Thread: TN: Vigil planned to highlight plight of immigrants

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tennessean.com

April 28, 2008

Vigil planned to highlight plight of immigrants

Nashville groups react to raid at plant

By JANELL ROSS
Staff Writer

As immigrants caught up in an employment raid on a Chattanooga poultry plant face deportation, local advocates are planning a Nashville vigil to bring attention to what they consider injustices in the situation.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced April 16 that agents detained 280 suspected illegal immigrants at Pilgrim's Pride processing plants in five states. Davidson County jails, which have a contract with ICE, ultimately housed 10 of the reported 100 detained in Chattanooga.

Some of those arrested were suspected of criminal identity theft and others of the civil charge of entering the country without inspection, commonly known as crossing the border illegally.

About 34 women and two men were released with ankle monitors on humanitarian grounds, said Gail Montenegro, an ICE spokeswoman.

Decisions to release detainees on humanitarian grounds are made on a case-by-case basis, said ICE spokesman Temple Black in an e-mail. In previous sweeps, detainees released on humanitarian grounds have included those who are the lone parent or caretaker in a family, nursing mothers and those in poor health.

This week, a collection of organizations working with families who have members detained from the Chattanooga facility will hold a vigil in Nashville. They want to draw attention to the range of beneficiaries and losers when unauthorized workers are employed and discovered.

"No one is making excuses for anyone who was working without authorization," said Stephen Fotopulos, policy director for the Tennessee Immigrant and refugee Rights Coalition.

"We are hoping people will gain an appreciation for the inequity and injustice in this situation. We have the consumers who eat Pilgrim's Pride chicken and who enjoy … it at a reasonable price. And then we have Pilgrim's Pride that allegedly did nothing wrong but has benefited from this labor.

"And we have the workers themselves who appear to be bearing the brunt of the consequences now that things have gone south."

In the days following the processing plant sweep, Pilgrim's Pride released statements indicating the company cooperated with immigration officials fully. The company also adheres to ICE's best practices and will continue to make use of
multiple tools to avoid hiring unauthorized workers.

Ray Atkinson, a company spokesman, was unwilling to describe Friday how the
company cooperated with ICE and if that cooperation began before or after ICE inquires.

"I feel like I need to be kind of reserved in comment," he said.

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http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 006/news01

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zht ... rol-irhome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrim's_Pride

http://www.piercefoods.com/contact_us.asp

http://www.poultry.com/contact_us.asp


Psalm 91

"And we have the workers themselves who appear to be bearing the brunt of the consequences now that things have gone south."

when is the vigil---for lost American jobs going to be held?????