By Nate A. Miller
The Tribune
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The recent Obama administration decision to allow many illegal immigrants who faced potential deportation despite having no criminal record to stay in the country will make an important difference for Weld County immigrants, University of Northern Colorado Hispanic studies professor Priscilla Falcon said.
“I think we went through a period there, maybe from 2006-2009, where there were many families that were deported,” she said. “If there is less of the workplace raids, then we won’t see so many families that are having one of the parents deported.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Aug. 18 that the department will focus on deporting illegal immigrants who have criminal records or pose a threat to national security or public safety.
Weld law enforcement officials, however, say the decision will not change much on the ground.
“It is a change in stated policy, or in formal policy, but it’s not a change in practical reality,” said Weld District Attorney and former U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck. “The feds have always focused almost exclusively on the jails and catching people who have a criminal record. They’ve done some workplace enforcement.”
ICE officials say it will allow for more efficient use of resources to prevent illicit trade from crossing the border and to focus on security, according to a fact sheet from Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the policy shift.
Buck, who made a name for himself with aggressive prosecution of immigration-related identity theft before running for the Senate in 2010, said even the 2006 ICE raid at the then-Swift meatpacking plant focused on identity theft and did not cast a wide net to simply catch anyone in the country illegally.
“There has always been this acceptance that the feds didn’t have the resources to deal with overall immigration issues,” he said. “Rather, they were going to focus their resources on those who were a threat to this country.”
In 2007, Brazil-based JBS purchased the meatpacking plant from Swift.
The decision to focus deportation efforts on high-priority cases comes amid protests primarily from immigrant communities that the authorities have been too focused on deporting people whose only offense is being in the country without the proper documents — usually a civil offense — or who have been arrested for traffic violations or other misdemeanors.
There also have been widespread complaints about ICE’s Secure Communities program, which uses fingerprints collected in state and local jails to identify illegal immigrants in a federal immigration database.
Some states have balked at the program, arguing it requires them to enforce federal laws. There have also been complaints that immigrants arrested for simple misdemeanors can end up in deportation proceedings.
Weld County Sheriff John Cooke said he supports the Secure Communities initiative, which would mean when local authorities arrest people their fingerprints are sent to the FBI and ICE, regardless of where they were born.
“I’m wholeheartedly behind the Secure Communities that ICE wants to do,” he said. “Right now what we do is we ask someone when they get booked in where they were born. If they’re foreign born, it doesn’t matter where, it could be Canada, and if they tell us that they are foreign born, then we send that information to ICE. Then ICE takes it from there, basically. Under the Secure Communities, everybody gets sent. If you were arrested, your fingerprints would get sent to the FBI and to ICE, which is a lot better because it’s not self-reporting.”
He has mixed feelings, however, about the decision to refocus deportation efforts.
“ICE has limited resources. They only have so many people. They only have so many agents. They only have so much they can do with so many illegal immigrants that are here, so you’ve got to prioritize. That’s on the good part. They’re prioritizing. They’re focusing on criminals that need to be taken out of our society.”
On the other hand, Cooke said, the policy change doesn’t really address the problem of illegal immigration.
“If somebody comes here illegally, we’re a nation of laws,” he said.” If they come and break our laws, they should be suffering the consequences of breaking our laws and be deported back. I guess my frustration is that the federal government needs to do a better job on the front end, securing the border.”
Buck also said it’s important to enforce the laws on the books and the federal government should do a better job of addressing illegal immigration.
“My first part of the answer would be to find a way to get more people into this country legally,” Buck said. “In other words we need to improve our system and then also create a disincentive for the people who do it the wrong way.”
This would include giving employers a better way to check on whether someone is in the country legally, like an expanded version of the system known as E-verify, which allows employers to check the immigration status of prospective employees.
“Right now E-verify just checks to make sure that someone’s name matches a Social Security number and matches a date of birth,” he said. “What we need is to have the various state databases communicating with each other so that same identity isn’t being used in 10 different states.”
