Immigration Raid in Small Washington Town Shakes Residents
Immigration Raid in Small Washington Town Shakes Residents
Published January 22, 2011
Immigration agents raided several mobile home parks in Ellensberg, Wash. early Thursday, arresting more than two dozen immigrants and leaving many children without immediate childcare, residents said.
More than 200 people turned out at a central Washington church to discuss the raids. Those attending the meeting included faculty members and students from the hometown Central Washington University.
"I have children. How would I feel if it happened to me and they snatched me and sent me somewhere and left my kids behind?" said attendee Raymond Hall, CWU professor of African-American folklore. "Especially if the reason I came here in the first place was to make a better life for them."
Many Latinos in the community nervously hid behind closed doors Friday following the raids, which occurred Thursday at three mobile home parks.
Thirty people were arrested or detained, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Sixteen of those were being held on immigration violations at a detention center.
Two ICE agents apprehend an undocumented person.
Another fourteen people — including 13 women, one of them pregnant, and a man who is a longtime church pastor — made initial court appearances Friday on charges of using false documents or falsely claiming U.S. citizenship, One was charged with re-entry into the United States after deportation.
In a statement, ICE officials said the investigation centered on the manufacture and purchase of counterfeit identity and employment documents.
However, as of Friday, none of those arrested faced those charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Rice said.
"Those who create and sell fraudulent documents compromise our nation's legal identification system and provide counterfeit identities to those who may otherwise be ineligible to live or work legally in the United States," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of the agency's Homeland Security Investigations in Washington state.
In Yakima, tearful relatives, some holding sleeping babies, looked on in court, as a toddler happily crawled on the floor.
"All of our friends are in there, our families, our extended families," said Helen Lopez. "It's our whole community. And it's all of our women — mothers."
Lopez and her husband, Armando, were still searching for his sister, who was being held on an immigration violation. They now are caring for the sister's two young children along with their own four children.
Ricardo Gonzalez, 17, fought tears as he watched immigration agents lead away his mother and father in handcuffs, minutes after entering the family's mobile home in the early morning raid.
Gonzalez said agents also briefly handcuffed Gonzalez and his 15-year-old and 19-year-old brothers.
"My heart was destroyed. I knew my life wasn't going to be the same," he said. "I felt bad for my older brother, because he's almost 20 and he has to take care of a family now."
Silvia Barrientos said the trailer park where the raid happened is now empty.
"Very few are left," she said. "They know Mexicans live in the trailer park, and here the agents came."
Barrientos' husband was preparing to go to work when police and immigration agents arrived at the trailer park with guns drawn. She said they were shouting orders and knocking down doors, including her brother-in-law's.
"They're saying they're criminals. They're not criminals," Barrientos said.
Barrientos said her brother-in-law, Gilberto, and his wife were arrested and authorities didn't tell her why.
She said Gilberto Barrientos has been a pastor at the Iglesia Pentecostal Monte Sinai, a local church for the Latino Community, for more than 10 years. Friday afternoon, several church members gathered in the church's basement to talk about the raid.
Barrientos said she was asked to take in Gilberto's 15-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter, whom she described as being petrified. On Friday afternoon, a family friend had taken them out to distract them. She said they were afraid to go to school.
Michelle Bibich, principal at Morgan Middle School, said no agents showed up at the school Thursday, but that word spread quickly about the raids, worrying the students. About 13 percent of the school's 700 students are Hispanic.
"Our kids, regardless of race and ethnicity, were concerned for their friends and their friends' families," Bibich said. "It was pretty traumatic."
David Ayala, organizing director for Seattle-based OneAmerica, the state's largest immigrant advocacy group, said his group is sending volunteers to help the families deal with the raid's aftermath.
"It's sad how this happened," Ayala said. "The crimes these people are accused of ... they are crimes done because they want to work."
This is based on a story by The Associated Press.
Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politi ... z1BnJATGLw
Re: Immigration Raid in Small Washington Town Shakes Residen
[quote="stevetheroofer"]Immigration Raid in Small Washington Town Shakes Residents
Published January 22, 2011
Immigration agents raided several mobile home parks in Ellensberg, Wash. early Thursday, arresting more than two dozen immigrants and leaving many children without immediate childcare, residents said.
More than 200 people turned out at a central Washington church to discuss the raids. Those attending the meeting included faculty members and students from the hometown Central Washington University.
"I have children. How would I feel if it happened to me and they snatched me and sent me somewhere and left my kids behind?" said attendee Raymond Hall, CWU professor of African-American folklore. "Especially if the reason I came here in the first place was to make a better life for them."
Many Latinos in the community nervously hid behind closed doors Friday following the raids, which occurred Thursday at three mobile home parks.
Thirty people were arrested or detained, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Sixteen of those were being held on immigration violations at a detention center.
Two ICE agents apprehend an undocumented person.
Another fourteen people — including 13 women, one of them pregnant, and a man who is a longtime church pastor — made initial court appearances Friday on charges of using false documents or falsely claiming U.S. citizenship, One was charged with re-entry into the United States after deportation.
In a statement, ICE officials said the investigation centered on the manufacture and purchase of counterfeit identity and employment documents.
However, as of Friday, none of those arrested faced those charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Rice said.
