HOUSTON, July 1 .- proinmigrantes groups and activists condemned the operation conducted by agents of the Houston Police (HPD) during which they were arrested between 10 to 15 laborers. They also claimed that the first operation of arrests is part of a larger plan of HPD to arrest the workers left and right and send them to the county jail "Harris, to be deported, said an activist.

According to versions of fellow laborers who were arrested on Wednesday, July 1 in the morning, HPD officials arrived in the area of Bellaire and Hillcroft streets, in the southwest of the city, was arrested without further rounds of Hispanics, by the way, I look forward to potential contractors to give them work, and no police to stop them.
Witnesses who spoke with the day police said they found this place in 3 or 4 and two patrol vans. Those arrested were mainly workers who were standing or sitting on the berm (splitter) and the central side of Hillcroft Street, opposite the supermarket recognized. Also arrested were those who were close to a seafood restaurant, a block of that intersection.

Abuse
"The police tried either bowed. Ordered to throw them against the ground hot or boiling on the floor and there were also putting them handcuffs and chains, "said a worker who saw the whole operation. "Once they were handcuffed, grabbed one by the one and stuck with a lot of violence in the 'van' (van)," he added.

Several workers said that since last week the officer Henry Canales was killed in the parking lot of a pharmacy located in Bellaire and Hillcroft, police officers in Houston have been harassed further. But we are people who only want to work. The cops go mad, but other people should not pay for what happened. We are undocumented, but we are not criminals, "said a laborer. "This is retaliation," said another worker.
Furthermore, workers said that for days began to run rumors among employees that "the INS would come to us all." And Wednesday morning, failed the "migration", but the police arrived.

Mrs Maria Jimenez, who is leader of the organization grows, was talking to day laborers who were not arrested or those who escaped the arrest and immediately sent a protest letter to HPD and demanded explanations about the operation.

Picture Day / José Carrera
This photo was taken on Wednesday June 23 in the morning (a day after the official channels were murdered in the area) and we are seeing a police patrol in Houston with his Speaker ordered that the day laborers were on the sidewalk of the grocery store located between Bellaire and Hillcroft, clearing the place. Jimenez said that the upcoming July 13, the activists had scheduled a meeting with the Chief of Police of Houston, Harold Hurtt, one of the themes that were to discuss this issue and is rightly the subject of 287 (g). "Originally, (the meeting) was about 287 (g), but this plan shows how easily apply or may turn into a criminal misdemeanor and disturbing not only to undocumented people, but with papers," said Jimenez.

A comprehensive plan
The activists said they learned of the existence of a "secret" of the HPD, as it received information that the police department had planned to carry out raids against the day laborers waiting to be working in the area of the road 8 and Bellaire Street . After receiving information that the plan was put on hold, but the police raid occurred Wednesday.
The plan had a number of stages, including "educational" (without specifications) and a "warning" to employees that they would be arrested and that the Harris County Attorney's Office charged with "criminal invasion of private property." With this plan, workers would be arrested in one way or another, being in the ownership of business or being on the sidewalk, to obstruct the passage or not having an identification, said the activist.

Constitutional violations
An email sent to different organizations Jimenez said: "This means that once the workers are arrested, be sent to the Harris County jail, from where they would be handed over to immigration authorities (because the prison is working closely with immigration authorities through the 287 (g)). And Jimenez says in the message: "The plan includes serious violations of constitutional rights of workers."
All the identities of those arrested is unknown, but one of them is called Carlos Gonzalez Aguirre, Jimenez said. It is still not known what happened to the detainees, if it ends in the hands of immigration authorities or not.
Even before the operation on Wednesday, activists contacted the officer Rafael Pantoja, Division of Community Affairs and the Houston Police let him know to pass the word to his superiors that "we intend to monitor implementation of the plan , especially as it comes to the issue of violation of civil rights and constitutional and that we will have a team of attorneys ready to arbitrary arrests when they occur during the operations. "



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