Falcon said for the immigrant community, the policy shift will make a key difference by reducing the trauma that’s associated with events like the raid at Swift.
“I just think, upon reflection, that Swift raid really devastated the economic base of the Latino community in Greeley. It made a major impact,” she said. “What Janet Napolitano announced, my reading of that is that they’re stepping back from the workplace raids. They’re going after more of the criminal element. If that is the case, then that’s a positive thing.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20110901/NEWS/709019937/1002&parentprofile=1001
Showing posts with label Life After Raids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life After Raids. Show all posts
Saturday, September 3, 2011
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
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Life after deportation: Young citizens left behind when Mom and Dad leave country Children try to carry on with American lifestyles as best as they ca
By V. Ortiz
The Chicago Tribune
April 06, 2011
In the two years since her father was deported, 13-year-old Elisabeth and her three younger siblings have settled into an after-school routine while their mother, Maria Lourdes, works long hours at a beauty salon.
The family shares a cramped bedroom in a Waukegan apartment. When school friends wonder why her father is no longer in the picture, Elisabeth has learned to change the subject.
"I don't answer," she said. "It's such a long story."
After Elisabeth's father was deported, the family moved briefly to Mexico. But domestic discord led Maria Lourdes to return to Waukegan with her children, who were born here and are U.S. citizens. She, like her husband, is undocumented, but has applied for a visa to remain in the country.
Now, the four children carry on in America as best as they can, just like a growing number of young people who were born in this country and have seen one or both parents deported.
Those who work with such children say they've seen an increase in the cases locally. As a result, churches, schools and advocacy groups are left scrambling to help once-stable households deal with poverty, foreclosures, academic failure and other problems that come when so-called mixed immigration status families are split up.
The separation creates an "angry generation" of children who feel traumatized and disaffected but still choose to stay in the U.S. rather than face potential poverty, violence, and cultural and language barriers abroad. For some, advocates say, life in America is all they know.
"It's a horrific situation," said Josh Hoyt, director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. "Given that we have this vastly increased number of deportations … we're trying to create infrastructure or support, specifically for people that have done nothing criminal other than come here to work, many who have U.S. citizen children."
But those who favor stricter enforcement of immigration laws assert that the struggles of families with a loved one deported highlight the need to keep people from entering the U.S. illegally.
"Issues surrounding U.S.-born children (with undocumented parents) remind us that the longer you don't enforce your immigration laws, the harder it becomes to do so," said Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington.
In an estimate published by the Urban Institute in 2010, more than 100,000 immigrant parents of U.S. citizen children have been deported in the last 10 years.
At the same time, deportations have increased dramatically nationwide, from 122,000 in 2002 to 392,000 in 2010, with an emphasis on criminal deportations.
Locally, 12,000 people were deported from the detention center in Broadview in 2010, according to data from the Illinois coalition and the Archdiocese of Chicago.
After seeing such cases rise in recent years, Bill Bautista, a social worker at Community High School in West Chicago, has come to recognize the signs of teens dealing with a deportation at home.
These students often come to him seeking advice on how to get a job that earns money quickly. When he checks their academic records, it's not unusual to see an increase in absences, or a drop in grades, he said.
"There's a lot of privacy with this," he said. "They don't always share that with the school, and I wish they would because there are a lot of resources out there."
In Elgin, Maggie Dempsey has worked with as many as 10 students this school year with one or both parents deported. As liaison to the homeless for District U-46, she helped them get transportation to school after they moved in with a relative, encouraged them to stay involved in extracurricular activities, and even provided school uniforms and field trip money when they couldn't pay for them.
"They're just kids," she said. "They have no control over what their parents have done, and we may as well support them so that they can succeed and be contributing members of society and be able to make a difference."
Advocates such as Elena Segura try to provide solutions, or at least assistance, to families caught up in these situations.
