Thread: Alien roundup provokes Huckabee scolding

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Alien roundup provokes Huckabee scolding
BY SETH BLOMELEY

Posted on Thursday, August 4, 2005

Gov. Mike Huckabee on Wednesday called last week’s federal roundup of 119 illegal aliens in Clark County "terribly planned" and wondered if it was "done for headlines." "Very little thought was given to what would happen to the children, who are by the way American citizens," Huckabee said on his monthly radio show. "I hope the next time the feds will operate with a little more common sense."

After the radio show Huckabee told reporters he would have at least given the illegal aliens a few days to gather belongings and figure out living arrangements for their children.

A spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau in New Or- leans said later that the agency doesn’t know whether the 30 to 35 children left behind after the raid are American citizens. "Our goal was to arrest people who have broken the law," said the spokesman, Temple Black. "And, in fact, these people had actual U.S. citizens’ documents and U.S. citizens’ birth certificates and U.S. citizens’ Social Security cards. These are folks that were breaking the law and were here illegally, of course. Whether it would be appropriate to give people who were lawbreakers five or six days’ notice I would have to say, ‘ No. ’"

The July 26 raid took place at the Petit Jean Poultry Inc. deboning plant at Gum Springs, just south of Arkadelphia. Poultry plant officials said they had no way of knowing the workers were illegal, since the workers had provided identification and were hired through the state’s employment security division.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Fort Smith has said the raid grew out of an investigation into a multistate identity-brokerage ring in which U.S. citizens sold documents containing their identifying information to a person in Arizona, who mailed them to a woman in Arkadelphia for resale to illegal aliens in the Clark County area.

Black said, "We as an agency are doing our best to restore the integrity of the U.S. immigration system by trying to arrest those who violate immigration and employment laws. Just for the record, the governor has not contacted either our offices or the local offices or our headquarters to discuss this issue. And we’d be more than happy to meet with him to discuss the issue."

Huckabee spokesman Jim Harris later wouldn’t say whether the governor had called the federal immigration service to express his concerns or whether he planned to do so.

On his show on the Arkansas Radio Network, Huckabee said that "we have a team of people in Arkadelphia" trying to help the children left behind. He said that includes representatives of his office and of the state Department of Human Services. "There was a total lack of communication between federal authorities and local officials, particularly the sheriff," Huckabee said. "He has an absolute right to be informed of something like this."

Black said that federal officials informed the Arkansas State Police of the raid and asked that state police inform the sheriff. But Black said he didn’t know how soon before the raid state police were informed.

Huckabee said the person behind the document scheme should be prosecuted with the "most intense hand of the law" because that person is "making money on the backs of the poorest persons in our labor force."

He also complained that the federal officials should have given the state more time "to assume the responsibilities" for caring for the children. "I have a lot of sympathy for the kids," Huckabee said.

Speaking to reporters after the show, Huckabee said his staff has found it hard to gather information in Arkadelphia to help the children because people who could help fear deportation themselves. "It’s a big mess," he said. "People are scared to death that they are going to be rounded up."

Asked if he would have preferred the federal officials allow the illegal aliens to stay in Arkansas, Huckabee said there’s a difference between "an illegal person working at a job plucking chickens â€â€

http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0805/249297.html

Huckabee Critical of Immigration Raid

Thursday August 04, 2005 11:13am
Little Rock (AP) - Governor Mike Huckabee is speaking out against federal agents who raided an Arkadelphia Chicken plant. Huckabee said it appears the arrests of 119 workers at the plant were terribly planned and that federal agents gave little thought to the consequences for children of those arrested.

Families and churches in the Arkadelphia area have been caring for about 30 children left behind after the July 26 raid. Huckabee has joined Hispanic civil rights leaders to ensure the well-being of the children. Immigration officials said they raided the plant after auditing the company's records.

The raid followed the February identity-theft conviction of an Arkadelphia woman who admitted she unlawfully sold identity documents and Social Security cards.The agents said many workers illegally purchased the documents and used them to obtain employment.




http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0805/249679.html

Gov. Huckabee Continues to Criticize Immigration Raid

Friday August 05, 2005 4:45pm Posted By: Keren Saltz

Little Rock - Governor Huckabee says he's not afraid of risking his political future by speaking out against a recent immigration raid at an Arkadelphia poultry plant even though he says calls to his office have been "about 1,000 to one'' against his position.
The governor says many of the callers are angry and use profanity. He says immigration is a very emotional issue and people become irrational over it.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 119 illegal workers July 26th in the raid at a Petit Jean poultry plant, sending 107 out of the country either voluntarily or through deportation.
The raid drew the fire of Huckabee and many in the community because about 30 children were left behind when their parents were arrested.
The governor's office has joined with the Mexican Consulate in Dallas, Catholic Charities and the League of United Latin American Citizens to ensure the well-being of the children. Huckabee, a Baptist minister, said his support for the state's growing Hispanic population has to do with compassion, not politics.