Metro International
April 8, 2009
By Mark Puleo
When Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano recently announced that the DHS would place a temporary halt on workplace immigration raids, most right-wing pundits portrayed it as an all-encompassing amnesty for undocumented workers.
In reality, Napolitano merely postponed immigration raids following the February 24 sweep of an engine-parts maker in Bellingham, Wash., which netted 28 arrests. Napolitano expressed concern that she was not properly notified in advance — the clear implication being that the first raid carried out under the Obama administration was planned and orchestrated by his predecessor.
But despite conservative claims that she is risking national security by postponing future raids, the review could change the focus of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the better.
Currently, ICE raids tend to disproportionately affect working immigrants with children while overlooking harsher criminal elements.
According to Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, the raids focus on the wrong people. “We’d rather see DHS spending tax dollars on finding drug smugglers, not harassing window washers,” Noorani stated.
The Bellingham raids follow the local case of an ICE raid barely two years ago at the Michael Bianco factory in New Bedford. Over 350 immigrants were detained and approximately 100 shipped thousands of miles away before Child Services casework managers could determine childcare needs. To date, dozens remain in detention centers.
Napolitano is right to analyze how ICE conducts its raids and determine if they are an effective use of department resources. Besides not addressing the underlying problems of illegal immigration, these raids divide families despite the myth that undocumented immigrants who have American-born children are somehow immune from deportation.
“It’s sad but true,” says Noorani, “that our antiquated immigration system does nothing to account for the fact that families are contributing to our economy and merely want to call America home.”
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