Segura carries a notebook each week to the detention center in Broadview, where immigrants are deported every Friday. Whenever she sees children crying as they say goodbye to a loved one, she jots down their names. Later, she tries to connect them with a program she began in 2009 as director for immigrant affairs and immigration education for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Called Pastoral Migratoria, it was developed to help the growing number of families dealing with immigration issues and life after deportation.
"I cry every Friday when I hear the stories," she said. "It's not just a moral issue here. To me, it's basic human rights."
In Cicero, Arturo Gonzalez juggles a list of families struggling with deportation. A community organizer for the Interfaith Leadership Project, he makes sure parents leaving the country have their U.S. citizen children registered, so the kids can visit them abroad without having trouble re-entering.
He also gives "Know Your Rights" presentations, informing families about what to expect from deportation proceedings.
Camarota, whose group advocates tougher immigration controls, notes that immigration law grants legal status each year to several thousand undocumented immigrants who argue hardship, including the presence of a U.S.-born child.
More than 3,200 people were granted so-called cancellation of removal in 2009, according to data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Families are making the choice to separate after deportation, not the U.S. government, Camarota said.
"My sense of these things is we are going to have to start enforcing the law first," he said. "Some will have to go home in significant and large numbers."
Immigration advocates, however, contend that such solutions are oversimplified and come too little, too late.
Meanwhile, children such as a 15-year-old girl who attends Elgin High School try to cope with wrenching situations.
One day seven months ago, the teen grew worried when her mother didn't return home from work.
The girl, who asked not to be named, finally got a call from her mother at 9 p.m. that night confirming her fears. Her mom, she said, was arrested at work and taken into custody for being an undocumented immigrant.
Within hours, an aunt moved in with her own three children to help look after the teen and her two younger sisters. But the high school sophomore quickly inherited new responsibilities. She now had to do the laundry, make dinner and clean the house.
Although they haven't seen their mother since that day last summer, the teen said she and her sisters are resigned to their new life.
"My mom is over there, but I just want to graduate and go to college here," she said. "For kids, it's pretty sad and hard."
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-04-06/news/ct-met-deported-parents-children-20110331_1_citizen-children-immigration-laws-immigrant-parents
The Chicago Tribune
April 06, 2011
In the two years since her father was deported, 13-year-old Elisabeth and her three younger siblings have settled into an after-school routine while their mother, Maria Lourdes, works long hours at a beauty salon.
The family shares a cramped bedroom in a Waukegan apartment. When school friends wonder why her father is no longer in the picture, Elisabeth has learned to change the subject.
"I don't answer," she said. "It's such a long story."
After Elisabeth's father was deported, the family moved briefly to Mexico. But domestic discord led Maria Lourdes to return to Waukegan with her children, who were born here and are U.S. citizens. She, like her husband, is undocumented, but has applied for a visa to remain in the country.
Now, the four children carry on in America as best as they can, just like a growing number of young people who were born in this country and have seen one or both parents deported.
Those who work with such children say they've seen an increase in the cases locally. As a result, churches, schools and advocacy groups are left scrambling to help once-stable households deal with poverty, foreclosures, academic failure and other problems that come when so-called mixed immigration status families are split up.
The separation creates an "angry generation" of children who feel traumatized and disaffected but still choose to stay in the U.S. rather than face potential poverty, violence, and cultural and language barriers abroad. For some, advocates say, life in America is all they know.
"It's a horrific situation," said Josh Hoyt, director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. "Given that we have this vastly increased number of deportations … we're trying to create infrastructure or support, specifically for people that have done nothing criminal other than come here to work, many who have U.S. citizen children."
But those who favor stricter enforcement of immigration laws assert that the struggles of families with a loved one deported highlight the need to keep people from entering the U.S. illegally.
"Issues surrounding U.S.-born children (with undocumented parents) remind us that the longer you don't enforce your immigration laws, the harder it becomes to do so," said Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington.
