Immigration rights group leads effort to prevent feds from making raids at festivals and public events
By Scott Condon
The Aspen Times
June, 29 2011
A Colorado immigration rights group and Latinos in the lower Roaring Fork Valley circulated a petition Tuesday and Wednesday that “condemns” U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) and the Garfield County Sheriff's Office for an operation June 18 at Strawberry Days in Glenwood Springs.
The Colorado Immigration Rights Coalition (CIRC) said the petition was signed by organizers of numerous events, including Mountain Fair in Carbondale, and business operators “that cater to the Latino community.”
The petition will be delivered to ICE and the Sheriff's Office as soon as possible, before more community festivals are held, the immigrants' rights group said.
“The hope of the local leaders is that ICE and the sheriff will hold off on further public displays of immigration enforcement in the Roaring Fork Valley and focus on methods that do not create fear and distrust in the communities they serve,” a press release from the organization said.
The total number of organizations and individuals that signed the petition wasn't available Wednesday because workers were still circulating it in Glenwood Springs and Carbondale, said CIRC spokesman Alan Kaplan.
The Basalt Town Council was asked by a handful of midvalley residents at its meeting Tuesday night to sign the petition. The council concluded it wouldn't be appropriate for a number of reasons, Mayor Leroy Duroux said.
First, the town has no power to tell a federal agency how to conduct its business, he said. In addition, the mayor felt that signing the petition might mark Basalt as a “target” for the agency. Finally, Duroux said, signing the petition could give Latinos a false sense of security that they cannot be arrested or detained on immigration issues at a public event in the town.
Basalt Councilman Peter McBride said it was clear the council majority didn't support arrests at public events, if they can be avoided. However, the councilmembers said they didn't know all the details of the arrests at Strawberry Days in Glenwood Springs, so they didn't feel they could weigh in on the debate.
McBride said he and other councilmembers told the concerned residents who approached them Tuesday night that they wouldn't allow their police department to make sweeps at public events and make arrests in front of family, children and friends when there is no pressing issue.
“We said we don't want that behavior to happen in Basalt,” McBride said. Arrests should be made “in a more civil manner,” he said.
However, Basalt Police Chief Roderick O'Connor told the council that ICE has the discretion of informing the police department or not when it undertakes an operation in Basalt.
“That's the federal government. They trump us,” McBride said.
Councilwoman Jacque Whitsitt said, “Basalt can only control their own policies and their policies are solid.”
Whitsitt said she told the concerned residents that they should form an organization that tracks and builds awareness about ICE procedures in the valley. The organization, she said, should include Anglos. She volunteered to help them set up the organization.
CIRC board member and midvalley resident Edgar Niebla said he understood the council's position, although he and the other Latinos who attended the meeting had hoped the board would sign the petition. Nevertheless, they appreciated the board's empathy for the residents' concerns.
“Hearing that from the Town Council was a big step for us,” Niebla said.
The broader goal of the petition drive is to force ICE, and cooperating local agencies, to adhere to the federal agency's policies not to do raids “where children and families are present,” Niebla said.
ICE's Homeland Security Investigations conducted a joint operation in Glenwood Springs with the Garfield County Sheriff's Office that resulted in the arrests of “three known gang members” — two on Saturday, June 18 at Strawberry Days and another on Tuesday, June 21, the agency said. One party was arrested on criminal charges, the other two are in ICE custody on immigration violations.
The CIRC petition says the raid works against efforts to attract tourist dollars to the Roaring Fork Valley and improve the economy. It claims news of the “irresponsible raid” spread among the Latino community quickly and threatens to keep people away from further festivals and public events in Garfield County and elsewhere in the Roaring Fork Valley. The raids “have created an environment of fear in the Hispanic and immigrant communities that will negatively impact businesses in the Valley for months if not years to come.”
ICE said in an earlier statement that gang-related activities had been reported at previous Strawberry Days festivals. The arrest of the gang members was intended to make the event safer for families.
A statement by Carl Rusnok, ICE director of communications, Central Region, challenged CIRC's allegation that the raid was highly disruptive or created an atmosphere of fear for residents not wanted on criminal charges. ICE officials worked with the Garfield County Sheriff's Office to position an unmarked command post more than 400 yards from the festival area, Rusnok said.
“ICE agents arrested three gang members during the festival. No other arrests were made,” Rusnok said. “The discrete positioning of the command post and the ICE agents was specifically designed to minimize disruption to those attending the festival, while also providing significant security to them at the same time.”
Rusnok said he was unaware of the petition being circulated, so he couldn't immediately comment on it.
CIRC said signees included organizers of Mountain Fair, First Friday in Carbondale and Club Rotario in Glenwood Springs.
Jack Real, chair of the Garfield County Democrats, signed the petition, according to CIRC. Garfield County businesses that signed the document included Gloria's, Valley Meats, La Perla Fashion, Garcia's Cafe, El Pollo Rico, El Horizonte Restaurant, Tortilleria la Roca, Mi Casita Restaurant and Tequilas Restaurant.
scondon@aspentimes.com
Showing posts with label Expulsions in CO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Expulsions in CO. Show all posts
Friday, July 1, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Breaking: Immigrant To Be Deported After Father's Day Weekend Bust
By Tim Paynter
Technocrati
June 27, 2011
If undocumented immigrant Julio Alvarez had any idea waiting for his children on the Bouncy Castle ride at the Strawberry Days Festival in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, was going to end with his deportation, he never would have spent Father’s Day weekend, 2011 with his children. Garfield County Sheriff’s Deputies approached Julio and his brother Cesar, and asked them to follow the deputies to a mobile command station, leaving the Alvarez children unsupervised. The Sheriff’s Office suggests they were not at fault for leaving the kids alone because the Alvarez brothers “consented” to go with them.
When Julio’s wife, Lorenza, who was seven months pregnant, could not find either her children, or the brothers, she panicked and called carnival security, who likely knew exactly where Julio and Cesar were: Under arrest, having been handed over to ICE. The Sheriff's Office takes credit for calling the ambulance when Lorenza became distraught and had to be transported to the hospital.
News travels fast in the Latino community about ICE raids. News travels fast amongst English speakers in the small town of Glenwood Springs, famous for it’s hot springs, that the cops had chased a man through the carnival earlier in the day, presumably when he did not "consent" to their request to have a little chat. Neither immigrants, Latinos nor English speaking families wanted anything to to with law enforcement’s version of playing rough house in an amusement park, and the carnival went nearly vacant on Sunday. That is the day when merchants depend upon recouping their investment in the festival.
Small town sheriff’s departments rely on citizens to cooperate with law enforcement to do their job. As it turns out, the Garfield County Sheriff got the bright idea of inviting ICE to their carnival, a move which alienated everyone. Who wants to take their tiny tots and pregnant wives to places where aggressive police actions are in process?
According the the Sheriff’s Office, ICE got involved as part of a “Multi-Jurisdictional Gang Enforcement Operation” which took ICE away from protecting our borders and netted the huge sum of three individuals including Julio, who claims he is a father and not a member of a gang. His only crme was wearing a sports shirt and being Latino.
The Sheriff’s Office has responded, not by taking responsibility for it’s actions, but by blaming bad press on a local organizer, Brendan Greene of the Colorado Immigrants Rights Coalition (CIRC). Fearing no one, the Sheriff's press release stated Mr. Green's "Lies and false propaganda" had forced them to put out additional press releases . There was some confusion as to the day of the Alvarez arrest, as if that makes ICE operations in sensitive areas appropriate. Early press reports said the event happened on Father’s Day. The deputies robbed the Alvarez children of their daddy on Father’s Day by arresting Julio Saturday night of the Father’s Day weekend.
While the City of Glenwood Springs will have a tough time winning Latino participation in future Strawberry Days Festival events, despite the Festival having a 114 year history, the true loser is Julie Alvarez and his wife and children. The Garfield County Sheriff’s Department, again fearing no one, released the criminal background histories of the men they arrested. Cesar, whom they released after Lorenza Alvarez plead with officers to let him go since he was the sole caretaker of his two children, had no arrest record whatever.
Julio was the big catch between the two. According to the Sheriff's Office press release, this tough "gang member" was found guilty of driving while ability impaired (DWAI), a misdemeanor, in May of 2005, and reentry into the US to be with his children. That record puts Julio into the rapid repatriation process, meaning it takes little judicial oversight to put him on a bus. National Public Radio says he may be bounced back home before this article is printed.
Meanwhile, ICE and Sheriff Lou Vallario of Garfield County Claim victory, with the Sheriff insisting Alvarez’s single DWAI constitutes a serious criminal background history. The Sheriff can likely count out cooperation by the immigrant community he has terrorized for future help in trying to nab those less serious criminals like child molesters and drug dealers. The Alvarez Children might meet those kinds of predators one day, since they will be making their way in life with no father to guide them unless a miracle happens.
http://technorati.com/politics/article/breaking-immigrant-to-be-deported-after/page-2/#ixzz1Qxv8YkVC
Technocrati
June 27, 2011
If undocumented immigrant Julio Alvarez had any idea waiting for his children on the Bouncy Castle ride at the Strawberry Days Festival in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, was going to end with his deportation, he never would have spent Father’s Day weekend, 2011 with his children. Garfield County Sheriff’s Deputies approached Julio and his brother Cesar, and asked them to follow the deputies to a mobile command station, leaving the Alvarez children unsupervised. The Sheriff’s Office suggests they were not at fault for leaving the kids alone because the Alvarez brothers “consented” to go with them.
When Julio’s wife, Lorenza, who was seven months pregnant, could not find either her children, or the brothers, she panicked and called carnival security, who likely knew exactly where Julio and Cesar were: Under arrest, having been handed over to ICE. The Sheriff's Office takes credit for calling the ambulance when Lorenza became distraught and had to be transported to the hospital.
News travels fast in the Latino community about ICE raids. News travels fast amongst English speakers in the small town of Glenwood Springs, famous for it’s hot springs, that the cops had chased a man through the carnival earlier in the day, presumably when he did not "consent" to their request to have a little chat. Neither immigrants, Latinos nor English speaking families wanted anything to to with law enforcement’s version of playing rough house in an amusement park, and the carnival went nearly vacant on Sunday. That is the day when merchants depend upon recouping their investment in the festival.
Small town sheriff’s departments rely on citizens to cooperate with law enforcement to do their job. As it turns out, the Garfield County Sheriff got the bright idea of inviting ICE to their carnival, a move which alienated everyone. Who wants to take their tiny tots and pregnant wives to places where aggressive police actions are in process?
According the the Sheriff’s Office, ICE got involved as part of a “Multi-Jurisdictional Gang Enforcement Operation” which took ICE away from protecting our borders and netted the huge sum of three individuals including Julio, who claims he is a father and not a member of a gang. His only crme was wearing a sports shirt and being Latino.
The Sheriff’s Office has responded, not by taking responsibility for it’s actions, but by blaming bad press on a local organizer, Brendan Greene of the Colorado Immigrants Rights Coalition (CIRC). Fearing no one, the Sheriff's press release stated Mr. Green's "Lies and false propaganda" had forced them to put out additional press releases . There was some confusion as to the day of the Alvarez arrest, as if that makes ICE operations in sensitive areas appropriate. Early press reports said the event happened on Father’s Day. The deputies robbed the Alvarez children of their daddy on Father’s Day by arresting Julio Saturday night of the Father’s Day weekend.
While the City of Glenwood Springs will have a tough time winning Latino participation in future Strawberry Days Festival events, despite the Festival having a 114 year history, the true loser is Julie Alvarez and his wife and children. The Garfield County Sheriff’s Department, again fearing no one, released the criminal background histories of the men they arrested. Cesar, whom they released after Lorenza Alvarez plead with officers to let him go since he was the sole caretaker of his two children, had no arrest record whatever.
Julio was the big catch between the two. According to the Sheriff's Office press release, this tough "gang member" was found guilty of driving while ability impaired (DWAI), a misdemeanor, in May of 2005, and reentry into the US to be with his children. That record puts Julio into the rapid repatriation process, meaning it takes little judicial oversight to put him on a bus. National Public Radio says he may be bounced back home before this article is printed.
Meanwhile, ICE and Sheriff Lou Vallario of Garfield County Claim victory, with the Sheriff insisting Alvarez’s single DWAI constitutes a serious criminal background history. The Sheriff can likely count out cooperation by the immigrant community he has terrorized for future help in trying to nab those less serious criminals like child molesters and drug dealers. The Alvarez Children might meet those kinds of predators one day, since they will be making their way in life with no father to guide them unless a miracle happens.
http://technorati.com/politics/article/breaking-immigrant-to-be-deported-after/page-2/#ixzz1Qxv8YkVC
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Guest Commentary: Dairy immigration raid went too far
By Julien Ross
The Denver Post
06/24/2011
In the early morning of June 1, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and local and county law enforcement officials entered the homes of workers from Wildcat Dairy in Fort Morgan.
While terrified children and spouses looked on, ICE arrested 11 dairy workers whose primary job is to milk, feed and clean up after the dairy's cows. These workers were not charged with civil immigration violations, but instead are facing felony charges of criminal impersonation and forging documents.
This raid is deeply alarming to the immigrant community and its allies in Colorado.
First, the raid is a direct contradiction of the Obama administration's stated enforcement goals. In 2009 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stated, "ICE will focus its resources within the worksite enforcement program on the criminal prosecution of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers in order to target the root cause of illegal immigration."
In a 2010 memo to all ICE employees, Assistant Secretary John Morton stated, "Aliens who pose a danger to national security or a risk to public safety shall be ICE's highest immigration enforcement priority."
