March 6, 2008, - 12:00 pm
More Than Half Illegals Rounded Up By ICE in “Major Raid” Still Here; ICE Princess Encourages Alien to Fight Deportation?!
By Debbie Schlussel
You know all of those phony show-raids that Julie Myers’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does so that she can go on FOX News and tell us how she won’t tolerate illegal aliens in the country and in the workplace?
Well, here’s more evidence of what a crock those raids are: More than half of the illegal aliens rounded up and arrested by ICE agents at a Massachusetts leather goods factory, a year ago, are still in the United States. Some are even back at that factory working. Shocker.
While most of the aliens that are still here are fighting their deportation in Immigration Court–and for that, ICE bears no responsibility–there are many who are still here and still working. That’s Myers’ a/k/a “The ICE Princess'” fault. Period. But what’s even more nauseating is that Myers applauds and defends those illegal aliens who are fighting in court to stay here with phony asylum cases. She’s applauding their clogging up the courts to delay deportation. Hello . . . ? Anyone inside that skull? What an idiot! I don’t have to wonder what her already extremely demoralized agents think of her encouragement of their detainees to fight deportation. Sick. And stoooopid.
Read it and weep:
A year after federal agents arrested 361 illegal workers at a New Bedford leather-goods factory, more than half of the workers are still believed to be in the United States, an outcome that is raising concerns on both sides of the heated immigration debate about the effectiveness of the operation.
After the raid on March 6, 2007, immigration officials vowed to sweep the detainees out of the country. But as of this week, only 165 — or about 46 percent — had been deported. The rest are fighting for asylum or visas in immigration court, and one man is still in jail in Texas.
The immigration agency cannot account for the whereabouts of 35 people who were processed and released at the scene the day of the raid, but lawyers believe nearly all of those former workers are also still in the country. . . .
“I think the United States made a plan that didn’t work,” said Anibal Lucas, an activisit with the Maya K’iche Organization, a group that advocates for Guatemalans of Mayan descent in New Bedford. “It was a loss and waste of money.” [DS: Darn right, since they’re mostly still here.]
Jessica Vaughan, senior policy analyst with the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, which favors limits on immigration, called the delays cause for concern. She said she is unsure who deserves the blame: overwhelmed immigration courts or lawyers clogging up the system with hard-to-win claims. . . .
“I am concerned about the length of time that it’s taking,” she said. “No matter what the outcome is we should be concerned about that. If the outcome is in their favor, or not in their favor, it’s way too long. We ought to be able to provide a swifter resolution to this.”
Julie L. Myers, the assistant secretary of homeland security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pointed out that a significant number of immigrants had been deported. She said it was “appropriate” for the others to be fighting to stay in court, as the law allows.
“I certainly understand the frustration, if there’s frustration on the American public’s part, but that’s certainly the immigration court’s process and I think it’s fair that it plays out,” Myers said during a news conference at the Tip O’Neill Federal Building in Boston today. . . .
Lawyers for immigrants say they believe dozens of people will qualify for asylum. . . . “It’s a significant group of people who are going forward on their cases,” said lawyer John Willshire Carrera, of Greater Boston Legal Services, who, with Nancy Kelly and Catholic Charities, is leading teams of lawyers on the cases. “This crowd is not running.” . . . But the courts are so busy that many hearings will not be scheduled until next year. . . .
Others went back to work illegally, cleaning houses, working in other factories. . . . Already the immigrants are pursuing a class-action lawsuit against Bianco for payment of overtime wages.
A woman in her 30s from a village in El Salvador said she started working a few months ago because her three children were struggling for money. Back home, she had earned $3 a day as a waitress at a restaurant. At Bianco, she earned $8 an hour — a huge leap.
The money made a huge difference back home, she said. . . . She said, she still owes the man who smuggled her across the border part of his $6,000 fee. . . .
A year later, she views the raid, and its outcome, with disbelief. People are scattered, but some are sneaking back in and others are back to work.
Heckuva Job, ICE Princess.
(Thanks to reader Chip for the tip.)
Tags: Anibal Lucas, Assistant Secretary, Boston, Center for Immigration Studies, David Lunde, El Salvador, Greater Boston Legal Services, Immigration Court, Jessica Vaughan, John Willshire Carrera, Julie L. Myers, Julie Myers Diet Coke, lawyer, Maya K'iche Organization, Nancy Kelly, Princess, reader Chip, Salvador, senior policy analyst, Texas, Tip O'Neill Federal Building, United States, USD, waitress, Washington
SHE understands the frustration?!? What frustration is that? The frustration of Immigration Judges that give legal advice? The frustration of Catholic Charities assisting foreign invaders? The frustration of American citizens turning a blind eye to their loss of identity? Or just the frustration of having a job where the people in charge consider the employees the enemy? If she understands these frustrations, I empathize. But if she really understands what’s fair and right, those numbers of people still here illegally would be a lot lower and I’d feel safer.
ezranter on March 6, 2008 at 4:04 pm