Thread: Immigration: No Enforcement During Evacuations

Immigration: No Enforcement During Evacuations

ICE Seeks to Reassure Immigrants Concerned That Fleeing Gustav Will Lead to Arrest

JACK DATE
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2008

After being contacted by a number of churches in the New Orleans area about fears among the illegal immigrant community that evacuating might lead to trouble with the law, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are trying to get the word out that they are not conducting any immigration enforcement during the evacuation.

Immigration officials sought to respond to a wariness on the part of immigrants in the New Orleans area to join the exodus from the city, pictured on Aug. 29, 2008.
(Stephen Morton/Getty Images)According to ICE officials, churches are reporting that many in the immigrant community are reluctant to board evacuation busses, worried that they will be asked for documentation or even be arrested.

Related
Gustav Devastates Cuba, but None Die'You've Got to Go': New Orleans Mayor Wants Everyone to EvacuateGustav Suspends Convention's First DayICE spokesperson Kelly Nantel tells ABC News that "There are no immigration enforcement operations, and there are no immigration enforcement checkpoints associated with the evacuations. "

"The Department of Homeland Security's top priorities in any emergency are life-saving and life-sustaining activities. We want to ensure the safe and swift evacuation of all individuals in the affected region," Nantel added.


ICE is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE personnel are preparing to assist with rescue and recovery efforts after the storm passes.

Just last week in Laurel, Miss., ICE conducted the largest single worksite enforcement action in the agency's history, detaining 595 suspected illegal immigrants at a manufacturing plant.

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/story?id=5697052&page=1

I would not want to endanger ICE, they should not be in harms way.
Rest up for the next big enforcement action. After the storm

I hope that this time they do not give a free pass to those contractors employing illegal aliens in the clean up.

related Post at
http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-130178-0.html

Think about the number of buses, etc. it takes to evacuate illegals. The last figure I saw was around 10,000. THey should NOT be here to be evacuated, taking up time and space that should be dedicated to citizens!

Didn't LA pass some kind of measure aimed at illegals? I might have the wrong state.

See this should serve as an example of limiting population growth! In circumstances like these over population will put too many lives at risk of not being able to evacuate because of over crowding and not enough man power to safely move these people elsewhere. ON top of having to evacuate citizens we also have to pay to evacuate illegals who have no business here. Will they to get free food, clothing, and shelter meant for citizens? I think they should get a free bus ride home, no better time to deport these criminals.

Originally Posted by gemini282

I think they should get a free bus ride home, no better time to deport these criminals.

I agree, evacuate them to Mexico or wherever they are from!

I.C.E. said that they wouldn't be checking IDs of the people leaving the coastal area. But they didn't say that they wouldn't be checking IDs when people start to return to the area.