In Fort Morgan, however, unilateral action was taken against dairy workers who appear to have had no criminal history and pose no danger to the community. No enforcement action, criminal or otherwise, has been announced against the employer, Wildcat Dairy.
Second, the Fort Morgan raid carries immense local and state costs to taxpayers with the investigation, prosecution, representation, right to counsel, and detention of the workers. Is it really the best use of limited taxpayer dollars for Morgan County Sheriff James Crone and District Attorney Robert Watson to pursue workers who pose no dangerous threat, contribute to the Colorado economy, and are well integrated into the community?
Most disturbingly, jail bonds have been set for the workers at an absurd $50,000 per person. Even the most dangerous crimes rarely see a bond set this high. The district attorney's argument of flight risk to justify the high bond simply doesn't fly when you consider that the workers have families with long-standing roots in the Fort Morgan community.
Let's be clear. Unauthorized employment and the use of false work documents are serious issues that need to be addressed, but not by criminalizing workers. This is bad policy that wastes taxpayer dollars, separates families and makes everyone less safe by driving a wedge between police and immigrant communities. The vast majority of employers, workers, law enforcement, and the American public agree that the only real solution is comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level.
However, with comprehensive reform unlikely in our deeply divided Congress, the immediate question is whether Homeland Security and local law enforcement will continue to use limited resources to turn dairy workers into felons. If the Obama administration is serious about its own stated priorities, it should immediately halt raids and instead focus on real threats to public safety while working toward comprehensive reform.
On Saturday, at 2 p.m., Congressmen Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Jared Polis , D-Colo., will headline a town hall meeting at Bruce Randolph School in Denver to address this issue. Citizens and residents will share testimonies about the toll ICE raids and deportations are taking on Colorado families.
One speaker will be Jenny, a 7-year- old U.S. citizen whose father was arrested at the Wildcat Dairy. "I know my dad is not a criminal," Jenny told me. "He just was working hard to provide my family food and shelter. There are lots of other kids like us in my town who are missing their dads, too. This needs to stop."
Julien Ross of Denver is executive director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_18341417
The Denver Post
06/24/2011
In the early morning of June 1, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and local and county law enforcement officials entered the homes of workers from Wildcat Dairy in Fort Morgan.
While terrified children and spouses looked on, ICE arrested 11 dairy workers whose primary job is to milk, feed and clean up after the dairy's cows. These workers were not charged with civil immigration violations, but instead are facing felony charges of criminal impersonation and forging documents.
This raid is deeply alarming to the immigrant community and its allies in Colorado.
First, the raid is a direct contradiction of the Obama administration's stated enforcement goals. In 2009 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stated, "ICE will focus its resources within the worksite enforcement program on the criminal prosecution of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers in order to target the root cause of illegal immigration."
In a 2010 memo to all ICE employees, Assistant Secretary John Morton stated, "Aliens who pose a danger to national security or a risk to public safety shall be ICE's highest immigration enforcement priority."
In Fort Morgan, however, unilateral action was taken against dairy workers who appear to have had no criminal history and pose no danger to the community. No enforcement action, criminal or otherwise, has been announced against the employer, Wildcat Dairy.
Second, the Fort Morgan raid carries immense local and state costs to taxpayers with the investigation, prosecution, representation, right to counsel, and detention of the workers. Is it really the best use of limited taxpayer dollars for Morgan County Sheriff James Crone and District Attorney Robert Watson to pursue workers who pose no dangerous threat, contribute to the Colorado economy, and are well integrated into the community?
Most disturbingly, jail bonds have been set for the workers at an absurd $50,000 per person. Even the most dangerous crimes rarely see a bond set this high. The district attorney's argument of flight risk to justify the high bond simply doesn't fly when you consider that the workers have families with long-standing roots in the Fort Morgan community.
Let's be clear. Unauthorized employment and the use of false work documents are serious issues that need to be addressed, but not by criminalizing workers. This is bad policy that wastes taxpayer dollars, separates families and makes everyone less safe by driving a wedge between police and immigrant communities. The vast majority of employers, workers, law enforcement, and the American public agree that the only real solution is comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level.
However, with comprehensive reform unlikely in our deeply divided Congress, the immediate question is whether Homeland Security and local law enforcement will continue to use limited resources to turn dairy workers into felons. If the Obama administration is serious about its own stated priorities, it should immediately halt raids and instead focus on real threats to public safety while working toward comprehensive reform.
On Saturday, at 2 p.m., Congressmen Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Jared Polis , D-Colo., will headline a town hall meeting at Bruce Randolph School in Denver to address this issue. Citizens and residents will share testimonies about the toll ICE raids and deportations are taking on Colorado families.
One speaker will be Jenny, a 7-year- old U.S. citizen whose father was arrested at the Wildcat Dairy. "I know my dad is not a criminal," Jenny told me. "He just was working hard to provide my family food and shelter. There are lots of other kids like us in my town who are missing their dads, too. This needs to stop."
Julien Ross of Denver is executive director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_18341417
Friday, June 24, 2011
Classy: ICE raids Daddy's Day celebration
Posted by J. Adrian Stanley
The Colorado Springs Independent
Jun 22, 2011
While you have to keep in mind that the following release is from the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, an advocacy group for immigrants, it's still a jaw-dropper.
Nothing says American decency like arresting dads on Father's Day while they wait for their kids outside the bouncy castle. Or being so rude and crude to a pregnant lady that she has to be hospitalized for the stress.
Way to go, ICE. You make us proud.
The Colorado Springs Independent
Jun 22, 2011
While you have to keep in mind that the following release is from the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, an advocacy group for immigrants, it's still a jaw-dropper.
Nothing says American decency like arresting dads on Father's Day while they wait for their kids outside the bouncy castle. Or being so rude and crude to a pregnant lady that she has to be hospitalized for the stress.
Way to go, ICE. You make us proud.
ICE Raids the Strawberry Days Festival in Glenwood Springs, Two Fathers Detained While Waiting for Kids at the Bouncy Castle.http://www.csindy.com/IndyBlog/archives/2011/06/22/classy-ice-raids-daddys-day-celebration
Father’s Day Festival Raid by Local Law Enforcement and ICE Chills Relations with Latino/a and Immigrant Communities; Hurts Business and Safety.
Glenwood Springs, CO — The Strawberry Days Festival in Glenwood Springs is usually remembered as a treasured summer family event. This year, some children will also remember it as the day their family was ripped apart by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
As the Alvarez family was waiting for their children to come out of the Bouncy Castle, they were approached by a couple of Garfield County Sheriffs deputies who led the men away behind the carnival rides. While there, 2 plainclothes ICE agents approached, checked, and detained both men. Brothers Cesar and Julio Alvarez were then taken to an ICE van in the back of the fair, while their 4 children waited with their aunt and mother.
Lorenza Alvarez, Julio’s 7-months pregnant, US born wife, came looking for her husband and her brother-in-law and was treated poorly by agents as she explained that Cesar was the only caretaker of twin 11-year-old girls. Following an extended conversation, Cesar was released but Julio was taken away for processing at an ICE detention center in Glenwood Springs. The stress was almost too much for the pregnant Mrs. Alvarez, and she had to be taken to Valley View Hospital for emergency care.
Teaming up with the Garfield County Sheriff’s Department, undercover ICE agents conducted this dragnet operation at a family fair on Father’s Day, in violation of their own operating regulations — which call on them to “refrain from conducting enforcement actions or investigative activities at or near sensitive community locations, such as schools, places of worship... and venues generally where children and their families may be present.”
“This operation has revealed the Glenwood Springs ICE office to be a rogue agency operating outside of clear ICE directives to not conduct operations in “sensitive locations.” said Brendan Greene, Rocky Mountain Coordinator for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition,“ The fact that ICE and local police went after dads at the carnival on Father’s Day has been spreading throughout the immigrant community. This has the potential to negatively impact the success of Strawberry Days for years to come; not to mention erode what little trust remains between the immigrant community and the Garfield Co. Sheriff’s office.”
Adds Greene, “The local ICE office and the Garfield Co. Sheriff, by irresponsibly targeting the city’s flagship summer event, has hurt not only the City of Glenwood Springs, but also any other town in the Valley that is hoping to have a successful festival this summer. They should be ashamed of themselves for hurting the Valley’s businesses in this way.”
Local Spanish language DJ, Axel Contreras, heard about ICE’s presence at the carnival and went to investigate. “I have lived in the Valley and attended Strawberry Days for 20 years…in all of my years here, even when there were terrible storms, I have never seen Strawberry Days as empty as it was on Sunday after word had spread in the community that ICE was conducting an operation.”
This type of enforcement operation is often extremely disruptive to small towns like Glenwood Springs, where the Latino/a community has grown to become a major supporter of the Festival over the last decade.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
CIRC has been receiving complaints from the immigrant community about how the Garfield County Sheriffs Departments has been closely collaborating with, and in the case of last weekend’s raids at the carnival, taking the lead in ICE enforcement operations.
“I can’t think of a better way to ruin community policing than having local law enforcement troll for undocumented workers at community events like Strawberry Days.” said attorney Ted Hess, who is representing one of the detained men, “ This unholy alliance of ICE and local cops destroys trust between the community and the police.”
Saturday, June 11, 2011
ICE Raids Small-Town Colorado Dairy and Locks Up Undocumented Dads in the Name of National Security
By Mike Riggs
Reason.com
June 9, 2011
Legal and illegal immigrants alike in Colorado's cow country are too scared to return to work after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 11 workers at the Wildcat Dairy in Morgan County for using forged green cards. Of 60 workers, 20 were indicted by a Colorado grand jury as "egregious violators" for using forged documents to get work. While ICE still has warrants out for nine workers, 50 of Wildcat's 60 employees were so scared of being deported that they didn't return to the dairy after the raid.
Denver's Westword reported earlier this week on meetings being held by Colorado's Immigration Rights Coalition to ease concerns in the immigrant community:
ICE has a ready answer to that question. From an agency press release sent out after the raid:
http://reason.com/blog/2011/06/09/ice-raids-small-town-colorado
Reason.com
June 9, 2011
Legal and illegal immigrants alike in Colorado's cow country are too scared to return to work after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 11 workers at the Wildcat Dairy in Morgan County for using forged green cards. Of 60 workers, 20 were indicted by a Colorado grand jury as "egregious violators" for using forged documents to get work. While ICE still has warrants out for nine workers, 50 of Wildcat's 60 employees were so scared of being deported that they didn't return to the dairy after the raid.
Denver's Westword reported earlier this week on meetings being held by Colorado's Immigration Rights Coalition to ease concerns in the immigrant community:
"One of the CIRC people was watching the kids as the adults were in the meeting," CIRC's Damaris Cooksey recalls, "and she had them make a poster. She asked them, 'What would you want to tell your dad right now? What do you want to say to people about what's happened?' And these six, eight, twelve-year-old kids wrote, 'I love you. I miss you. I wish I could see you. It's not fair.' It was very emotional.
"What a quandary for a parent," she goes on. "How do you explain, 'Your dad's not a criminal, but you're not supposed to work here without these documents -- even though there's nobody here who would do this job if he doesn't.' How do you make a child understand something like that?"
ICE has a ready answer to that question. From an agency press release sent out after the raid:
Document and benefit fraud pose a severe threat to national security and public safety because they create a vulnerability that may enable terrorists, criminals and illegal aliens to gain entry to and remain in the United States. One of the ways ICE HSI addresses the infrastructure of illegal immigration is by detecting and deterring fraud before it erodes the integrity of the immigration process.
http://reason.com/blog/2011/06/09/ice-raids-small-town-colorado
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Families of undocumented dairy workers advised; CIRC says immigration system broken
By DAN BARKER
The Fort Morgan Times
Posted: 06/06/2011
Although the Obama administration and the Office of Homeland Defense have said they will not make raids to catch immigrants unless they have committed serious crimes, such a raid did happened in Morgan County when 11 Hispanic dairy workers were arrested last week.
That was part of what was said during a couple of community meetings in Fort Morgan by representatives of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition as they came to talk to the wives and children of the men about what to expect from the court system and how to survive without their husbands' paychecks.
Those who showed up were predominantly women and children, and emotions were evident. Children wanted to talk about what was happening with their daddies and some women could barely restrain tears.
"(Children) cry," said one wife of a prisoner. "They don't understand. They just ask for their dad."
"There's a lot of fear right now," said Julie Gonzales, CIRC director of organization, adding that some families may be afraid to leave their homes.
In addition to a need for food and financial assistance, the women said their children could use some counseling from pastors or counselors.
People often do not understand how hard it is on the children when their parents are taken away, and they are not aware that the children have rights as American citizens, Gonzales said.
The timing of the raid was particularly hard on the families, because it was near the beginning of the month when rent and utility bills are due, she said.
CIRC is trying to set up a fund people can donate aid to, but that has not happened yet, Gonzales said.
In the meantime, those who want to help can take donations to the New Creation Church at 929 E. Burlington Ave., Gonzales said, also noting that other agencies like Caring Ministries might help out.
The families urgently need diapers, milk and infant formula, and can use other food. Donors can also contact Gonzales at 970-891-2712 or Damaris at 970-381-7123.
Eleven men were taken into custody following a grand jury indictment based on an inspection at the Wildcat Dairy in Morgan County. They were part of a group of 20 who were indicted.
Authorities claim a review of work eligibility forms found that the men were ineligible to work in the U.S.
Those who were arrested are charged with using forged social security and alien registration cards to gain employment.