In an estimate published by the Urban Institute in 2010, more than 100,000 immigrant parents of U.S. citizen children have been deported in the last 10 years.
At the same time, deportations have increased dramatically nationwide, from 122,000 in 2002 to 392,000 in 2010, with an emphasis on criminal deportations.
Locally, 12,000 people were deported from the detention center in Broadview in 2010, according to data from the Illinois coalition and the Archdiocese of Chicago.
After seeing such cases rise in recent years, Bill Bautista, a social worker at Community High School in West Chicago, has come to recognize the signs of teens dealing with a deportation at home.
These students often come to him seeking advice on how to get a job that earns money quickly. When he checks their academic records, it's not unusual to see an increase in absences, or a drop in grades, he said.
"There's a lot of privacy with this," he said. "They don't always share that with the school, and I wish they would because there are a lot of resources out there."
In Elgin, Maggie Dempsey has worked with as many as 10 students this school year with one or both parents deported. As liaison to the homeless for District U-46, she helped them get transportation to school after they moved in with a relative, encouraged them to stay involved in extracurricular activities, and even provided school uniforms and field trip money when they couldn't pay for them.
"They're just kids," she said. "They have no control over what their parents have done, and we may as well support them so that they can succeed and be contributing members of society and be able to make a difference."
Advocates such as Elena Segura try to provide solutions, or at least assistance, to families caught up in these situations.
Segura carries a notebook each week to the detention center in Broadview, where immigrants are deported every Friday. Whenever she sees children crying as they say goodbye to a loved one, she jots down their names. Later, she tries to connect them with a program she began in 2009 as director for immigrant affairs and immigration education for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Called Pastoral Migratoria, it was developed to help the growing number of families dealing with immigration issues and life after deportation.
"I cry every Friday when I hear the stories," she said. "It's not just a moral issue here. To me, it's basic human rights."
In Cicero, Arturo Gonzalez juggles a list of families struggling with deportation. A community organizer for the Interfaith Leadership Project, he makes sure parents leaving the country have their U.S. citizen children registered, so the kids can visit them abroad without having trouble re-entering.
He also gives "Know Your Rights" presentations, informing families about what to expect from deportation proceedings.
Camarota, whose group advocates tougher immigration controls, notes that immigration law grants legal status each year to several thousand undocumented immigrants who argue hardship, including the presence of a U.S.-born child.
More than 3,200 people were granted so-called cancellation of removal in 2009, according to data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Families are making the choice to separate after deportation, not the U.S. government, Camarota said.
"My sense of these things is we are going to have to start enforcing the law first," he said. "Some will have to go home in significant and large numbers."
Immigration advocates, however, contend that such solutions are oversimplified and come too little, too late.
Meanwhile, children such as a 15-year-old girl who attends Elgin High School try to cope with wrenching situations.
One day seven months ago, the teen grew worried when her mother didn't return home from work.
The girl, who asked not to be named, finally got a call from her mother at 9 p.m. that night confirming her fears. Her mom, she said, was arrested at work and taken into custody for being an undocumented immigrant.
Within hours, an aunt moved in with her own three children to help look after the teen and her two younger sisters. But the high school sophomore quickly inherited new responsibilities. She now had to do the laundry, make dinner and clean the house.
Although they haven't seen their mother since that day last summer, the teen said she and her sisters are resigned to their new life.
"My mom is over there, but I just want to graduate and go to college here," she said. "For kids, it's pretty sad and hard."
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-04-06/news/ct-met-deported-parents-children-20110331_1_citizen-children-immigration-laws-immigrant-parents
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Reunion after ICE raid
By MARY SWIFT
The Daily Record
March 21, 2011
Tess Maczis believes every person can make a difference.
It’s a big part of the reason the 16-year-old Ellensburg High School junior, co-president of the school’s Peace Club and a student body officer, is one of the high school students now volunteering with APOYO, a not-for-profit organization that provides food and other assistance to the Hispanic community.
