Largest illegal immigration raid takes place in MS
Largest illegal immigration raid takes place in MS
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 8/29/2008 4:00:00 AM
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U.S. citizens and legal residents stand to benefit from a recent immigration raid at a Mississippi plant, says an immigration reform activist in that state. According to news reports, it was the largest such round-up in U.S. history. The August 25 raid took place at the Howard Industries transformer plant in Laurel, Mississippi, where nearly 600 illegal aliens were detained.
News reports indicate that all entrances to the plant were sealed by armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, and that some of those arrested were taken to an undisclosed location after being interviewed on site. Company officials defended their hiring practices shortly after the arrests occurred, stating that it "runs every check allowed to ascertain the immigration status of all applicants for jobs."
Dr. Rodney Hunt is president of the Mississippi Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement (MFIRE). He is disturbed by reports that illegal immigrants at the plant were filling jobs that should have been given to U.S. citizens and legal residents.
"They include people doing wiring harnesses, [and] painters. These are jobs that Mississippians could be utilizing to take care of their families," he argues. The activist adds that there are reports that "some people were laid off last year and illegal immigrants were hired in their place."
Hunt argues that advocates for illegal immigration cannot continue to use children as an excuse for allowing aliens to break the law. "It's no different from any other person who breaks our laws. Their children suffer. Our prisons are full of lawbreakers whose children are suffering because they broke the law," he continues. "I think we should consider the people who are citizens and...legal residents instead of the illegal people [sic] that are here."
Officials did allow about 100 of the 595 detained workers to return home to their children after being fitted with electronic monitoring bracelets. Many of those who were arrested, however, have already been processed for removal from the U.S. Under Mississippi law, penalties that could levied agaianst Howard Industries include loss of a business license for a year and a ban on state contracts for up to three years.
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