They were advised of the charges and their rights Thursday morning in Morgan County District Court. All 11 face felony charges, including criminal impersonation, criminal impersonation to gain a benefit, possession of a forged social security card and possession of a forged alien registration card.
District Court Judge Douglas Vannoy advised the men that if convicted, these charges could carry penalties of as much as three years in prison, one year of mandatory parole and fines of up to $100,000. He set bail at $50,000 due to fears by the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office that the men could flee the area.
Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Wiard told the judge that plea offers were ready to present to each of the defendants, but the District Attorney's Office is also ready for trial in each case.
CIRC Policy Director Hans Meyer, who is an attorney, cautioned families to look at any plea offers carefully before accepting them, because it could have consequences that last a lifetime.
This is a different situation than many earlier raids, because government officials are claiming they are criminals, not just undocumented workers, he said.
Immigration advocates are hearing contrasting messages from federal agencies, said CIRC Executive Director Julien Ross.
The Office of Homeland Security and the Obama administration have said they will not be pursuing everyday workers or raiding their homes if they have not committed serious crimes unrelated to immigration, he said.
These men face severe charges and exaggerated bond, Ross said.
Bonds of $50,000 seem to compare their actions to murder or kidnapping, which is unjust, Meyer said.
Families and friends know the arrested men are not criminals, that they are committed to supporting their families and are not flight risks, Ross said.
In conducting individual interviews to help counsel families, Meyer said he did not think any of the men had committed any serious crimes or intended any harm to anyone.
The intensity of the prosecution of ordinary workers makes people wonder if this is a political move by local government officials, Ross said.
The U.S. has a broken immigration system and if legislators and administrators do not fix it, this kind of situation will continue to recur, he said.
Ross wondered if it really made sense to spend all of this manpower and money on a few undocumented, minimum wage workers, especially in this time of budget cuts.
"Is this the crime we want to go after," Ross asked. "How much will it cost to hold them indefinitely?"
Even legal immigrants are afraid when this kind of prosecution happens, said one woman who works in agriculture.
She counseled the families to talk to attorneys without fear and tell their stories.
"We know that you are suffering," the woman said. "You have the right to be here."
Families which have been in the U.S. for 10 years and more, and those who have children born in the U.S. - which makes the children U.S. citizens - may be able to argue in immigration court that they should remain in the U.S., Meyer said.
There are also a number of other ways they might be able to stay in the country, but this case is more complex than just the possibility of deportation, he said.
What happens with immigrant status depends on what happens with the criminal charges, Meyer said.
Even if they are known as good workers and family men, a conviction can make them ineligible for immigration, he said.
Those who are pursuing this prosecution are trying to criminalize what people do to make a living in the U.S., Meyer said.
Some of the charges may be called felonies, but are not very serious, but every case must be examined individually, he said.
"The crime here is to be an immigrant," Meyer said.
These charges and any convictions or plea agreements can make it harder to win a case in immigration court and take away the defense that they are solid residents, Meyer said.
Ross said it could be difficult for any of the men to meet bail or to have the bail reset to a lower level.
The men could argue that Morgan County is their home, that this is their community and that they have no incentive to leave, but there are no guarantees that this would make a difference, Meyer said.
It is hard to tell if the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office is willing to lower bail under any circumstances, he told the families.
How bail bond works largely depends on political and emotional issues and the atmosphere in the community, Meyer noted. In some cities these men would not receive such a high bond.
Sometimes there are negotiations during the legal process, but those who are charged must be careful about accepting any agreements, because such agreements could come back to haunt them, he said.
All of this is difficult for the men who have never been in jail, and they can easily become anxious and desperate to get out and support their families, but that might be a mistake, Meyer said.
They need to analyze any offers with the help of their public defenders or other attorneys before making decisions - particularly to understand if an agreement affects their immigration status, he said.
In some cases, it might be best to accept a plea agreement, but in other cases the defendant might lose any immigration opportunity, Meyer warned.
He also warned that men who get out of jail would not technically be allowed to work to support their families, although sometimes they can apply for work permits.
The defendants need to have confidence in their attorneys' advice, Meyer explained. Unfortunately, public defenders often have little experience with immigration law, he said.
These men face two trials on the criminal charges and immigration issues, and the immigration case will depend on how the criminal case is resolved, Meyer said.
Ross said the families' personal stories are important to CIRC members and others.
"We want to honor and respect what you're going through," Gonzales said.
CIRV will continue working to resolve this and other immigration issues, as well as to prevent this kind of situation, Ross said.
Ross explained that employers and workers are in a "Catch-22," and the current system sometimes destroys workers, families and communities.
That is a bad dynamic, because the economy often could not function without immigrant workers, he said.
Document experts have noted that when someone borrows a social security number it can cause problems, and not always intentionally. For example, if the person borrowing the number does not pay enough taxes, the person the number really belongs to could end up owing more taxes.
Some have urged the legislature and officials to increase the number of work permits for non-citizens to avoid the problems of people trying to use unauthorized documents, saying there is a need for those workers.
Gonzales said CIRC and others may try to appeal to the Obama administration and local officials.
She encouraged the families to tell their stories to U.S. legislators in order to touch their hearts.
It is important to let people know about this injustice, and it is urgent to do so now while it is fresh in the public's minds, Gonzales said.
People need to know how the families are suffering, she said.
http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/ci_18215649
The Fort Morgan Times
Posted: 06/06/2011
Although the Obama administration and the Office of Homeland Defense have said they will not make raids to catch immigrants unless they have committed serious crimes, such a raid did happened in Morgan County when 11 Hispanic dairy workers were arrested last week.
That was part of what was said during a couple of community meetings in Fort Morgan by representatives of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition as they came to talk to the wives and children of the men about what to expect from the court system and how to survive without their husbands' paychecks.
Those who showed up were predominantly women and children, and emotions were evident. Children wanted to talk about what was happening with their daddies and some women could barely restrain tears.
"(Children) cry," said one wife of a prisoner. "They don't understand. They just ask for their dad."
"There's a lot of fear right now," said Julie Gonzales, CIRC director of organization, adding that some families may be afraid to leave their homes.
In addition to a need for food and financial assistance, the women said their children could use some counseling from pastors or counselors.
People often do not understand how hard it is on the children when their parents are taken away, and they are not aware that the children have rights as American citizens, Gonzales said.
The timing of the raid was particularly hard on the families, because it was near the beginning of the month when rent and utility bills are due, she said.
CIRC is trying to set up a fund people can donate aid to, but that has not happened yet, Gonzales said.
In the meantime, those who want to help can take donations to the New Creation Church at 929 E. Burlington Ave., Gonzales said, also noting that other agencies like Caring Ministries might help out.
The families urgently need diapers, milk and infant formula, and can use other food. Donors can also contact Gonzales at 970-891-2712 or Damaris at 970-381-7123.
Eleven men were taken into custody following a grand jury indictment based on an inspection at the Wildcat Dairy in Morgan County. They were part of a group of 20 who were indicted.
Authorities claim a review of work eligibility forms found that the men were ineligible to work in the U.S.
Those who were arrested are charged with using forged social security and alien registration cards to gain employment.
They were advised of the charges and their rights Thursday morning in Morgan County District Court. All 11 face felony charges, including criminal impersonation, criminal impersonation to gain a benefit, possession of a forged social security card and possession of a forged alien registration card.
District Court Judge Douglas Vannoy advised the men that if convicted, these charges could carry penalties of as much as three years in prison, one year of mandatory parole and fines of up to $100,000. He set bail at $50,000 due to fears by the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office that the men could flee the area.
Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Wiard told the judge that plea offers were ready to present to each of the defendants, but the District Attorney's Office is also ready for trial in each case.
CIRC Policy Director Hans Meyer, who is an attorney, cautioned families to look at any plea offers carefully before accepting them, because it could have consequences that last a lifetime.
This is a different situation than many earlier raids, because government officials are claiming they are criminals, not just undocumented workers, he said.
Immigration advocates are hearing contrasting messages from federal agencies, said CIRC Executive Director Julien Ross.
The Office of Homeland Security and the Obama administration have said they will not be pursuing everyday workers or raiding their homes if they have not committed serious crimes unrelated to immigration, he said.
These men face severe charges and exaggerated bond, Ross said.
Bonds of $50,000 seem to compare their actions to murder or kidnapping, which is unjust, Meyer said.
Families and friends know the arrested men are not criminals, that they are committed to supporting their families and are not flight risks, Ross said.
In conducting individual interviews to help counsel families, Meyer said he did not think any of the men had committed any serious crimes or intended any harm to anyone.
The intensity of the prosecution of ordinary workers makes people wonder if this is a political move by local government officials, Ross said.
The U.S. has a broken immigration system and if legislators and administrators do not fix it, this kind of situation will continue to recur, he said.
Ross wondered if it really made sense to spend all of this manpower and money on a few undocumented, minimum wage workers, especially in this time of budget cuts.
"Is this the crime we want to go after," Ross asked. "How much will it cost to hold them indefinitely?"
Even legal immigrants are afraid when this kind of prosecution happens, said one woman who works in agriculture.
She counseled the families to talk to attorneys without fear and tell their stories.
"We know that you are suffering," the woman said. "You have the right to be here."
Families which have been in the U.S. for 10 years and more, and those who have children born in the U.S. - which makes the children U.S. citizens - may be able to argue in immigration court that they should remain in the U.S., Meyer said.
There are also a number of other ways they might be able to stay in the country, but this case is more complex than just the possibility of deportation, he said.
What happens with immigrant status depends on what happens with the criminal charges, Meyer said.
Even if they are known as good workers and family men, a conviction can make them ineligible for immigration, he said.
Those who are pursuing this prosecution are trying to criminalize what people do to make a living in the U.S., Meyer said.
Some of the charges may be called felonies, but are not very serious, but every case must be examined individually, he said.
"The crime here is to be an immigrant," Meyer said.
These charges and any convictions or plea agreements can make it harder to win a case in immigration court and take away the defense that they are solid residents, Meyer said.
Ross said it could be difficult for any of the men to meet bail or to have the bail reset to a lower level.
The men could argue that Morgan County is their home, that this is their community and that they have no incentive to leave, but there are no guarantees that this would make a difference, Meyer said.
It is hard to tell if the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office is willing to lower bail under any circumstances, he told the families.
How bail bond works largely depends on political and emotional issues and the atmosphere in the community, Meyer noted. In some cities these men would not receive such a high bond.
Sometimes there are negotiations during the legal process, but those who are charged must be careful about accepting any agreements, because such agreements could come back to haunt them, he said.
All of this is difficult for the men who have never been in jail, and they can easily become anxious and desperate to get out and support their families, but that might be a mistake, Meyer said.
They need to analyze any offers with the help of their public defenders or other attorneys before making decisions - particularly to understand if an agreement affects their immigration status, he said.
In some cases, it might be best to accept a plea agreement, but in other cases the defendant might lose any immigration opportunity, Meyer warned.
He also warned that men who get out of jail would not technically be allowed to work to support their families, although sometimes they can apply for work permits.
The defendants need to have confidence in their attorneys' advice, Meyer explained. Unfortunately, public defenders often have little experience with immigration law, he said.
These men face two trials on the criminal charges and immigration issues, and the immigration case will depend on how the criminal case is resolved, Meyer said.
Ross said the families' personal stories are important to CIRC members and others.
"We want to honor and respect what you're going through," Gonzales said.
CIRV will continue working to resolve this and other immigration issues, as well as to prevent this kind of situation, Ross said.
Ross explained that employers and workers are in a "Catch-22," and the current system sometimes destroys workers, families and communities.
That is a bad dynamic, because the economy often could not function without immigrant workers, he said.
Document experts have noted that when someone borrows a social security number it can cause problems, and not always intentionally. For example, if the person borrowing the number does not pay enough taxes, the person the number really belongs to could end up owing more taxes.
Some have urged the legislature and officials to increase the number of work permits for non-citizens to avoid the problems of people trying to use unauthorized documents, saying there is a need for those workers.
Gonzales said CIRC and others may try to appeal to the Obama administration and local officials.
She encouraged the families to tell their stories to U.S. legislators in order to touch their hearts.
It is important to let people know about this injustice, and it is urgent to do so now while it is fresh in the public's minds, Gonzales said.
People need to know how the families are suffering, she said.
http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/ci_18215649
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Dairy farm loses most workers after ICE raid
Via the Associated Press
NewsTime.com
June 2, 2011
FORT MORGAN, Colo. (AP) — Immigrant rights activists say a roundup of people accused of falsifying documents to work in the U.S. is creating fear and confusion in the community.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials announced the arrest of 11 people in Fort Morgan. KUSA-TV reports that the arrests took place Wednesday at the Wildcat Dairy. The station reports that 50 of the dairy's 60 workers are now gone.
Morgan County Undersheriff Dave Martin says authorities served arrest warrants at the dairy and Fort Morgan homes. Dairy owner Ed Wilgenburg did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press.
ICE says 20 egregious violators were indicted by a state grand jury on accusations that they possessed or used fraudulent "green cards" and Social Security cards to obtain employment in the United States.
http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Dairy-farm-loses-most-workers-after-ICE-raid-1405152.php#ixzz1OD5CPU1h
NewsTime.com
June 2, 2011
FORT MORGAN, Colo. (AP) — Immigrant rights activists say a roundup of people accused of falsifying documents to work in the U.S. is creating fear and confusion in the community.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials announced the arrest of 11 people in Fort Morgan. KUSA-TV reports that the arrests took place Wednesday at the Wildcat Dairy. The station reports that 50 of the dairy's 60 workers are now gone.