“What got me was it was something that happened at our school with people we knew,” she says. “Everybody wanted to do something to help and not just stand by.”
Tess would find a kindred spirit in Dianne Aid. Aid, who now lives in Kent, came to Ellensburg to attend Central Washington University and stayed 20 years. Along the way she met a young Mexican couple, Ramon and Angelica Gonzalez, at church. They were undocumented immigrants struggling to forge a new life. When their second child, Ricardo, was born 17 years ago, they asked Aid to be his godmother.
Time passed.
Eventually, Aid lost touch with the Gonzalez family.
Then in the early morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 20, agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a raid in Ellensburg and arrested 34 members of the Hispanic community.
Fifteen had criminal arrest warrants. Nineteen were detained on administrative charges (being in the county illegally). The numbers are based on information provided to the Ellensburg Coalition for Humanity by the offices of U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, who met with ICE officials following the raid.
On the west side of the state, Aid, who serves on the national steering committee of what is termed the New Sanctuary Movement, was monitoring what had happened. Aid is a member of St. Matthew’s/San Mateo Episcopal Church in Auburn, the most diverse congregation in the Diocese of Olympia. Fifty percent of its congregation is Latino and its English-speaking members include immigrants from the Fiji Islands, First Nations people, African Americans and Japanese Americans. Aid serves as director of the church’s Jubilee Ministries program, a ministry that focuses on immigration grassroots organizing, legal services and sanctuary.
Names on list
After the raid, an organizer from the United Farmworkers Union went to Ellensburg to compile a list of people detained or not accounted for. The Rev. Ernie Harrelson, pastor of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Yakima, passed the list on to Aid.
Two names leaped out at her: Ramon and Angelica Gonzalez.
On Tuesday after the raid, Aid was attending a meeting of the Washington Immigration Reform Coalition watching a film clip KIRO had done on a rally in Yakima.
“Here was this 17-year-old kid talking about ICE coming into his home. His name is Ricardo. He looks a lot like his mom. I knew then I had to find them,” Aid says. She asked Harrelson to ask Ricardo to contact her.
Ricardo, now a junior at Ellensburg High School, did.
“Are you my godmother?” he asked.
Yes, Aid said.
“I really didn’t know her,” Ricardo says now in a soft voice. “I was so little when she knew us. But my mom had talked about her. I didn’t have an attorney. She said she was going to help me.”
It was one week to the day that Ricardo had watched helplessly as his parents were arrested.
Angelica, facing charges of using false documents, was being held in Yakima. Ramon had been taken directly to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma on administrative charges (being in the country illegally) and was awaiting deportation.
“When Ramon got to the detention center, he’d done what a lot of people unwittingly do,” Aid says. “He signed papers for voluntary departure. They ship people out once a week from there. Ramon would have been deported that Saturday (just two days after she and Ricardo spoke).
“So I got hold of an immigration attorney friend of mine,” Aid says. “I said, ‘I don’t care what it takes. Can you stop this?’”
Bond reduced
On Friday, the attorney went to the detention center and talked with Ramon who withdrew his voluntary departure request. A few days later, Angelica was transferred to the detention center. Angelica’s bond had been set at $15,000. No bond had been set for Ramon.
The following Wednesday, a bond hearing took place in the tiny courtroom at the detention center. Aid said supporters were present, including Ricardo who showed up armed with letters of support and character references, including one from Aid.
Angelica’s bond was reduced to $3,000. Ramon’s was set at $1,500.
Ricardo paid their bond with donations from family and friends. The immigration fund at St. Matthews is paying the costs for the bond hearing. “The attorney charged half his usual fee for one person to take them both,” a grateful Aid says.
Released at around 6 that evening, Ramon and Angelica returned home with a relieved Ricardo.
“At first I couldn’t believe it,” he says now. “I called my brothers. I felt really happy. When we got to our house, family and friends were at our house. We ate some cake. People brought flowers and food.”
