimately creates suffering among those who knowingly or carelessly participate in the underground system.

A raid last week at the House of Raeford's Columbia Farms poultry plant in Greenville resulted in the "administrative arrest" of about 330 workers believed to be in the country illegally. Most people don't take satisfaction in seeing hundreds of hardworking people rounded up and detained until their fates are resolved -- except perhaps those Americans who dislike immigrants as much as they deplore illegal immigration.

Unenforced laws inspire contempt for this country's legal system by rewarding improper behavior and encouraging more of it, all the while penalizing workers and employers alike who try to follow the rules.

Among the 330 detained workers are six juveniles, The Greenville News reported. About one-fourth of the workers have been released, at least temporarily, for hardship reasons such as to care for children. Another 11 have been charged with crimes such as aggravated identity theft and employment fraud.

This federal investigation didn't begin last week. It's been running for almost a year, and it has resulted in other arrests, too. Five other employees at the plant have pleaded guilty to immigration fraud charges, The News reported, and another seven have been indicted. One of the indicted employees includes the plant's human resources manager, who faces 20 felony counts on charges of encouraging supervisors to falsify employment documents.

The United States needs a sensible, fair, enforceable and, yes, compassionate immigration policy. So far, a bitterly partisan Congress has refused to give this nation such a policy that allows employers to fill some of the country's dirtiest jobs, makes it easy and simple to detect undocumented workers, satisfactorily secures this country's borders, and allows some of the approximately 13 million illegal immigrants already here to start down the pathway to citizenship if they meet reasonable conditions.

Often overlooked in this debate is how illegal immigration can lower working standards for undocumented workers. After an exhaustive investigation, The Charlotte Observer earlier this year reported that the House of Raeford had hidden the extent of injuries at plants in Greenville, West Columbia and North Carolina, and that hurt workers were ignored, intimidated or fired. The poultry giant responded in February by stating it followed the law and strived to protect workers.

Lawmakers in Washington, not in dozens of state capitals, need to develop a meaningful way to address illegal immigration. In the meantime, raids such as the one in Greenville last week are necessary to rein in illegal immigration and lessen the pain and unfairness it spreads throughout our society.


http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pb ... 004/NEWS01