Thread: Nothing more than immigration raids

Some people seem to forget being here illegally in itself is a crime.

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http://www.dailybulletin.com/opinions/ci_5152801

Nothing more than immigration raids
Article Launched:02/03/2007 09:17:24 PM PST

In the recent "sweeps" that have resulted in the arrests of more than 760 immigrants, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials claim that their enforcement is only aimed at targeted fugitives who have overstayed their visas or have ignored deportation orders.

Yet, numerous eyewitness and news media accounts report that this is not fully the case.

The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, in a Jan. 23 article, reported that ICE agents, in addition to the so-called 119 immigrant criminals that they targeted in Contra Costa County, "also picked up 94 other undocumented immigrants they encountered in the process."

Timothy Aiken, deputy director of ICE in San Francisco, commented, "We want to go after the worst of the worst; we go after people who have ignored a judge's order - but we can't be blind to someone who doesn't have lawful status in the U.S. ... We wouldn't be doing our job if we ignored these people."

By their own words, immigration officials admit that they are picking up people randomly as part of their "Operation Return to Sender." They can call these actions what they want and try to hide under the cover that they are only out to get fugitives, but the reality is that ICE officials are also carrying out "raids" which are creating a climate of fear and tension in our immigrant communities.

In an article by the Associated Press on Jan. 23, where reporters rode along for the first day of the "sweeps" in Orange County, they reported that the agents "fanned out to houses in Anaheim and Santa Ana" and that the criminal fugitive that they arrested was merely a 29-year-old undocumented immigrant "wanted for a driving-under-the-influence conviction." At a second stop where the agents were looking for a "convicted rapist" (that had moved out weeks before) they, "instead, arrested six men who could not provide legal papers."

Locally, we have various eyewitness accounts where immigration agents have used the pretext of going after so-called "convicted fugitives" to stop and detain people randomly. For example, the husband of Pomona resident Maria Morales, a mother of two children, was picked up off the street as he walked to his job. In an incident at a fast food place on Mission Boulevard, ICE agents claim that they went to the area in search of a "criminal." Eyewitnesses, instead, saw them go after immigrant workers randomly who were looking for jobs in that area.

Similar reports emerged from residents at an apartment complex in Pomona where, under the pretext of looking for a "fugitive," agents began to knock on doors and arrest individuals randomly.

These types of actions are confirmed as occurring in other parts of California by Jerry Okendo, president of a Northern California chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens. He is quoted in the Chronicle as criticizing ICE agents for carrying out "sweeps" in the cities of Concord and Richmond without "properly identifying themselves" and carrying out arrests without search warrants.

According to Okendo, ICE agents "were sweeping through apartment complexes and picking up anyone who could not provide proof they were living in the United States legally."

Richmond City Councilman John Marquez complained that ICE agents "were identifying themselves as police," helping to break up the good relations that he said had been established between the police department and the Latino community.

These raids are continuing to advance enforcement policies that criminalize immigrant families and anyone who supports them. We call on our elected officials to immediately carry out an investigation of the reported violations by ICE agents and urge that these raids be stopped until Congress can come up with a comprehensive immigration bill that can unite, rather than divide our communities.

- Jose Calderon is president of the Latina and Latino Roundtable of San Gabriel and Pomona Valley. He is a professor of sociology and Chicano studies at Pitzer College in Claremont.

Timothy Aiken, deputy director of ICE in San Francisco, commented, "We want to go after the worst of the worst; we go after people who have ignored a judge's order - but we can't be blind to someone who doesn't have lawful status in the U.S. ... We wouldn't be doing our job if we ignored these people."

You are absolutely right, Deputy Director Aiken, and if President Bush gave you those orders to follow, then some of us, would like to say, "Thank you President Bush for doing what is right for the legal citizens of this country."

Afterall, we are the ones who elected you and we are the ones whose well-being you are supposed to (in accordance to that paper) be first and foremost concerned about.

I would love to go on these raids. Anyone know how to get into ICE? I work for the government, but this seems quite a bit more exciting.

Locally, we have various eyewitness accounts where immigration agents have used the pretext of going after so-called "convicted fugitives" to stop and detain people randomly. For example, the husband of Pomona resident Maria Morales, a mother of two children, was picked up off the street as he walked to his job. In an incident at a fast food place on Mission Boulevard, ICE agents claim that they went to the area in search of a "criminal." Eyewitnesses, instead, saw them go after immigrant workers randomly who were looking for jobs in that area.

Similar reports emerged from residents at an apartment complex in Pomona where, under the pretext of looking for a "fugitive," agents began to knock on doors and arrest individuals randomly.

I posted this one in "general discussions" this morning. It was in the San Bernardino County Sun.

In an article by the Associated Press on Jan. 23, where reporters rode along for the first day of the "sweeps" in Orange County, they reported that the agents "fanned out to houses in Anaheim and Santa Ana" and that the criminal fugitive that they arrested was merely a 29-year-old undocumented immigrant "wanted for a driving-under-the-influence conviction." At a second stop where the agents were looking for a "convicted rapist" (that had moved out weeks before) they, "instead, arrested six men who could not provide legal papers."

"Merely" ? the poor illegal was only convicted on a DUI. let him go, maybe he`ll kill someone next time, at least give him a chance to do it.