Morgan County Undersheriff Dave Martin says authorities served arrest warrants at the dairy and Fort Morgan homes. Dairy owner Ed Wilgenburg did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press.
ICE says 20 egregious violators were indicted by a state grand jury on accusations that they possessed or used fraudulent "green cards" and Social Security cards to obtain employment in the United States.
http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Dairy-farm-loses-most-workers-after-ICE-raid-1405152.php#ixzz1OD5CPU1h
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Community rallies behind Mexican mom facing deportation
Fox News Latino
Published May 16, 2011
Denver – Jeanette Vizguerra, an Aurora, Colorado business-owner who is supporting a cancer-stricken husband and three young children, could be deported to Mexico after being stopped for a traffic violation, in a case that has rallied the community behind her.
Evangelical pastors, Catholic priests and a rabbi led a group Monday in front of the Denver federal court to pray for the undocumented Mexican immigrant.
"Our cries for justice before this court and our banners are a way of praying to God to intervene on behalf of those who suffer injustice. What we do is no different from what the prophets did in ancient times," the Rev. Anne Dunlap of Comunidad Liberacion/Liberation Community Church said.
Vizguerra, a native of Mexico City, moved to Colorado with her husband 14 years ago. In 2000, her husband was diagnosed with cancer, and the illness returned with greater severity three years ago, making him no longer able to work.
The mother of a grown-up daughter and three U.S.-born children ages 8, 6 and 3 months, the immigrant owns a moving and cleaning company with 12 full-time employees.
She also works two other jobs part-time to pay the medical bills and support her family.
Prior to the traffic stop, Vizguerra's application for permanent residence was proceeding normally, her supporters say.
"The first question the officer asked her was whether she was in the country legally or not. Since Jeanette couldn't present the documents the officers asked for, she was arrested and spent several days in jail," Rev. Daniel Klawitter of the Interfaith Worker Justice Committee of Colorado said.
After her arrest, Vizguerra's immigration status "crumbled," said Nicole Melaku, spokeswoman of Rights for All People, a pro-immigrant organization in Denver that is helping Vizguerra and her family.
According to Melaku, Vizguerra has no criminal record and has always worked and paid her taxes. But now that the order for her deportation has been issued, her only hope is that authorities at the Department of Homeland Security review her case and allow her to remain in the country for humanitarian reasons.
"But this isn't just about Jeanette. She is simply the symbol, the visible face of a situation that affects thousands and thousands of people nationwide. We want people to know who is being deported," Melaku said.
Nearly 85 percent of the more than 1.05 million people deported from the United States between 2007-2009 did not have criminal records, according to statistics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"Jeanette's only 'crime' was to come here and work hard in three low-paying jobs," Klawitter said.
For her part, Vizguerra, before attending her hearing, thanked everyone present for their "moral and spiritual support."
"There are no words to thank you enough for coming so early on a Monday morning to downtown Denver to pray for me and my family. It is immoral that we accept an immigration system that divides families, and it's horribly unjust that someone can be deported for a traffic violation," she said.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/05/16/community-rallies-mexican-mom-facing-deportation/#ixzz1MZ8Rg5EJ
Published May 16, 2011
Denver – Jeanette Vizguerra, an Aurora, Colorado business-owner who is supporting a cancer-stricken husband and three young children, could be deported to Mexico after being stopped for a traffic violation, in a case that has rallied the community behind her.
Evangelical pastors, Catholic priests and a rabbi led a group Monday in front of the Denver federal court to pray for the undocumented Mexican immigrant.
"Our cries for justice before this court and our banners are a way of praying to God to intervene on behalf of those who suffer injustice. What we do is no different from what the prophets did in ancient times," the Rev. Anne Dunlap of Comunidad Liberacion/Liberation Community Church said.
Vizguerra, a native of Mexico City, moved to Colorado with her husband 14 years ago. In 2000, her husband was diagnosed with cancer, and the illness returned with greater severity three years ago, making him no longer able to work.
The mother of a grown-up daughter and three U.S.-born children ages 8, 6 and 3 months, the immigrant owns a moving and cleaning company with 12 full-time employees.
She also works two other jobs part-time to pay the medical bills and support her family.
Prior to the traffic stop, Vizguerra's application for permanent residence was proceeding normally, her supporters say.
"The first question the officer asked her was whether she was in the country legally or not. Since Jeanette couldn't present the documents the officers asked for, she was arrested and spent several days in jail," Rev. Daniel Klawitter of the Interfaith Worker Justice Committee of Colorado said.
After her arrest, Vizguerra's immigration status "crumbled," said Nicole Melaku, spokeswoman of Rights for All People, a pro-immigrant organization in Denver that is helping Vizguerra and her family.
According to Melaku, Vizguerra has no criminal record and has always worked and paid her taxes. But now that the order for her deportation has been issued, her only hope is that authorities at the Department of Homeland Security review her case and allow her to remain in the country for humanitarian reasons.
"But this isn't just about Jeanette. She is simply the symbol, the visible face of a situation that affects thousands and thousands of people nationwide. We want people to know who is being deported," Melaku said.
Nearly 85 percent of the more than 1.05 million people deported from the United States between 2007-2009 did not have criminal records, according to statistics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"Jeanette's only 'crime' was to come here and work hard in three low-paying jobs," Klawitter said.
For her part, Vizguerra, before attending her hearing, thanked everyone present for their "moral and spiritual support."
"There are no words to thank you enough for coming so early on a Monday morning to downtown Denver to pray for me and my family. It is immoral that we accept an immigration system that divides families, and it's horribly unjust that someone can be deported for a traffic violation," she said.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/05/16/community-rallies-mexican-mom-facing-deportation/#ixzz1MZ8Rg5EJ
Friday, April 23, 2010
Immigrants, supporters await reform with hope, fear
By SARA CASTELLANOS
The Aurora Sentinel
April 23, 2010
AURORA | Immigration reform became a personal crusade for Sofia when her son dropped out of high school in 2008 because it was futile to graduate when there wasn’t a chance of getting into college without citizenship papers.
Sofia, who did not want to use her actual name because she is in the country illegally, has lived in Colorado since 1997 and has been trying to obtain status as a legal citizen — which would also naturalize her children — for eight years. But government officials told her she could be waiting for her papers until 2017.
It’s stories like Sofia’s that have fueled immigrant rights groups across Colorado to hold United States lawmakers to their lofty promises of instituting comprehensive immigration reform this year, despite the tumultuous legislative climate that has culminated after the passage of the contentious health care bill.
Colorado’s congressional Democrats say the passage of a comprehensive immigration reform proposal that was introduced last year is next to impossible if Republicans remain as stalwart as they’ve been. Meanwhile, Republican officials and anti-immigrant groups say the current political climate isn’t conducive to passing any sort of immigration reform because any committed support would be detrimental for candidates and incumbents in upcoming elections.
But perseverance will hopefully lead to triumph this year, says Sofia, who convinced her 19-year-old son to resume high school classes and graduate next year.
“I worked so hard to make him go back,” Sofia said. “I’m fighting for that because I say, maybe one day there is going to be a possibility to go to college. I keep praying every day and fighting.”
The fight has escalated among immigrants and interest groups since President Barack Obama took office and promised that immigration reform would be instituted during his first year in office.
So far, a bill that was introduced in the House late last year could be the first major step toward change for the 12 million immigrants in the United States — if it moves forward in Congress.
The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., was introduced in December 2009 and referred to a House committee on immigration and border security on March 1. It would suspend former President George W. Bush’s Operation Streamline program, which is a zero-tolerance border enforcement program that states every person who crosses the border illegally will face federal criminal charges instead of civil deportation proceedings.
It also prohibits the deportation of a person who immigrated to America while under the age of 12, establishes a federal grant program to assist lawful immigrants to become citizens, and beefs up border and port security while cracking down on businesses that employ illegal immigrants.
If a bill that contains a more efficient path to citizenship were to pass, it would greatly ameliorate the consternation that Aurora’s undocumented residents feel today, said Emily Parkey, community organizer for Rights for All People.
“People are living in a great deal of fear when dropping their kids off at school or going to work,” Parkey said. “They don’t know if they are going to make it back home.”
Local immigrants are fearful and unwilling to invest in the economy because of future uncertainties, she said.
“A lot of Aurora businesses in particular have been affected because there’s a great fear in the community right now, with increased raids and detentions,” Parkey said. “People don’t want to buy cars or homes, they’re afraid that they’re not going to be here.”
But Gutierrez’s bill still has a long way to go, and U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden, says it won’t be moving forward fast if Republicans don’t cooperate. And, the 60-vote Senate supermajority rule won’t help the cause.
“If the Senate moves forward with legislation, then the House will move as well, but this is one where the Senate, because of their rules, are going to have a 60 vote supermajority and Republicans have been blocking everything,” Perlmutter said. “As a consequence, they may block any kind of (immigration) legislation moving forward.”
Perlmutter is a co-sponsor of the bill, along with other Colorado U.S. Representatives Diana DeGette D-Denver, Jared Polis, D-Boulder, and John Salazar, D-Manassa.
“We really have to tackle this issue and make sure we’ve secured our borders and our ports and really make it hard on people who are out to profit from trafficking in humans,” Perlmutter said. “We need to tackle this, and hopefully the Senate will attract several Republicans to do that instead of those guys trying to block it.”
With midterm elections on the horizon, lawmakers could be hesitant to vote on such a contentious issue for fear that their constituents wouldn’t re-elect them, said Nat Sillin, communications director for U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora.
“I don’t know if there’s the political will right now,” Sillin said. “As we get into the summertime, a lot of folks — in particularly tough races especially — won’t want to be on the record or involved in a heated immigration debate.”
Like Perlmutter, Sillin said the impetus for passing immigration reform would fall on the shoulders of the Senate.
“The schedule here in the House has been delayed, and in the Senate, things are slowing down which is emblematic of a typical election year,” he said. “The question really lies in the Senate and whether they’re willing to take it up.”
Sillin says Congress will also be preoccupied with choosing a replacement for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, which will “suck a lot of the air out of Washington.
“That’s really going to take up all the time and energy of the Senate,” he said.
Rumors that U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., could propose his own immigration reform bill have ballooned since his announcement at a Las Vegas rally April 10, where he said the nation’s immigration laws could change this year.
Reid’s statement was encouraging for Judith Marquez, an Aurora resident and community organizer for the nonprofit interest group Rights for All People, who attended the rally along with 200 other Coloradoans.
“It made me feel very hopeful hat we’re on the right track, and that our grassroots organizing has had an effect on our representatives,” Marquez said.
But five days later, Reid told reporters of the New York Times that immigration reform would have to wait, and it wouldn’t be on Washington’s immediate agenda.
That hasn’t swayed local politicians from calling on Reid to pass immigration reform. On Tuesday, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., sent a letter to Reid urging the Senate leader to advance reform.
For now, Gutierrez’s bill seems like the only beacon of hope for Colorado immigrant rights groups.
Under Gutierrez’s bill, the nation’s illegal immigrants would be required to fulfill myriad requirements including paying a $500 fine, proving they’d had been working in the U.S., learn English and undergoing criminal background checks in order to gain citizenship. The bill would also eliminate “touchback” provisions that were introduced by former legislative proposals, which require an illegal immigrant to return to their homeland first, before they are allowed to apply for citizenship.
Local groups that oppose mass immigration and amnesty for illegal immigrants have maintained that illegal immigration poses a threat to society because undocumented residents commit crimes, take jobs away from U.S. residents, and don’t pay taxes.
Fred Elbel, spokesman for the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, said the group opposes any bill, including Gutierrez’s, that could lead to amnesty for illegal immigrants.
“Immigration reform is really a code for amnesty,” said Elbel, who lives in Lakewood. “I support reform that means a reduction of both illegal and legal immigration to sustainable levels. Right now mass immigration is driving our population ... and our country just can’t handle that level of growth.”
Dave Gorak, executive director of the Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration, says any chance of Democrats pushing immigration reform this year is unlikely.
“It would be political suicide for anybody who supports this,” said Gorak, who lives in La Valle, Wis.
He estimates about 7 million immigrants are in the U.S. workforce and employed in jobs that could have been for U.S. citizens.
“If the Obama administration is really serious about creating jobs, and if jobs is a top priority for him, then why isn’t he doing something to get these (immigrants) out of the workplace,” he said.
But Rights for All People estimates that immigration reform could add $1.5 trillion to the U.S. economy.
The organization will host an event with Sen. Bennet on April 25 in Aurora dedicated to educating people about the significance of immigration reform to small businesses.
Immigrant rights groups will continue to host events like RAP’s, and spearhead immigration reform campaigns before May 1 when the organizations are slated to host immigration rallies across the nation.
After all, immigrants can’t count on the promises of politicians, said Chandra Russo, a community organizer for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, which recently launched the Welcoming Colorado campaign to raise awareness about the importance of immigrants in our society.
“No one is at the place where they are just going to relax and trust a single statement at this point,” Russo said. “We’ve been working hard for months to let Congress and the President know we aren’t going away, and if they turn their backs on us, we might not be there when they need us to vote them back in.”
http://www.aurorasentinel.com/articles/2010/04/23/news/doc4bd06b545c808888348868.txt
The Aurora Sentinel
April 23, 2010
AURORA | Immigration reform became a personal crusade for Sofia when her son dropped out of high school in 2008 because it was futile to graduate when there wasn’t a chance of getting into college without citizenship papers.
Sofia, who did not want to use her actual name because she is in the country illegally, has lived in Colorado since 1997 and has been trying to obtain status as a legal citizen — which would also naturalize her children — for eight years. But government officials told her she could be waiting for her papers until 2017.
