Thread: IA: Is a big raid coming?

U.S. lease of Waterloo fairgrounds raises questions
By WILLIAM PETROSKI • REGISTER STAFF WRITER • May 6, 2008

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/p ... /805060374

Federal officials have imposed a news blackout at the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo, where they have leased almost the entire property through May 25.

Tim Counts, a Midwest spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, declined to say Monday whether an immigration raid is pending that would use the fairgrounds as a detention center.



"ICE never talks about our investigative activity or possible future enforcement actions," Counts said. "Regarding the exercise in Waterloo, there is currently no publicly releasable information about that, so we aren't releasing any."

He declined to say whether the "exercise" involves training or an immigration enforcement operation.

"We expect that at some point there will be additional information available, but I can't speculate at what point that might be," Counts said.

In December 2006, ICE conducted an immigration raid at the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Marshalltown. Many workers were transported to Camp Dodge in Johnston, where military barracks were used as temporary detention facilities. A total of 1,282 Swift workers were arrested in Iowa and five other states in the biggest crackdown in history on immigration violations at one company.

The Waterloo Courier on Sunday reported that contractors have installed generators adjacent to many buildings at the fairgrounds.

In addition, windows on many buildings have been covered up, blocking views inside. A number of mobile-home-size trailers have been transported to the privately owned grounds.

Doug Miller, general manager of the Cattle Congress, declined Monday to release a copy of his group's rental contract with U.S. General Services Administration. He also indicated he was in the dark about what's happening inside the fairgrounds.

"I have no idea. They are conducting whatever exercise they are conducting without telling me all the details of it. I don't have any information to share with you, really," Miller said.

Representatives of Gov. Chet Culver and U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley said they had no information about what was happening at the Cattle Congress fairgrounds.

At Grassley's request, his staff called ICE officials on Monday.

"During the call, the ICE officials would neither confirm nor deny anything to Senator Grassley's staff," said Beth Pellett Levine, a Grassley aide.

Armando Villareal, administrator of the Iowa Division of Latino Affairs, said he hadn't heard any reports about impending immigration raids. But he added that many Latinos in Iowa are feeling tension and fear.

"Folks have resigned themselves that something terrible is going to happen between now and the election. It is more like a resignation that something is going to happen," Villareal said.

Sounds interesting.

I can't imagine ICE conducting a large scale raid during an election year. Will be a token effort at most in my opinion.

ICE presence in Waterloo stokes fears in Hispanic community
1:34 PM
By Jens Manuel Krogstad, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

WATERLOO -- The presence of immigration officials at National Cattle Congress in Waterloo has stoked fears of an impending raid and caused some in the Hispanic community to avoid workplaces and public areas.

Four days after The Courier first reported the installation of trailers, generators and ventilation equipment on the grounds, the presence of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement remains a mystery. Tim Counts, an ICE spokesman in the Twin Cities, refused comment on Tuesday. He said he didn’t know when, or if, the agency would explain its activities.

NCC officials said they were told the grounds were rented for a training exercise and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was involved. FEMA and ICE both fall under the command of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

On April 24, FEMA announced it was conducting a national-level training exercise in May to prepare and respond to multiple incidents including both natural disasters and terrorist incidents. Exercise scenarios included a Category 4 hurricane impacting the mid-Atlantic coast and the national Capitol complex; multiple terrorist attacks in Washington state; and an accidental chemical release at a chemical depot in Oregon.

The FEMA release did not specify the location or locations of the exercise, some of the objectives of which are to test communications and interagency coordination.

While the release indicated a combined functional and full-scale exercise would be conducted May 1-8, the government has leased the NCC grounds through May 25.

Neither NCC nor the federal government would confirm whether federal officials are using the NCC grounds as part of the national exercise. In response to an inquiry by The Courier, U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley’s office requested a briefing on the use of the NCC grounds, but was told ICE officials would neither confirm nor deny anything. Similarly, U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley’s office was unable to obtain additional information.

Mark Grey, an immigration expert and University of Northern Iowa professor, said the grounds at NCC appear to have a capacity similar to that the Iowa National Guard armory in Fort Dodge. That is where authorities held suspects after a 2006 raid of a Swift meat processing plant in Marshalltown.

But in that instance, he said, authorities kept their plans secret.

I ask myself, ‘What are they planning, and why are they being so bloody obvious about it?’ he said. Maybe it is a training exercise, but why would they go to all that expense?

