Thread: ICE Raid Renews Questions About Obama Plans on Immigration R

ICE Raid Renews Questions About Obama Plans on Immigration Reform

Last week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided an engine factory in Bellingham, Washington and arrested 28 people for allegedly using fake i.d.’s to get jobs.

Though it was reportedly the first worksite immigration raid since President Obama took office, Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, afterwards said she didn’t know anything about it. She then ordered a review of the action.

The raid and mass arrests raise some curious questions about the Obama administration’s immigration policy. First, who’s in charge here? Both Napolitano and Obama have said they’ll crack down on employers who violate the immigration laws and exploit immigrant workers, not on the workers themselves. Last week’s raid suggests that either that message didn’t get out to ICE’s field offices, or the new leaders in charge aren’t truly committed to that plan. (In the past, ICE has been found to have conducted raids and arrests to meet quotas, according to an internal ICE report about a 2007 raid obtained recently by Casa de Maryland in a FOIA request.)

Last week’s raid also highlighted the need for comprehensive immigration reform, which Obama pledged to take on when he spoke on Spanish language radio stations the week before. The economic crisis has understandably taken precedence, but a coherent immigration policy laying out exactly who gets to live and work here and participate in the economy and pay taxes on their earnings is all necessary to development of a viable long-term economic policy. (This recent Brookings Institution study makes a case for allowing more of certain kinds of foreign energy scientists to work in the U.S., for example, and the blog Immigrant Power offers other interesting suggestions.)

In any event, the workplace raid last week shook up immigrants’ advocates.

“The President is clear about his plans for the economy, health care, education, Iraq and Afghanistan; we expect nothing less than a clear, consistent statement of his plan for immigration,â€

28 Jobs opened up for Americans after that raid. Great job I C E...Rounding up criminals AND opening up jobs for the American people....WIN WIN Situation enforcing laws....

why is Obama not giving interviews to Chinese, vietnamese, Russian, etc groups. Why is it always Spanish this or Spanish that. ENOUGH of this ethnic nonsense.

Originally Posted by alamb

why is Obama not giving interviews to Chinese, vietnamese, Russian, etc groups. Why is it always Spanish this or Spanish that. ENOUGH of this ethnic nonsense.

These illegal alien invaders and their ignorant supporters keep saying immigration is a federal "issue"....I call it a collosal problem...so why are they now bi*&( ing about it?????

Originally Posted by alamb

why is Obama not giving interviews to Chinese, vietnamese, Russian, etc groups. Why is it always Spanish this or Spanish that. ENOUGH of this ethnic nonsense.

How about granting some interviews to American Workers? He'd get an earful don't you think?

"Makalai said the range of wages for Yamato's production workers begins at $9 and can be as high as $25 to $30 for the most skilled. She and Dhanani said the loss of the workers left them scrambling to fill orders."

Excuse me....people would be lining up for those jobs in Bellingham. A lot of Boeing workers from the closed plant in Everett would take them.