It’s stories like Sofia’s that have fueled immigrant rights groups across Colorado to hold United States lawmakers to their lofty promises of instituting comprehensive immigration reform this year, despite the tumultuous legislative climate that has culminated after the passage of the contentious health care bill.
Colorado’s congressional Democrats say the passage of a comprehensive immigration reform proposal that was introduced last year is next to impossible if Republicans remain as stalwart as they’ve been. Meanwhile, Republican officials and anti-immigrant groups say the current political climate isn’t conducive to passing any sort of immigration reform because any committed support would be detrimental for candidates and incumbents in upcoming elections.
But perseverance will hopefully lead to triumph this year, says Sofia, who convinced her 19-year-old son to resume high school classes and graduate next year.
“I worked so hard to make him go back,” Sofia said. “I’m fighting for that because I say, maybe one day there is going to be a possibility to go to college. I keep praying every day and fighting.”
The fight has escalated among immigrants and interest groups since President Barack Obama took office and promised that immigration reform would be instituted during his first year in office.
So far, a bill that was introduced in the House late last year could be the first major step toward change for the 12 million immigrants in the United States — if it moves forward in Congress.
The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., was introduced in December 2009 and referred to a House committee on immigration and border security on March 1. It would suspend former President George W. Bush’s Operation Streamline program, which is a zero-tolerance border enforcement program that states every person who crosses the border illegally will face federal criminal charges instead of civil deportation proceedings.
It also prohibits the deportation of a person who immigrated to America while under the age of 12, establishes a federal grant program to assist lawful immigrants to become citizens, and beefs up border and port security while cracking down on businesses that employ illegal immigrants.
If a bill that contains a more efficient path to citizenship were to pass, it would greatly ameliorate the consternation that Aurora’s undocumented residents feel today, said Emily Parkey, community organizer for Rights for All People.
“People are living in a great deal of fear when dropping their kids off at school or going to work,” Parkey said. “They don’t know if they are going to make it back home.”
Local immigrants are fearful and unwilling to invest in the economy because of future uncertainties, she said.
“A lot of Aurora businesses in particular have been affected because there’s a great fear in the community right now, with increased raids and detentions,” Parkey said. “People don’t want to buy cars or homes, they’re afraid that they’re not going to be here.”
But Gutierrez’s bill still has a long way to go, and U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden, says it won’t be moving forward fast if Republicans don’t cooperate. And, the 60-vote Senate supermajority rule won’t help the cause.
“If the Senate moves forward with legislation, then the House will move as well, but this is one where the Senate, because of their rules, are going to have a 60 vote supermajority and Republicans have been blocking everything,” Perlmutter said. “As a consequence, they may block any kind of (immigration) legislation moving forward.”
Perlmutter is a co-sponsor of the bill, along with other Colorado U.S. Representatives Diana DeGette D-Denver, Jared Polis, D-Boulder, and John Salazar, D-Manassa.
“We really have to tackle this issue and make sure we’ve secured our borders and our ports and really make it hard on people who are out to profit from trafficking in humans,” Perlmutter said. “We need to tackle this, and hopefully the Senate will attract several Republicans to do that instead of those guys trying to block it.”
With midterm elections on the horizon, lawmakers could be hesitant to vote on such a contentious issue for fear that their constituents wouldn’t re-elect them, said Nat Sillin, communications director for U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora.
“I don’t know if there’s the political will right now,” Sillin said. “As we get into the summertime, a lot of folks — in particularly tough races especially — won’t want to be on the record or involved in a heated immigration debate.”
Like Perlmutter, Sillin said the impetus for passing immigration reform would fall on the shoulders of the Senate.
“The schedule here in the House has been delayed, and in the Senate, things are slowing down which is emblematic of a typical election year,” he said. “The question really lies in the Senate and whether they’re willing to take it up.”
Sillin says Congress will also be preoccupied with choosing a replacement for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, which will “suck a lot of the air out of Washington.
“That’s really going to take up all the time and energy of the Senate,” he said.
Rumors that U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., could propose his own immigration reform bill have ballooned since his announcement at a Las Vegas rally April 10, where he said the nation’s immigration laws could change this year.
Reid’s statement was encouraging for Judith Marquez, an Aurora resident and community organizer for the nonprofit interest group Rights for All People, who attended the rally along with 200 other Coloradoans.
“It made me feel very hopeful hat we’re on the right track, and that our grassroots organizing has had an effect on our representatives,” Marquez said.
But five days later, Reid told reporters of the New York Times that immigration reform would have to wait, and it wouldn’t be on Washington’s immediate agenda.
That hasn’t swayed local politicians from calling on Reid to pass immigration reform. On Tuesday, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., sent a letter to Reid urging the Senate leader to advance reform.
For now, Gutierrez’s bill seems like the only beacon of hope for Colorado immigrant rights groups.
Under Gutierrez’s bill, the nation’s illegal immigrants would be required to fulfill myriad requirements including paying a $500 fine, proving they’d had been working in the U.S., learn English and undergoing criminal background checks in order to gain citizenship. The bill would also eliminate “touchback” provisions that were introduced by former legislative proposals, which require an illegal immigrant to return to their homeland first, before they are allowed to apply for citizenship.
Local groups that oppose mass immigration and amnesty for illegal immigrants have maintained that illegal immigration poses a threat to society because undocumented residents commit crimes, take jobs away from U.S. residents, and don’t pay taxes.
Fred Elbel, spokesman for the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, said the group opposes any bill, including Gutierrez’s, that could lead to amnesty for illegal immigrants.
“Immigration reform is really a code for amnesty,” said Elbel, who lives in Lakewood. “I support reform that means a reduction of both illegal and legal immigration to sustainable levels. Right now mass immigration is driving our population ... and our country just can’t handle that level of growth.”
Dave Gorak, executive director of the Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration, says any chance of Democrats pushing immigration reform this year is unlikely.
“It would be political suicide for anybody who supports this,” said Gorak, who lives in La Valle, Wis.
He estimates about 7 million immigrants are in the U.S. workforce and employed in jobs that could have been for U.S. citizens.
“If the Obama administration is really serious about creating jobs, and if jobs is a top priority for him, then why isn’t he doing something to get these (immigrants) out of the workplace,” he said.
But Rights for All People estimates that immigration reform could add $1.5 trillion to the U.S. economy.
The organization will host an event with Sen. Bennet on April 25 in Aurora dedicated to educating people about the significance of immigration reform to small businesses.
Immigrant rights groups will continue to host events like RAP’s, and spearhead immigration reform campaigns before May 1 when the organizations are slated to host immigration rallies across the nation.
After all, immigrants can’t count on the promises of politicians, said Chandra Russo, a community organizer for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, which recently launched the Welcoming Colorado campaign to raise awareness about the importance of immigrants in our society.
“No one is at the place where they are just going to relax and trust a single statement at this point,” Russo said. “We’ve been working hard for months to let Congress and the President know we aren’t going away, and if they turn their backs on us, we might not be there when they need us to vote them back in.”
http://www.aurorasentinel.com/articles/2010/04/23/news/doc4bd06b545c808888348868.txt
Friday, January 1, 2010
Films: Swift Justice: Illegal Immigration in America
USA, 2009, 56 Minute Running Time
World Premiere
Genre/Subjects: Colorado, Documentary, Political, Social Issues
Program: Documentary Films
Language: "English, Spanish" English Subtitles
DIRECTOR: Mateos Alvarez, Julie Speer Hunniford
Producer: Julie Speer Hunniford, Mateos Alvarez, Sara Aderhold
Editor: Georgina Guidotti, Dutch Simpson
Screenwriter: Julie Speer Hunniford, Mateos Alvarez, Sara Aderhold, Steering Committee Members
Cinematographer: Julie Speer Hunniford, Sara Aderhold, Scott Reyes, Dutch Simpson, Georgina Guidotti, Mateos Alvarez
The raid on Swift meatpacking plants in Greeley and six other locations nationwide in December 2006 by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau (ICE) ignited a heated debate about the place of undocumented workers in the United States and their exploitation by employers. More than 1,200 workers were arrested, and many have been held in legal limbo ever since as their cases are sorted out – while others were immediately deported back to Mexico and Central America. Human rights advocates accused law enforcement officers of casting the workers as dangerous criminals, noting the atypical and unusually public steps of not only long-term incarceration but also burdensome fines imposed before deportation. A Swift official’s description of the raids (or “enforcement actions,” as one district attorney calls them) makes clear that ICE had planned its sweep with the single goal of making Swift an example for other companies.
Co-producers Mateos Alvarez and Julie Speer Hunniford of the activist media group Little Voice Productions explore the context and ramifications of the raid through interviews with people on both sides of the issue, from the impact on families coping with legal troubles and sudden loss of income to the arguable morality of current immigration statutes. Among the dozens of people interviewed are law enforcement personnel, immigration lawyers and reformers, the immigrants themselves, and the former mayor of Greeley, Tom Selders, who was defeated in the 2008 election largely because of his antiraid stance. Swift Justice premiered in Greeley in July of this year.
http://www.denverfilm.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=22872&fid=49
World Premiere
Genre/Subjects: Colorado, Documentary, Political, Social Issues
Program: Documentary Films
Language: "English, Spanish" English Subtitles
DIRECTOR: Mateos Alvarez, Julie Speer Hunniford
Producer: Julie Speer Hunniford, Mateos Alvarez, Sara Aderhold
Editor: Georgina Guidotti, Dutch Simpson
Screenwriter: Julie Speer Hunniford, Mateos Alvarez, Sara Aderhold, Steering Committee Members
Cinematographer: Julie Speer Hunniford, Sara Aderhold, Scott Reyes, Dutch Simpson, Georgina Guidotti, Mateos Alvarez
The raid on Swift meatpacking plants in Greeley and six other locations nationwide in December 2006 by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau (ICE) ignited a heated debate about the place of undocumented workers in the United States and their exploitation by employers. More than 1,200 workers were arrested, and many have been held in legal limbo ever since as their cases are sorted out – while others were immediately deported back to Mexico and Central America. Human rights advocates accused law enforcement officers of casting the workers as dangerous criminals, noting the atypical and unusually public steps of not only long-term incarceration but also burdensome fines imposed before deportation. A Swift official’s description of the raids (or “enforcement actions,” as one district attorney calls them) makes clear that ICE had planned its sweep with the single goal of making Swift an example for other companies.
Co-producers Mateos Alvarez and Julie Speer Hunniford of the activist media group Little Voice Productions explore the context and ramifications of the raid through interviews with people on both sides of the issue, from the impact on families coping with legal troubles and sudden loss of income to the arguable morality of current immigration statutes. Among the dozens of people interviewed are law enforcement personnel, immigration lawyers and reformers, the immigrants themselves, and the former mayor of Greeley, Tom Selders, who was defeated in the 2008 election largely because of his antiraid stance. Swift Justice premiered in Greeley in July of this year.
http://www.denverfilm.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=22872&fid=49
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Johnson: Immigrant mom's journey ends in a cell
By Bill Johnson
The Denver Post
12/11/2009
Here is a concept: What is right can still be wrong. I think it goes back to the way I was raised.
You likely know nothing of the case of Estrella Jacquez-Quiroz. It likely will not surprise you, either, that a jury took only a couple of hours Tuesday to convict the Longmont woman.
The baseline story is a familiar one. The woman, now 26, was brought to the U.S. from Mexico by her family about 10 years ago. She enrolled in and graduated from Fairview High in Boulder.
She becomes pregnant and has a son. What does she do?
She goes out and gets not one, but two jobs, "to provide a better life for her baby," her public defender, Matthew Connell, would later say.
And then came the very familiar part of the story: You cannot get a job without a Social Security number, and you for sure cannot get a Social Security number if you are a citizen of another country.
On the witness stand, Jacquez-Quiroz testified she hadn't the money to go down the proper legal avenues to become a citizen. There was a baby to feed. So she bought a fake Social Security card.
Her employers never bothered to check, simply telling her to get to work.
The woman broke the law. No way for a jury to get around that. It convicted her on two felony counts, criminal impersonation and possession of a forged document.
The judge gave her 90 days of probation, forgoing any jail time because this woman — obviously a clear, deep and present danger to our republic — had already spent 105 days behind bars.
Yes, 105 days in jail.
To rid us of this threat, Jacquez-Quiroz has been handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation proceedings.
All of the above, no question, is legally proper. So why does it reek to me of unfairness? Maybe it is just me.
There must be a better way.
She was not rounded up in some big ICE raid. A busybody on her street called police to complain that Jacquez-Quiroz's now-8-year- old boy was walking the couple of blocks from her home to his third-grade class alone.
The cops waved away that nonsense but upon further investigation discovered Jacquez- Quiroz was in the country illegally and working with a fake ID.
The illegal-immigration crackdown nuts on their radio shows and in their living rooms are cheering what is happening to Jacquez-Quiroz. As if it were moral, much less that it actually means anything.
The immigration-reform story I could really get behind is one that does not end with her arrest, but the arrest of those who employed her.
If they did not know about Jacquez-Quiroz, they did not want to know.
We could end illegal immigration in this country tomorrow if the same cops who slammed the cell door on her immediately started going after those who employed her.
Let them defend themselves before a judge and a jury.
But that will never happen. Not in this country, where finding cheap labor and making a profit is king, where a person's legal status is all wink-wink and "Get to work."
When the cops do arrive, of course, it is all: "I didn't know! I was hoodwinked!"
The American way is they all go unpunished and on their merry way, letting it be known there is an opening for Jacquez-Quiroz's old job.