Laura de Gomez, owner of La Placita, a grocery store and restaurant, said she received a call Sunday from a woman wondering if it was safe to make a trip to the store for food. It is one of many frantic calls and questions de Gomez and other leaders in the Latino community have fielded in recent days.

Not everyone concerned about an immigration raid lives in the country illegally, de Gomez noted. Many legal residents have family and friends at risk of deportation.

Gomez and other community leaders said the refusal by ICE officials to comment has frustrated efforts to calm fears.

After people whispered false rumors about immigration arrests at Saturday’s Cinco de Mayo celebration in downtown Waterloo, de Gomez took to the air on Radio La Buena, a Spanish-language radio station in Cedar Falls, to give people the latest news.

It’s very distressing sometimes because you don’t know what to tell people, she said. The thing I’m concerned about is that the rumors start getting crazy and it causes panic.

The Rev. Jose Comparan, who leads the Hispanic ministry at Queen of Peace Catholic Church, said he first heard rumors of an immigration raid a few weeks ago. People told him workers were fired from the Tyson meatpacking plant in Waterloo because they lacked proper documentation, and they assumed a raid would soon follow.

Grey, the UNI professor, said when companies know a raid is coming, they often will fully cooperate with federal authorities to avoid prosecution. He has heard persistent rumor that companies engage in pre-emptive firings to avoid legal trouble, but said he has no proof of such actions.

Tyson Foods spokesman Gary Mickelson would not comment on the alleged firings. In an e-mailed statement, he said the company has zero tolerance for unauthorized workers.

If the worker is unable to resolve any discrepancies in their documentation, then they are released from employment, he said.

Alexandra Frazier, a case worker at El Centro Latinoamericano, helped two natives of the Dominican Republic after they said they were let go.

Francisco Vilorio Correa, 60, and Tinidad Noemi del Carmen, 30, said Tyson Foods fired them on April 23 because, despite their best efforts, they couldn’t prove their legal status to the company’s satisfaction. They estimated they were two of more than 20 people fired that day.

The pair said they double-checked their documents with a local Social Security office and presented them to Tyson again two days later in hopes of returning to the production line. But management, they said, told them their documents a Social Security number, a state-issued ID and a passport were not sufficient to prove their legal status.

In an e-mailed statement, Mickelson did not confirm or deny the workers’ story, and did not comment on the timing of the alleged firings.

As part of our best management practices we regularly audit the work authorization documents we have on file, however, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further since we consider individual personnel matters confidential, he said.

Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.

Link

Originally Posted by MadInChicago

Armando Villareal, administrator of the Iowa Division of Latino Affairs, said he hadn't heard any reports about impending immigration raids. But he added that many Latinos in Iowa are feeling tension and fear.

"Folks have resigned themselves that something terrible is going to happen between now and the election. It is more like a resignation that something is going to happen," Villareal said.

Ooh...

"Tension and fear". "Tension and fear".

Sort of like the "Tension and fear" American citizens feel when they are shot or robbed by illegal Mexican aliens?

Representatives of Gov. Chet Culver and U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley said they had no information about what was happening at the Cattle Congress fairgrounds.

At Grassley's request, his staff called ICE officials on Monday.

"During the call, the ICE officials would neither confirm nor deny anything to Senator Grassley's staff," said Beth Pellett Levine, a Grassley aide.

Our elected politicians in Congress have absolutely no business involving themselves in the enforcement activities of our federal law enforcement agencies. It's their job to write the laws, not get intimate with enforcement procedures. If they have a problem with our laws being enforced as written, then they can attempt to change the law. It is not their place to constantly interfere! That's part of the problem we're having now, too much interference from politicians who don't agree with the laws as written.

Gee one day there marching and yelling in the streets waving commie and Mexican flags and the next week looking over there shoulder in fear.

"Folks have resigned themselves that something terrible is going to happen between now and the election. It is more like a resignation that something is going to happen," Villareal said.

Terrible is the invasion of the ILLEGALS! Great is the ILLEGALS returning to their home country!

Originally Posted by lccat

"Folks have resigned themselves that something terrible is going to happen between now and the election. It is more like a resignation that something is going to happen," Villareal said.

Terrible is the invasion of the ILLEGALS! Great is the ILLEGALS returning to their home country!

Yes, going home to do the jobs the other Mexicans wont do!

It’s very distressing sometimes because you don’t know what to tell people, she said. The thing I’m concerned about is that the rumors start getting crazy and it causes panic.

Here's what you tell them. You tell them to pack their bags and go back to wherever they came from. Just go, far away, preferably headed south, across that border they crossed illegally to get here.