"Those who create and sell fraudulent documents compromise our nation's legal identification system and provide counterfeit identities to those who may otherwise be ineligible to live or work legally in the United States," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of the agency's Homeland Security Investigations in Washington state.
In Yakima, tearful relatives, some holding sleeping babies, looked on in court, as a toddler happily crawled on the floor.
"All of our friends are in there, our families, our extended families," said Helen Lopez. "It's our whole community. And it's all of our women — mothers."
Lopez and her husband, Armando, were still searching for his sister, who was being held on an immigration violation. They now are caring for the sister's two young children along with their own four children.
Ricardo Gonzalez, 17, fought tears as he watched immigration agents lead away his mother and father in handcuffs, minutes after entering the family's mobile home in the early morning raid.
Gonzalez said agents also briefly handcuffed Gonzalez and his 15-year-old and 19-year-old brothers.
"My heart was destroyed. I knew my life wasn't going to be the same," he said. "I felt bad for my older brother, because he's almost 20 and he has to take care of a family now."
Silvia Barrientos said the trailer park where the raid happened is now empty.
"Very few are left," she said. "They know Mexicans live in the trailer park, and here the agents came."
Barrientos' husband was preparing to go to work when police and immigration agents arrived at the trailer park with guns drawn. She said they were shouting orders and knocking down doors, including her brother-in-law's.
"They're saying they're criminals. They're not criminals," Barrientos said.
Barrientos said her brother-in-law, Gilberto, and his wife were arrested and authorities didn't tell her why.
She said Gilberto Barrientos has been a pastor at the Iglesia Pentecostal Monte Sinai, a local church for the Latino Community, for more than 10 years. Friday afternoon, several church members gathered in the church's basement to talk about the raid.
Barrientos said she was asked to take in Gilberto's 15-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter, whom she described as being petrified. On Friday afternoon, a family friend had taken them out to distract them. She said they were afraid to go to school.
Michelle Bibich, principal at Morgan Middle School, said no agents showed up at the school Thursday, but that word spread quickly about the raids, worrying the students. About 13 percent of the school's 700 students are Hispanic.
"Our kids, regardless of race and ethnicity, were concerned for their friends and their friends' families," Bibich said. "It was pretty traumatic."
David Ayala, organizing director for Seattle-based OneAmerica, the state's largest immigrant advocacy group, said his group is sending volunteers to help the families deal with the raid's aftermath.
"It's sad how this happened," Ayala said. "The crimes these people are accused of ... they are crimes done because they want to work."
This is based on a story by The Associated Press.
Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politi ... tion-raid-
\
small-washington-town-shakes-residents/#ixzz1BnJATGLw[/quote
way to go Ice
as for the work the American ar e first at all jobs Not Mexico or any
other country .
Raid in same town go . go shakes the Residents up
well you all should Have stay the hell In Mexico .
arrested them all * ship them all the hell home
I don't feel sorry for any of you .
:twisted: No Amnesty :twisted: :twisted:
Ellensburg Community Outraged Over Immigration Raid
Ellensburg Community Outraged Over Immigration Raid
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WATCH IT: Ellensburg Community Demands Answers
More than 200 residents attended a meeting Friday night in Ellensburg to voice their outrage over the immigration raids that took...
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WATCH IT: Ellensburg Community Demands Answers More than 200 residents attended a meeting Friday night in Ellensburg to voice their outrage over the immigration raids that took...
Posted: 10:46 am PST January 22, 2011
Updated: 3:36 pm PST January 22, 2011
ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- The Ellensburg community met Friday night to confront authorities on the recent immigration raids that shook up a small central Washington community.
Ricardo Gonzalez, 17, of Ellensburg told KIRO 7 that both of his parents were arrested in the raid that took place early Thursday morning.
"My mom opened the door and I heard her screaming 'Why, why?' and then I heard someone say 'Everybody come out with your hands up in the air," Gonzalez said.
Several community members expressed outrage at the tactics used by federal agents and questioned whether another raid was planned. The county undersheriff said there are currently no plans for another immigration raid.
WATCH IT: Ellensburg Community Demands Answers
WATCH IT: Anger, Pain In Ellensburg's Mexican Community
The Ellensburg Daily Record reported earlier this week that agents with police and Kittitas County sheriff's deputies using a helicopter served 11 search warrants and made an undisclosed number of arrests.
The Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that they had arrested 14 people and taken another 16 into custody. The 14 arrested were scheduled to make initial court appearances on Friday, DHS officials said.
Thirteen of the people arrested were charged with visa fraud and government identification fraud, and three of the 13 have also been charged with a false claim to U.S. citizenship, DHS said. The one remaining person of the 14 has been charged with re-entry into the U.S. after deportation, according to DHS.
"Those who create and sell fraudulent documents compromise our nation's legal identification system and provide counterfeit identities to those who may otherwise be ineligible to live or work legally in the United States," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Washington. "Targeting those who commit this type of crime is an enforcement priority for HSI."
DHS said the 16 others were taken into custody on administrative immigration violations. Three of them were released "for humanitarian reasons" while they await a hearing before an immigration judge, and the rest are in the custody, according to DHS.
In addition to the activism by the local community, a Seattle-based immigration rights group said it is sending volunteers to Ellensburg to help the families of those who were arrested.
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