Angelica and Ramon are now waiting for what happens next.
“They cannot work,” Ricardo says. “My mom has a hearing in October.” As for his father, “they haven’t given him one yet.”
Ricardo, an honor student who had perfect attendance since middle school until his parents were arrested, is trying to refocus on normal high school life.
But it’s a challenge.
“I have to behave now like an adult,” he says. “It’s kind of sad. It’s a hard struggle to pass through and a really hard struggle when your family gets separated.”
Aid says an effort is under way to try to help Ricardo’s parents gain legal status.
“People who have more than 10 years present in the U.S. and have relatives who are United States citizens, if they can prove hardship on that citizen from deportation then they may be granted relief from deportation,” she says. If that fails, Aid says it’s possible that Ricardo himself, a U.S.-born citizen, could petition to have them come back to this country when he is 21.
“They’re getting by. I talk with them a lot now,” Aid says. “We won’t lose contact any more. My thoughts, when Ricardo called me that night were, ‘I have not been here for this child all these years and at this critical juncture, I can do it.’”
http://dailyrecordnews.com/top_story/reunion-after-ice-raid/article_3036524c-53e3-11e0-80d5-001cc4c03286.html
The Daily Record
March 21, 2011
Tess Maczis believes every person can make a difference.
It’s a big part of the reason the 16-year-old Ellensburg High School junior, co-president of the school’s Peace Club and a student body officer, is one of the high school students now volunteering with APOYO, a not-for-profit organization that provides food and other assistance to the Hispanic community.
“What got me was it was something that happened at our school with people we knew,” she says. “Everybody wanted to do something to help and not just stand by.”
Tess would find a kindred spirit in Dianne Aid. Aid, who now lives in Kent, came to Ellensburg to attend Central Washington University and stayed 20 years. Along the way she met a young Mexican couple, Ramon and Angelica Gonzalez, at church. They were undocumented immigrants struggling to forge a new life. When their second child, Ricardo, was born 17 years ago, they asked Aid to be his godmother.
Time passed.
Eventually, Aid lost touch with the Gonzalez family.
Then in the early morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 20, agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a raid in Ellensburg and arrested 34 members of the Hispanic community.
Fifteen had criminal arrest warrants. Nineteen were detained on administrative charges (being in the county illegally). The numbers are based on information provided to the Ellensburg Coalition for Humanity by the offices of U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, who met with ICE officials following the raid.
On the west side of the state, Aid, who serves on the national steering committee of what is termed the New Sanctuary Movement, was monitoring what had happened. Aid is a member of St. Matthew’s/San Mateo Episcopal Church in Auburn, the most diverse congregation in the Diocese of Olympia. Fifty percent of its congregation is Latino and its English-speaking members include immigrants from the Fiji Islands, First Nations people, African Americans and Japanese Americans. Aid serves as director of the church’s Jubilee Ministries program, a ministry that focuses on immigration grassroots organizing, legal services and sanctuary.
Names on list
After the raid, an organizer from the United Farmworkers Union went to Ellensburg to compile a list of people detained or not accounted for. The Rev. Ernie Harrelson, pastor of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Yakima, passed the list on to Aid.
Two names leaped out at her: Ramon and Angelica Gonzalez.
On Tuesday after the raid, Aid was attending a meeting of the Washington Immigration Reform Coalition watching a film clip KIRO had done on a rally in Yakima.
“Here was this 17-year-old kid talking about ICE coming into his home. His name is Ricardo. He looks a lot like his mom. I knew then I had to find them,” Aid says. She asked Harrelson to ask Ricardo to contact her.
Ricardo, now a junior at Ellensburg High School, did.
“Are you my godmother?” he asked.
Yes, Aid said.
“I really didn’t know her,” Ricardo says now in a soft voice. “I was so little when she knew us. But my mom had talked about her. I didn’t have an attorney. She said she was going to help me.”