You tell me: Whom do you think they are going to get?
Bill Johnson writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-954-2763 or wjohnson@denverpost.com.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_13973579#ixzz0Zav4rSHm
The Denver Post
12/11/2009
Here is a concept: What is right can still be wrong. I think it goes back to the way I was raised.
You likely know nothing of the case of Estrella Jacquez-Quiroz. It likely will not surprise you, either, that a jury took only a couple of hours Tuesday to convict the Longmont woman.
The baseline story is a familiar one. The woman, now 26, was brought to the U.S. from Mexico by her family about 10 years ago. She enrolled in and graduated from Fairview High in Boulder.
She becomes pregnant and has a son. What does she do?
She goes out and gets not one, but two jobs, "to provide a better life for her baby," her public defender, Matthew Connell, would later say.
And then came the very familiar part of the story: You cannot get a job without a Social Security number, and you for sure cannot get a Social Security number if you are a citizen of another country.
On the witness stand, Jacquez-Quiroz testified she hadn't the money to go down the proper legal avenues to become a citizen. There was a baby to feed. So she bought a fake Social Security card.
Her employers never bothered to check, simply telling her to get to work.
The woman broke the law. No way for a jury to get around that. It convicted her on two felony counts, criminal impersonation and possession of a forged document.
The judge gave her 90 days of probation, forgoing any jail time because this woman — obviously a clear, deep and present danger to our republic — had already spent 105 days behind bars.
Yes, 105 days in jail.
To rid us of this threat, Jacquez-Quiroz has been handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation proceedings.
All of the above, no question, is legally proper. So why does it reek to me of unfairness? Maybe it is just me.
There must be a better way.
She was not rounded up in some big ICE raid. A busybody on her street called police to complain that Jacquez-Quiroz's now-8-year- old boy was walking the couple of blocks from her home to his third-grade class alone.
The cops waved away that nonsense but upon further investigation discovered Jacquez- Quiroz was in the country illegally and working with a fake ID.
The illegal-immigration crackdown nuts on their radio shows and in their living rooms are cheering what is happening to Jacquez-Quiroz. As if it were moral, much less that it actually means anything.
The immigration-reform story I could really get behind is one that does not end with her arrest, but the arrest of those who employed her.
If they did not know about Jacquez-Quiroz, they did not want to know.
We could end illegal immigration in this country tomorrow if the same cops who slammed the cell door on her immediately started going after those who employed her.
Let them defend themselves before a judge and a jury.
But that will never happen. Not in this country, where finding cheap labor and making a profit is king, where a person's legal status is all wink-wink and "Get to work."
When the cops do arrive, of course, it is all: "I didn't know! I was hoodwinked!"
The American way is they all go unpunished and on their merry way, letting it be known there is an opening for Jacquez-Quiroz's old job.
You tell me: Whom do you think they are going to get?
Bill Johnson writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-954-2763 or wjohnson@denverpost.com.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_13973579#ixzz0Zav4rSHm
Sunday, December 13, 2009
DU panel: Deporting 12 million illegal immigrants is not realistic
By Katie Redding
The Colorado Independent
12/11/09 2:57 PM
After a year of study, a Denver University panel released 25 recommendations for immigration reform this week. Among them, according to the DU website, was a recommendation for some form of amnesty for America’s millions of illegal immigrants.
And without excusing violations that have led to some 12 million people living in the U.S. illegally, the panel finds that deporting that many individuals is simply not realistic. Meanwhile, leaving that many people living in a shadow state is also impractical and unproductive. The panel calls for creating a process that allows illegal immigrants to come forward and register for a provisional status, working toward full legal residency.
But that residency would require English language proficiency, [panel chairman Jim] Griesemer said. While the U.S. is built as a nation on immigration and the vitality of many cultures, a common language must be part of the country’s continued development and prosperity.
But the report wasn’t a far-left call to ease up on immigration enforcement. It also recommended a government-issued worker identification card, along with an electronic system by which employers could verify legal status.
For more than 20 years, federal law has required all employers to examine documents presented by new hires to verify identity and work authorization, and to complete and retain employment eligibility verification forms (I-9). There is general agreement that the I-9 process has been undermined by fraud, both document fraud, where prospective employees present counterfeit or invalid documents, and identity fraud, where prospective employees present valid documents issued to other individuals. Even if employers are willing and motivated to comply with the law, as the great majority seem to be, the inability to positively and reliably verify immigration status is a major stumbling block to managing illegal immigration through employers.
And it also called for more resources to ensure that border patrol agents can do their job:
In addition to illegal immigration concerns, there is an urgent need to deal with violence, drug smuggling, human trafficking and potential terrorist activity in border areas. Indeed, [the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection’s] top priority is now to keep terrorists and their weapons from entering the United States.
Each year, Denver University’s Strategic Issues Forum picks a topic and spends a year developing recommendations. According to Chancellor Robert Coombe, this year’s topic was particularly challenging.
“This year, the topic was the greatest test yet of the process,” Coombe said.
http://coloradoindependent.com/44060/du-panel-deporting-12-million-illegal-immigrants-is-not-realistic
The Colorado Independent
12/11/09 2:57 PM
After a year of study, a Denver University panel released 25 recommendations for immigration reform this week. Among them, according to the DU website, was a recommendation for some form of amnesty for America’s millions of illegal immigrants.
And without excusing violations that have led to some 12 million people living in the U.S. illegally, the panel finds that deporting that many individuals is simply not realistic. Meanwhile, leaving that many people living in a shadow state is also impractical and unproductive. The panel calls for creating a process that allows illegal immigrants to come forward and register for a provisional status, working toward full legal residency.
But that residency would require English language proficiency, [panel chairman Jim] Griesemer said. While the U.S. is built as a nation on immigration and the vitality of many cultures, a common language must be part of the country’s continued development and prosperity.
But the report wasn’t a far-left call to ease up on immigration enforcement. It also recommended a government-issued worker identification card, along with an electronic system by which employers could verify legal status.
For more than 20 years, federal law has required all employers to examine documents presented by new hires to verify identity and work authorization, and to complete and retain employment eligibility verification forms (I-9). There is general agreement that the I-9 process has been undermined by fraud, both document fraud, where prospective employees present counterfeit or invalid documents, and identity fraud, where prospective employees present valid documents issued to other individuals. Even if employers are willing and motivated to comply with the law, as the great majority seem to be, the inability to positively and reliably verify immigration status is a major stumbling block to managing illegal immigration through employers.
And it also called for more resources to ensure that border patrol agents can do their job:
In addition to illegal immigration concerns, there is an urgent need to deal with violence, drug smuggling, human trafficking and potential terrorist activity in border areas. Indeed, [the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection’s] top priority is now to keep terrorists and their weapons from entering the United States.
Each year, Denver University’s Strategic Issues Forum picks a topic and spends a year developing recommendations. According to Chancellor Robert Coombe, this year’s topic was particularly challenging.
“This year, the topic was the greatest test yet of the process,” Coombe said.
http://coloradoindependent.com/44060/du-panel-deporting-12-million-illegal-immigrants-is-not-realistic
Friday, December 11, 2009
Vigil to mark raid's third anniversary set for Saturday
Staff Reports
The Tribune
December 10, 2009
A vigil and potluck dinner will be held Saturday in Greeley to mark the third anniversary of the immigration raid at Swift & Co. (now JBS USA) in December 2006.
Ricardo Romero, director of Al Frente de la Lucha community center, said a vigil will take place at 4:30 p.m. The vigil will last for about 15 minutes in front of the center, 919 8th St.
The ceremony will then move across the street to the Jesus Rodarte Center, 920 A St., for a potluck supper. Romero said three families that were affected by the raids will make presentations about their experience. Co-pastors from Family of Christ Presbyterian Church in Greeley will also speak at the Rodarte Center.
In December 2006, the Greeley plant was raided along with six other Swift plants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. About 262 workers were arrested in Greeley.
Romero said 33 families from the raid still have cases on appeal and court dates stretching until 2011.
Saturday's events are open to the public.
Information: 388-0834.
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20091210/NEWS/912109982/1002&parentprofile=1001
The Tribune
December 10, 2009
A vigil and potluck dinner will be held Saturday in Greeley to mark the third anniversary of the immigration raid at Swift & Co. (now JBS USA) in December 2006.
Ricardo Romero, director of Al Frente de la Lucha community center, said a vigil will take place at 4:30 p.m. The vigil will last for about 15 minutes in front of the center, 919 8th St.
The ceremony will then move across the street to the Jesus Rodarte Center, 920 A St., for a potluck supper. Romero said three families that were affected by the raids will make presentations about their experience. Co-pastors from Family of Christ Presbyterian Church in Greeley will also speak at the Rodarte Center.
In December 2006, the Greeley plant was raided along with six other Swift plants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. About 262 workers were arrested in Greeley.
Romero said 33 families from the raid still have cases on appeal and court dates stretching until 2011.
Saturday's events are open to the public.
Information: 388-0834.
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20091210/NEWS/912109982/1002&parentprofile=1001
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Immigration raids yield jobs for legal workers
By Alan Gomez
USA TODAY
When federal agents descended on six meatpacking plants owned by Swift & Co. in December 2006, they rounded up nearly 1,300 suspected illegal immigrants that made up about 10% of the labor force at the plants.
But the raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents did not cripple the company or the plants. In fact, they were back up and running at full staff within months by replacing those removed with a significant number of native-born Americans, according to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
That was the most extreme example of what has become an increasingly common result of the raids: "They were very beneficial to American workers," according to Vanderbilt University professor Carol Swain.
"Whenever there's an immigration raid, you find white, black and legal immigrant labor lining up to do those jobs that Americans will supposedly not do," said Swain, who teaches law and political science.
Exactly who is filling the jobs has varied, depending on the populations surrounding the plants:
• Out West, one of the Swift plants raided by ICE, had a workforce that was about 90% Hispanic — both legal and illegal — before the raids. The lost workers were replaced mostly with white Americans and U.S.-born Hispanics, according to the CIS.
• In the South, a House of Raeford Farms plant in North Carolina that was more than 80% Hispanic before a federal investigation is now about 70% African-American, according to a report by TheCharlotte Observer.
• Throughout the Great Plains, a new wave of legal immigrants is filling the void, according to Jill Cashen, spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents 1.3 million people who work in the food-processing industry. Plants are refilling positions with newly arrived immigrants from places such as Sudan, Somalia and Southeast Asia.
Recession plays a factor in shift
Steven Camarota of CIS said native-born Americans are not only willing to take on those jobs, but currently fill a majority of them.
Native-born workers outnumber immigrants 3-to-1 in construction jobs and 2-to-1 in farming, fishing and forestry jobs, according to Camarota.
T. Willard Fair, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Miami, said it has taken the greatest recession in a generation for poor Americans to line up to work in fields and factories.
"We'll take anything now," Fair said. "We're willing to be exploited for a while."
After ICE agents descend on poultry-processing plants, pork factories and meatpacking facilities across the USA, in some cases plant owners are forced to raise wages to get Americans to sign up, Swain said.
Catherine Singley, a policy analyst for the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights organization, said the post-raid increases in salaries were also necessary for Americans to accept the harsh, dangerous working environments.
She said wages did not plummet in recent decades because of immigrants undercutting Americans, but because employers took advantage of the immigrant population fearful of seeking help from authorities.
"If you've got a segment of the workforce that's afraid to speak out against violations of their labor rights, then that drags down wages and working conditions for all workers," Singley said.
A report released last week by the NCLR found that the occupational fatality rate for Latinos remained the highest among ethnic groups in the country for the 15th straight year in 2007, when 937 Latinos died on the job.
"That's something that native-born Americans and native-born Latino workers are dealing with for the first time," she said, referring to the general working conditions faced by workers in factories, plants and fields.
New leverage for workers
As the face of factory workers changes, so do the issues that workers and employers must tackle.
Cashen said her union had to negotiate with plant managers in Nebraska and Colorado to allow employees to properly observe the Islamic holiday of Ramadan.
This month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that the Colorado plant was wrong to fire more than 100 Muslim workers who walked out during Ramadan last year in a dispute over prayer breaks.
"Ten years ago, we were negotiating to provide for Cinco de Mayo," Cashen said, referring to the Mexican holiday. "If you walk in the doors of a plant, you're going to see … the United Nations."
http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2009-09-13-plants_N.htm
An ICE agent searches a man at a meat plant in Greeley, Colo., during a 2006 raid.
File photo by Richard M. Hackett, AP
USA TODAY
When federal agents descended on six meatpacking plants owned by Swift & Co. in December 2006, they rounded up nearly 1,300 suspected illegal immigrants that made up about 10% of the labor force at the plants.
But the raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents did not cripple the company or the plants. In fact, they were back up and running at full staff within months by replacing those removed with a significant number of native-born Americans, according to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
That was the most extreme example of what has become an increasingly common result of the raids: "They were very beneficial to American workers," according to Vanderbilt University professor Carol Swain.
"Whenever there's an immigration raid, you find white, black and legal immigrant labor lining up to do those jobs that Americans will supposedly not do," said Swain, who teaches law and political science.
Exactly who is filling the jobs has varied, depending on the populations surrounding the plants:
• Out West, one of the Swift plants raided by ICE, had a workforce that was about 90% Hispanic — both legal and illegal — before the raids. The lost workers were replaced mostly with white Americans and U.S.-born Hispanics, according to the CIS.
• In the South, a House of Raeford Farms plant in North Carolina that was more than 80% Hispanic before a federal investigation is now about 70% African-American, according to a report by TheCharlotte Observer.
