Immigration Raids Coming Sooner Near You....Why?
4/27/08- April 17th- 317 illegal immigrants
arrested at Pilgrim’s Pride Factory poultry plants in 5 states, April 16th-
20 arrested at a donut factory in Houston, April 8th-51 arrested at
Landsdowne Resort in Virginia, March 21st- 34 workers arrested at
the Memphis International Airport….and the story just continues.
The raids are happening with much more frequency
say immigration experts.
Why?
We spoke to Andrea Black of the Detention Watch
Network & Paromita Shah of the National Immigration Project of the National
Lawyers Guild.
Part of the issue is the law, part of the issue is a
growing budget to fight illegal immigration, part of the issue is public
attention on the matter….Experts say it seems to be a combination of many
factors such as those above culminating in increasing immigration crackdowns.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement say Black and
Shah is the 2nd largest law enforcement agency in the country. Black and Shah say ICE is working to enforce
a U.S government mandate of removing all illegal aliens from the U.S. by 2012. (Does this remind anyone of what Germany
tried to do back in the mid 1900s?)
One of the concerns of the increasing crackdown by
ICE is the separation of families, people, belongings, displaced children…..What
happens after the immigration raids? Who is responsible for the abandoned cars
in the parking lots…the children left at home. How do children find their
parents? What happens to the apartment
buildings which have furniture and belongings of immigrants who are now being
detained?
Experts say there is a growing “climate of fear” in
the U.S. from the increasing spotlight on the immigration issue. There have been arrests at Greyhound,
Amtrak, on the streets, reports by teachers, reports by health clinics…
How much more can this country take? It feels like a hunt for immigrants who are
trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. Why not devote the 1.2 Billion dollars that
was spent last year on detaining immigrants to something more useful. Scholarships for students in the U.S.,
fixing roads…something.
Instead, we are alienating a large part of people
who are living here…whether we like it…or not.
-El Pundit
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