It was one week to the day that Ricardo had watched helplessly as his parents were arrested.
Angelica, facing charges of using false documents, was being held in Yakima. Ramon had been taken directly to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma on administrative charges (being in the country illegally) and was awaiting deportation.
“When Ramon got to the detention center, he’d done what a lot of people unwittingly do,” Aid says. “He signed papers for voluntary departure. They ship people out once a week from there. Ramon would have been deported that Saturday (just two days after she and Ricardo spoke).
“So I got hold of an immigration attorney friend of mine,” Aid says. “I said, ‘I don’t care what it takes. Can you stop this?’”
Bond reduced
On Friday, the attorney went to the detention center and talked with Ramon who withdrew his voluntary departure request. A few days later, Angelica was transferred to the detention center. Angelica’s bond had been set at $15,000. No bond had been set for Ramon.
The following Wednesday, a bond hearing took place in the tiny courtroom at the detention center. Aid said supporters were present, including Ricardo who showed up armed with letters of support and character references, including one from Aid.
Angelica’s bond was reduced to $3,000. Ramon’s was set at $1,500.
Ricardo paid their bond with donations from family and friends. The immigration fund at St. Matthews is paying the costs for the bond hearing. “The attorney charged half his usual fee for one person to take them both,” a grateful Aid says.
Released at around 6 that evening, Ramon and Angelica returned home with a relieved Ricardo.
“At first I couldn’t believe it,” he says now. “I called my brothers. I felt really happy. When we got to our house, family and friends were at our house. We ate some cake. People brought flowers and food.”
Angelica and Ramon are now waiting for what happens next.
“They cannot work,” Ricardo says. “My mom has a hearing in October.” As for his father, “they haven’t given him one yet.”
Ricardo, an honor student who had perfect attendance since middle school until his parents were arrested, is trying to refocus on normal high school life.
But it’s a challenge.
“I have to behave now like an adult,” he says. “It’s kind of sad. It’s a hard struggle to pass through and a really hard struggle when your family gets separated.”
Aid says an effort is under way to try to help Ricardo’s parents gain legal status.
“People who have more than 10 years present in the U.S. and have relatives who are United States citizens, if they can prove hardship on that citizen from deportation then they may be granted relief from deportation,” she says. If that fails, Aid says it’s possible that Ricardo himself, a U.S.-born citizen, could petition to have them come back to this country when he is 21.
“They’re getting by. I talk with them a lot now,” Aid says. “We won’t lose contact any more. My thoughts, when Ricardo called me that night were, ‘I have not been here for this child all these years and at this critical juncture, I can do it.’”
http://dailyrecordnews.com/top_story/reunion-after-ice-raid/article_3036524c-53e3-11e0-80d5-001cc4c03286.html
Friday, December 3, 2010
Judge Delays Deportation
By Betsy Yagla
New Haven Advocate
Friday, December 03, 2010
Colala and more than 30 immigrants were arrested in the raids and ICE began deportation proceedings against them. Some of the 30 have left voluntarily, others legal removal cases are still pending in immigration court.
Colala’s appeals have been exhausted.
He is one of many undocumented immigrants across the country fighting to stay here until they are able to complete their civil rights cases against the immigration agency.
After a conference call today between Colala’s Yale student lawyers and Judge Underhill, Underhill ruled to stay—or delay—Colala’s deportation for one week.
Underhill has scheduled a hearing for Thursday, Dec. 9 to decide whether Colala will be allowed to remain in the country to see through his civil rights lawsuit.
Colala is the father of four children, two of whom were born in the U.S. He’s been in the country for 15 years, working in the construction field. He says his children and wife depend on him “100 percent” and supporting them economically will be difficult in Ecuador.
Another thing that will be difficult, or virtually impossible, from Ecuador: Participating in his lawsuit against ICE.