• Throughout the Great Plains, a new wave of legal immigrants is filling the void, according to Jill Cashen, spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents 1.3 million people who work in the food-processing industry. Plants are refilling positions with newly arrived immigrants from places such as Sudan, Somalia and Southeast Asia.
Recession plays a factor in shift
Steven Camarota of CIS said native-born Americans are not only willing to take on those jobs, but currently fill a majority of them.
Native-born workers outnumber immigrants 3-to-1 in construction jobs and 2-to-1 in farming, fishing and forestry jobs, according to Camarota.
T. Willard Fair, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Miami, said it has taken the greatest recession in a generation for poor Americans to line up to work in fields and factories.
"We'll take anything now," Fair said. "We're willing to be exploited for a while."
After ICE agents descend on poultry-processing plants, pork factories and meatpacking facilities across the USA, in some cases plant owners are forced to raise wages to get Americans to sign up, Swain said.
Catherine Singley, a policy analyst for the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights organization, said the post-raid increases in salaries were also necessary for Americans to accept the harsh, dangerous working environments.
She said wages did not plummet in recent decades because of immigrants undercutting Americans, but because employers took advantage of the immigrant population fearful of seeking help from authorities.
"If you've got a segment of the workforce that's afraid to speak out against violations of their labor rights, then that drags down wages and working conditions for all workers," Singley said.
A report released last week by the NCLR found that the occupational fatality rate for Latinos remained the highest among ethnic groups in the country for the 15th straight year in 2007, when 937 Latinos died on the job.
"That's something that native-born Americans and native-born Latino workers are dealing with for the first time," she said, referring to the general working conditions faced by workers in factories, plants and fields.
New leverage for workers
As the face of factory workers changes, so do the issues that workers and employers must tackle.
Cashen said her union had to negotiate with plant managers in Nebraska and Colorado to allow employees to properly observe the Islamic holiday of Ramadan.
This month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that the Colorado plant was wrong to fire more than 100 Muslim workers who walked out during Ramadan last year in a dispute over prayer breaks.
"Ten years ago, we were negotiating to provide for Cinco de Mayo," Cashen said, referring to the Mexican holiday. "If you walk in the doors of a plant, you're going to see … the United Nations."
http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2009-09-13-plants_N.htm
An ICE agent searches a man at a meat plant in Greeley, Colo., during a 2006 raid.
File photo by Richard M. Hackett, AP
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Union report calls for enforcement changes
By Steve Porter
Northern Colorado Business Report
July 3, 2009
A report recently issued by the United Food and Commercial Workers International union has some very harsh things to say about the raids conducted in December 2006 by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in Greeley and five other locations across the country.
As the self-proclaimed "National Commission on ICE Misconduct and Violations of the 4th Amendment," the union issued a scathing report called "Raids on Workers, Destroying Our Rights" that claims to be a "comprehensive analysis and investigation of ICE raids and their ramifications."
The union enlisted a group of labor leaders, academic researchers, legal experts and former elected officials - including former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack who now serves as U.S. secretary of agriculture - to look into the allegations made about ICE conduct in the performance of those raids and subsequent raids in other workplaces.
The report concludes that large numbers of assault rifle-carrying ICE agents conducted the raids in a heavy-handed, military attack-style that unnecessarily frightened illegal and legal workers and trampled on their Constitutional rights, including the Fourth Amendment that protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Workers at the plants testified at five commission hearings that they were treated like criminals by ICE agents and denied food, water and the use of the bathroom for hours. They said they were also denied any contact with the outside world while the plants were shut down and they were questioned by ICE agents. That resulted in family members not knowing what was happening to workers and workers' children left unattended.
Legal workers also wondered why suspected illegal employees could not have been arrested individually without traumatizing those who had done nothing wrong.
The union had a strong interest in the Swift raids because it represented workers at five of the six plants and now represents all six. Swift sold its interest in the plants seven months later to JBS S.A., a Brazilian company that is the largest beef processor in the world.
Swift officials claimed at the time that the company was using E-Verify, a federal identity program that aims to ensure illegal immigrants are not hired. JBS is using the same system today.
The raids, dubbed Operation Wagon Train by ICE, were targeted at illegal workers who had obtained their employment through identity theft. They came at a time when the Bush administration was responding to a growing national outcry over illegal immigration from Mexico.
Out of about 12,000 workers seized for questioning by ICE on Dec. 12, 2006, about 1,300 were subsequently arrested. Of those, only 274 were charged with crimes including identity theft. The rest were charged with immigration status violations - in other words, people who were in the country legally but who had violated some aspect of their permission to work.
ICE, in response to the report's criticism, issued a terse four-sentence statement: "The men and women of ICE have a sworn duty to uphold the nation's immigration and customs laws. We do so professionally and humanely, and with an acute awareness of the impact that enforcement has on the individuals we encounter. Anyone encountered who is in violation of those laws has full access to due process under the law. Anyone who believes an ICE employee has violated policy or law is encouraged to report the matter to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General."
But the ICE may be thawing a bit. Under its new head, former New Mexico governor Janet Napolitano, the agency appears to be moving away from an illegal worker enforcement focus to targeting employers who knowingly hire illegals.
In an April 30 statement on Worksite Enforcement Strategy, DHS said it will "focus its resources in the worksite enforcement program on the criminal prosecution of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers in order to target the root cause of illegal immigration."
In its report, the union-formed commission said it is hopeful that the Obama administration will chart a new course in illegal immigration enforcement and is asking Congress to create a new ombudsman office for ICE to investigate abuse and punish those responsible.
Sounds like a good start.
http://www.ncbr.com/article.asp?id=100923
Northern Colorado Business Report
July 3, 2009
A report recently issued by the United Food and Commercial Workers International union has some very harsh things to say about the raids conducted in December 2006 by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in Greeley and five other locations across the country.
As the self-proclaimed "National Commission on ICE Misconduct and Violations of the 4th Amendment," the union issued a scathing report called "Raids on Workers, Destroying Our Rights" that claims to be a "comprehensive analysis and investigation of ICE raids and their ramifications."
The union enlisted a group of labor leaders, academic researchers, legal experts and former elected officials - including former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack who now serves as U.S. secretary of agriculture - to look into the allegations made about ICE conduct in the performance of those raids and subsequent raids in other workplaces.
The report concludes that large numbers of assault rifle-carrying ICE agents conducted the raids in a heavy-handed, military attack-style that unnecessarily frightened illegal and legal workers and trampled on their Constitutional rights, including the Fourth Amendment that protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Workers at the plants testified at five commission hearings that they were treated like criminals by ICE agents and denied food, water and the use of the bathroom for hours. They said they were also denied any contact with the outside world while the plants were shut down and they were questioned by ICE agents. That resulted in family members not knowing what was happening to workers and workers' children left unattended.
Legal workers also wondered why suspected illegal employees could not have been arrested individually without traumatizing those who had done nothing wrong.
The union had a strong interest in the Swift raids because it represented workers at five of the six plants and now represents all six. Swift sold its interest in the plants seven months later to JBS S.A., a Brazilian company that is the largest beef processor in the world.
Swift officials claimed at the time that the company was using E-Verify, a federal identity program that aims to ensure illegal immigrants are not hired. JBS is using the same system today.
The raids, dubbed Operation Wagon Train by ICE, were targeted at illegal workers who had obtained their employment through identity theft. They came at a time when the Bush administration was responding to a growing national outcry over illegal immigration from Mexico.
Out of about 12,000 workers seized for questioning by ICE on Dec. 12, 2006, about 1,300 were subsequently arrested. Of those, only 274 were charged with crimes including identity theft. The rest were charged with immigration status violations - in other words, people who were in the country legally but who had violated some aspect of their permission to work.
ICE, in response to the report's criticism, issued a terse four-sentence statement: "The men and women of ICE have a sworn duty to uphold the nation's immigration and customs laws. We do so professionally and humanely, and with an acute awareness of the impact that enforcement has on the individuals we encounter. Anyone encountered who is in violation of those laws has full access to due process under the law. Anyone who believes an ICE employee has violated policy or law is encouraged to report the matter to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General."
But the ICE may be thawing a bit. Under its new head, former New Mexico governor Janet Napolitano, the agency appears to be moving away from an illegal worker enforcement focus to targeting employers who knowingly hire illegals.
In an April 30 statement on Worksite Enforcement Strategy, DHS said it will "focus its resources in the worksite enforcement program on the criminal prosecution of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers in order to target the root cause of illegal immigration."
In its report, the union-formed commission said it is hopeful that the Obama administration will chart a new course in illegal immigration enforcement and is asking Congress to create a new ombudsman office for ICE to investigate abuse and punish those responsible.
Sounds like a good start.
http://www.ncbr.com/article.asp?id=100923
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Feds should get new ICE office off on right foot — with good policy
Tribune Opinion
Greeley, Colorado
May 27, 2009
The Obama administration has handed down a new directive for immigration enforcement officials: Take aim at employers and supervisors who are knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.
While the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy still would allow illegal workers to be detained in workplace raids, those raids would be limited.
Obviously, workplace raids alone aren’t working to dramatically deter illegal immigration. So, it makes sense to attack the problem from a different — or additional — angle.
However, we just aren’t convinced the Obama administration’s new approach will be more effective.
Greeley is a couple months away from being the home of a new ICE office. The project, which has been delayed due to funding constraints, is expected to be completed by late summer or early fall. As planned, the facility at 4645 18th St. will serve as an investigations field site and will handle a variety of investigations, including work force enforcement.
We will be watching to see how the new focus of ICE plays out locally. We agree that if an employer is knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, then that employer should be prosecuted. But the concept of primarily targeting employers has two main flaws.
First, there is no one perfectly reliable system for employers to verify the legitimacy and legality of a prospective employee. Remember, before the 2006 raids at Swift & Co. in Greeley, the company was using the government’s Basic Pilot program, now called
E-Verify, which was supposed to help employers identify illegal workers.
Also, there are too many ways for illegal workers to access stolen or fake documentation that even the most diligent, law-abiding employer could be duped.
We desperately need to get to the heart of the matter. We need comprehensive immigration reform that would include some form of a work permit process, as well as an eventual path to citizenship.
Instead of tweaking an already broken system, lawmakers should take on this thorny issue once and for all.
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20090527/OPINION/905279997/1029/NONE
Greeley, Colorado
May 27, 2009
The Obama administration has handed down a new directive for immigration enforcement officials: Take aim at employers and supervisors who are knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.
While the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy still would allow illegal workers to be detained in workplace raids, those raids would be limited.
Obviously, workplace raids alone aren’t working to dramatically deter illegal immigration. So, it makes sense to attack the problem from a different — or additional — angle.
However, we just aren’t convinced the Obama administration’s new approach will be more effective.
Greeley is a couple months away from being the home of a new ICE office. The project, which has been delayed due to funding constraints, is expected to be completed by late summer or early fall. As planned, the facility at 4645 18th St. will serve as an investigations field site and will handle a variety of investigations, including work force enforcement.
We will be watching to see how the new focus of ICE plays out locally. We agree that if an employer is knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, then that employer should be prosecuted. But the concept of primarily targeting employers has two main flaws.
First, there is no one perfectly reliable system for employers to verify the legitimacy and legality of a prospective employee. Remember, before the 2006 raids at Swift & Co. in Greeley, the company was using the government’s Basic Pilot program, now called
E-Verify, which was supposed to help employers identify illegal workers.
Also, there are too many ways for illegal workers to access stolen or fake documentation that even the most diligent, law-abiding employer could be duped.
We desperately need to get to the heart of the matter. We need comprehensive immigration reform that would include some form of a work permit process, as well as an eventual path to citizenship.
Instead of tweaking an already broken system, lawmakers should take on this thorny issue once and for all.
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20090527/OPINION/905279997/1029/NONE
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Paying Taxes, and Fearing Deportation
Paying Taxes, and Fearing Deportation
By DAN FROSCH
The New York Times
February 2, 2009
GREELEY, Colo. — For the past decade, thousands of Hispanic men and women who settled here went to Amalia’s Translation and Tax Services to pay their annual income taxes.
Whether these people were in the United States legally mattered little to Amalia Cerrillo, who runs the business out of her home in this northern Colorado farming town. The Internal Revenue Service, Ms. Cerrillo knew, requires everyone, regardless of immigration status, to pay taxes on income earned in this country.
“My clients wanted to do what any other American does,” Ms. Cerrillo said. “And they wanted to show that they paid their taxes if there is ever a chance for amnesty or a green card.”
That all changed Oct. 17, when investigators with the Weld County Sheriff’s Office, armed with a search warrant, seized thousands of confidential tax returns from Ms. Cerrillo’s business. They told her they were looking for people with fraudulent Social Security numbers, commonly used by illegal immigrants to get work.
The seizure of the tax returns was the first step in a broad, continuing investigation, called Operation Number Games by local law enforcement officials. Sheriff John Cooke said his investigators had identified about 1,300 illegal immigrants who had filed tax returns bearing fake or stolen Social Security numbers. Many will face deportation proceedings.
Since October, 40 people have been arrested on identity theft or criminal impersonation charges. Sixty-five additional arrest warrants have been issued, and District Attorney Ken Buck said many more would be coming.
“I don’t care whether they are meth addicts or petty thieves or illegal immigrants,” Mr. Buck said. “What matters most to me is that they are committing felonies through identify theft.”
The campaign is causing concern at the I.R.S., which says illegal immigrants paid almost $50 billion in taxes from 1996 to 2003, and among immigrants’ rights groups, which call the operation a thinly disguised attempt to root out illegal immigrants.
“For years, they said immigrants don’t pay taxes and are a burden on our system,” said Julie Gonzales, the political coordinator for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.
Late last Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado filed a lawsuit in State District Court here arguing that by seizing and retaining confidential tax information, the Weld County authorities had violated privacy rights of thousands of taxpayers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/us/02greeley.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
By DAN FROSCH
The New York Times
February 2, 2009
GREELEY, Colo. — For the past decade, thousands of Hispanic men and women who settled here went to Amalia’s Translation and Tax Services to pay their annual income taxes.
Whether these people were in the United States legally mattered little to Amalia Cerrillo, who runs the business out of her home in this northern Colorado farming town. The Internal Revenue Service, Ms. Cerrillo knew, requires everyone, regardless of immigration status, to pay taxes on income earned in this country.
“My clients wanted to do what any other American does,” Ms. Cerrillo said. “And they wanted to show that they paid their taxes if there is ever a chance for amnesty or a green card.”
That all changed Oct. 17, when investigators with the Weld County Sheriff’s Office, armed with a search warrant, seized thousands of confidential tax returns from Ms. Cerrillo’s business. They told her they were looking for people with fraudulent Social Security numbers, commonly used by illegal immigrants to get work.
The seizure of the tax returns was the first step in a broad, continuing investigation, called Operation Number Games by local law enforcement officials. Sheriff John Cooke said his investigators had identified about 1,300 illegal immigrants who had filed tax returns bearing fake or stolen Social Security numbers. Many will face deportation proceedings.
Since October, 40 people have been arrested on identity theft or criminal impersonation charges. Sixty-five additional arrest warrants have been issued, and District Attorney Ken Buck said many more would be coming.
“I don’t care whether they are meth addicts or petty thieves or illegal immigrants,” Mr. Buck said. “What matters most to me is that they are committing felonies through identify theft.”
The campaign is causing concern at the I.R.S., which says illegal immigrants paid almost $50 billion in taxes from 1996 to 2003, and among immigrants’ rights groups, which call the operation a thinly disguised attempt to root out illegal immigrants.
“For years, they said immigrants don’t pay taxes and are a burden on our system,” said Julie Gonzales, the political coordinator for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.
Late last Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado filed a lawsuit in State District Court here arguing that by seizing and retaining confidential tax information, the Weld County authorities had violated privacy rights of thousands of taxpayers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/us/02greeley.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
Friday, December 12, 2008
Two years after Swift raid, issue is still a ‘dance’
Two years after Swift raid, issue is still a ‘dance’
Chris Casey
The Tribune
The theme of immigration really hasn’t changed much through the decades or the centuries, according to a biblical scholar who spoke Thursday in Greeley.
It’s rooted in the push and pull of labor needs between nations. It often evolves into a dance between pragmatic and emotional concerns, the scholar said.
M. Daniel Carroll, a professor of the Old Testament at Denver Seminary, spoke to about 25 members of the Weld Ministerial Fellowship at The Rock Church in downtown Greeley. His presentation came on the eve of the second anniversary of the 2006 immigration raid at the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Greeley.
Carroll, who is of Guatemalan and Irish descent, discussed the origins of the “Hispanic” label, outlined historical politics that brokered and barred foreign labor, and gently promoted tolerance for illegal immigrants while acknowledging that people have deep-seated “nativist responses” on the issue.
He said he prefers the term “undocumented” to “illegal,” because in his view, the majority of immigrants are not criminals but hard workers who lack proper documents.
“Once you start using the word ‘illegal’ it can really raise the heat in the room,” Carroll said.
He described the tension as a dance — between dependence on foreign laborers and the people who turn against them when their numbers swell, as is the case with Latino immigrants who are now such a “massive population — it’s no longer circumscribed or cute” to native residents.
Carroll cited the U.S. government’s quotas on Irish and Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. He pointed out that in 1881 the U.S., which until then recruited Chinese to build railroads, passed the Chinese Exclusion Act that barred Chinese laborers from entering the country. The act was rescinded in 1943.
In the 20th century, he said, Mexicans were recruited to backfill field and factory jobs as Americans went overseas to fight in World War I and World War II.
“Assimilation is always a dance, and there’s always two people in the dance,” Carroll said. “It gets messy, but it’s all very natural.”
He said immigration law in the United States is convoluted and contradictory, because it’s layered upon years of prior laws.
One area of contradiction, Carroll said, is the recent federal trend to conduct workplace raids.
http://www.greeleytribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081212/NEWS/812129983/1001&title=Two%20years%20after%20Swift%20raid,%20issue%20is%20still%20a%20%20&template=printart
Chris Casey
The Tribune
The theme of immigration really hasn’t changed much through the decades or the centuries, according to a biblical scholar who spoke Thursday in Greeley.
It’s rooted in the push and pull of labor needs between nations. It often evolves into a dance between pragmatic and emotional concerns, the scholar said.
M. Daniel Carroll, a professor of the Old Testament at Denver Seminary, spoke to about 25 members of the Weld Ministerial Fellowship at The Rock Church in downtown Greeley. His presentation came on the eve of the second anniversary of the 2006 immigration raid at the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Greeley.
Carroll, who is of Guatemalan and Irish descent, discussed the origins of the “Hispanic” label, outlined historical politics that brokered and barred foreign labor, and gently promoted tolerance for illegal immigrants while acknowledging that people have deep-seated “nativist responses” on the issue.
He said he prefers the term “undocumented” to “illegal,” because in his view, the majority of immigrants are not criminals but hard workers who lack proper documents.
“Once you start using the word ‘illegal’ it can really raise the heat in the room,” Carroll said.
He described the tension as a dance — between dependence on foreign laborers and the people who turn against them when their numbers swell, as is the case with Latino immigrants who are now such a “massive population — it’s no longer circumscribed or cute” to native residents.
Carroll cited the U.S. government’s quotas on Irish and Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. He pointed out that in 1881 the U.S., which until then recruited Chinese to build railroads, passed the Chinese Exclusion Act that barred Chinese laborers from entering the country. The act was rescinded in 1943.
In the 20th century, he said, Mexicans were recruited to backfill field and factory jobs as Americans went overseas to fight in World War I and World War II.
“Assimilation is always a dance, and there’s always two people in the dance,” Carroll said. “It gets messy, but it’s all very natural.”
He said immigration law in the United States is convoluted and contradictory, because it’s layered upon years of prior laws.
One area of contradiction, Carroll said, is the recent federal trend to conduct workplace raids.
http://www.greeleytribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081212/NEWS/812129983/1001&title=Two%20years%20after%20Swift%20raid,%20issue%20is%20still%20a%20%20&template=printart
Friday, September 5, 2008
After the Raids in Colorado
After the Raids
News report, New American Media
Valeria Fernández , Posted: Sep 04/05, 2008
ERASMA ZUNÚN LOPEZ lives a cautious life since the day she was arrested during an immigration raid almost two years ago. Now, doors are always double-locked and curtains are shut at her home. She lives near a police station in Greeley, Colorado, and she shivers any time she sees a police officer. She rushes back into her house when a white van approaches the station. She cries often for no immediate reason. Recurring nightmares haunt her. She no longer takes her eight grandchildren to the park a few blocks away. Her worst fear is to be separated from them again.
Lopez was one of 262 people who were arrested in 2006 when federal immigration agents raided the Swift & Company meatpacking plant in Greeley where she worked. About 1,300 workers were arrested at six of the company’s sites nationwide. Since the raid, justice has been postponed for at least 32 immigrant families like hers who live in legal limbo while they wait to see an immigration judge in October.
“They are stuck,” said Ricardo Romero, a Colorado immigrant rights activist. “They can’t work...what the hell are you doing giving them court dates two years after they’ve been arrested?”
"We used to have two checks coming in, now it's only one...we're limited in food [and] clothes, and gas is expensive." Many of the workers arrested in Greeley were Mexicans and Guatemalans, but the group also included Hondurans, Ethiopians and Laotians.
Among those from Mexico and Guatemala were many indigenous peoples from those countries who lived in families here with mixed documentation status. While they may not be citizens, they have U.S.-born children and spouses, or siblings who are citizens. Most of those arrested that day signed documents for voluntary deportation.
Others, like Lopez, chose to fight in court to stay, even if their likelihood of winning was remote. Some who were deported have already crossed the border again and are back with their children and working in Greeley’s underground economy.Al Frente de Lucha, a nonprofit organization run by Romero, has been helping 17 families with supplies and food coupons with the support of a local church, but help is running out.
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=3236feeaa1f7e54635ded906974f7641
News report, New American Media
Valeria Fernández , Posted: Sep 04/05, 2008
ERASMA ZUNÚN LOPEZ lives a cautious life since the day she was arrested during an immigration raid almost two years ago. Now, doors are always double-locked and curtains are shut at her home. She lives near a police station in Greeley, Colorado, and she shivers any time she sees a police officer. She rushes back into her house when a white van approaches the station. She cries often for no immediate reason. Recurring nightmares haunt her. She no longer takes her eight grandchildren to the park a few blocks away. Her worst fear is to be separated from them again.
Lopez was one of 262 people who were arrested in 2006 when federal immigration agents raided the Swift & Company meatpacking plant in Greeley where she worked. About 1,300 workers were arrested at six of the company’s sites nationwide. Since the raid, justice has been postponed for at least 32 immigrant families like hers who live in legal limbo while they wait to see an immigration judge in October.
“They are stuck,” said Ricardo Romero, a Colorado immigrant rights activist. “They can’t work...what the hell are you doing giving them court dates two years after they’ve been arrested?”
"We used to have two checks coming in, now it's only one...we're limited in food [and] clothes, and gas is expensive." Many of the workers arrested in Greeley were Mexicans and Guatemalans, but the group also included Hondurans, Ethiopians and Laotians.
Among those from Mexico and Guatemala were many indigenous peoples from those countries who lived in families here with mixed documentation status. While they may not be citizens, they have U.S.-born children and spouses, or siblings who are citizens. Most of those arrested that day signed documents for voluntary deportation.
Others, like Lopez, chose to fight in court to stay, even if their likelihood of winning was remote. Some who were deported have already crossed the border again and are back with their children and working in Greeley’s underground economy.Al Frente de Lucha, a nonprofit organization run by Romero, has been helping 17 families with supplies and food coupons with the support of a local church, but help is running out.
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=3236feeaa1f7e54635ded906974f7641
Thursday, July 17, 2008
ICE raid nets 18 Loveland workers
The illegal immigrants were arrested at Colorado Precast Concrete and face deportation or a hearing.
By Howard Pankratz
The Denver Post
Posted: 07/17/2008
Eighteen men, all illegal immigrants, were arrested Wednesday morning at a Loveland concrete plant by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The arrests occurred at Colorado Precast Concrete Inc. in a coordinated effort by ICE, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office and the air branch of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which provided air support, said ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok.
The men were arrested for being illegally in the United States, Rusnok said. One man is from El Salvador, and the rest are from Mexico.
Rusnok said Colorado Precast manufactures precast concrete forms for various industrial concrete projects.
ICE said the company fully cooperated with ICE during the operation and that no criminal charges are anticipated against the company.
The arrested men will be booked and jailed while awaiting return to their countries or a hearing before a federal immigration judge.
Jeffrey Copp, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Denver, said work-site enforcement operations such as the one conducted in Loveland "maintain the integrity of the immigration system."
"When supported by the evidence, ICE also actively pursues criminal charges against employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens," Copp said.
Rusnok said all ICE operations are the result of specific leads received from various sources.
He added that in fiscal 2007, ICE was able to obtain more than $30 million in criminal fines, restitutions and civil judgments in work-site enforcement cases.
In fiscal 2007, ICE arrested 863 people in criminal cases and made more than 4,000 administrative arrests.
The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition issued a news release Wednesday night denouncing the raid.
"Raids are not the solution to the outdated and dysfunctional U.S. immigration system," said Kim Medina of Fuerza Latina, a social-justice organization in Fort Collins and Loveland.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_9902706?source=bb#ixzz16PNgrMvo
By Howard Pankratz
The Denver Post
Posted: 07/17/2008
Eighteen men, all illegal immigrants, were arrested Wednesday morning at a Loveland concrete plant by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The arrests occurred at Colorado Precast Concrete Inc. in a coordinated effort by ICE, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office and the air branch of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which provided air support, said ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok.
The men were arrested for being illegally in the United States, Rusnok said. One man is from El Salvador, and the rest are from Mexico.
Rusnok said Colorado Precast manufactures precast concrete forms for various industrial concrete projects.
ICE said the company fully cooperated with ICE during the operation and that no criminal charges are anticipated against the company.
The arrested men will be booked and jailed while awaiting return to their countries or a hearing before a federal immigration judge.
Jeffrey Copp, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Denver, said work-site enforcement operations such as the one conducted in Loveland "maintain the integrity of the immigration system."
"When supported by the evidence, ICE also actively pursues criminal charges against employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens," Copp said.
Rusnok said all ICE operations are the result of specific leads received from various sources.
He added that in fiscal 2007, ICE was able to obtain more than $30 million in criminal fines, restitutions and civil judgments in work-site enforcement cases.
In fiscal 2007, ICE arrested 863 people in criminal cases and made more than 4,000 administrative arrests.
The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition issued a news release Wednesday night denouncing the raid.
"Raids are not the solution to the outdated and dysfunctional U.S. immigration system," said Kim Medina of Fuerza Latina, a social-justice organization in Fort Collins and Loveland.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_9902706?source=bb#ixzz16PNgrMvo
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