Colala says that on the morning of June 6, 2007 he was outside his home when he was approached by immigration officials. They asked for his ID and he said it was inside. Then, guns drawn, they told Colala to let them into his house. Colala obeyed, showed them his ID and then was handcuffed.
He says it was about half an hour after he was handcuffed that the agents identified themselves.
http://www.newhavenadvocate.com/drive-by-media/judge-delays-deportation-035643
New Haven Advocate
Friday, December 03, 2010
Washington Colala’s deportation has been put on hold for a week, thanks to U.S. district court judge Stefan Underhill.
Colala was scheduled to be deported on Monday Dec. 6 to Ecuador—he’d even bought his plane ticket—despite the fact that Colala has a pending civil rights lawsuit against Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE), the agency moving to deport him.
"This is a very meaningful decision for [Colala] because it allows him to fight for his own rights and the rights of others in similar situations," said Mark Pedulla, one of Colala's Yale Law student attorneys.
Colala is "delighted," says Pedulla.
Colala is one of 11 plaintiffs suing ICE, claiming their civil rights were violated in a June 2007 raid in Fair Haven. The raid came two days after New Haven aldermen voted to approve the city’s ID card program available to all residents regardless of their immigration status.
Colala and more than 30 immigrants were arrested in the raids and ICE began deportation proceedings against them. Some of the 30 have left voluntarily, others legal removal cases are still pending in immigration court.
Colala’s appeals have been exhausted.
He is one of many undocumented immigrants across the country fighting to stay here until they are able to complete their civil rights cases against the immigration agency.
After a conference call today between Colala’s Yale student lawyers and Judge Underhill, Underhill ruled to stay—or delay—Colala’s deportation for one week.
Underhill has scheduled a hearing for Thursday, Dec. 9 to decide whether Colala will be allowed to remain in the country to see through his civil rights lawsuit.
Colala is the father of four children, two of whom were born in the U.S. He’s been in the country for 15 years, working in the construction field. He says his children and wife depend on him “100 percent” and supporting them economically will be difficult in Ecuador.
Another thing that will be difficult, or virtually impossible, from Ecuador: Participating in his lawsuit against ICE.
Colala says that on the morning of June 6, 2007 he was outside his home when he was approached by immigration officials. They asked for his ID and he said it was inside. Then, guns drawn, they told Colala to let them into his house. Colala obeyed, showed them his ID and then was handcuffed.
He says it was about half an hour after he was handcuffed that the agents identified themselves.
http://www.newhavenadvocate.com/drive-by-media/judge-delays-deportation-035643
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Adopted boy at center of immigration dispute
By TONY MESSENGER and NANCY CAMBRIA
St. Louis Post Dispatch
November 10, 2010
Backed by her country and a horde of supporters, a Guatemalan woman living in southwest Missouri sat before the Missouri Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon seeking custody of the child she hasn't seen in nearly four years.
The woman, Encarnacion Romero, sat in the front row, her pitch-black hair pulled back in a ponytail, unable to fully follow the proceedings. Romero doesn't speak English. A few rows back sat Seth and Melinda Moser, the Carthage, Mo., couple who adopted Romero's then 1-year-old boy after Romero was arrested and jailed in an immigration raid on a Barry County poultry plant in 2007.
The Mosers argue that even if their adoption wasn't proper — which is key to Romero's case — it wouldn't be in the best interest of the child to take him away from the parents he knows now and send him to another country.
The boy, who is a citizen of both the U.S. and Guatemala, speaks only English. Romero is awaiting deportation.
"This is a tragedy," Judge Richard Teitelman said during questioning in the case Tuesday. "The longer the case goes on, it's a case of justice delayed is justice denied."
The case is more than tragic, argued the Guatemalan ambassador to the United States — it's a symbol of the ongoing national and international debate about what to do with immigration policy in America.
"We believe this is a very unfortunate result of the problems of immigration policy in this country," said Ambassador Francisco Villagran de Leon, who attended the arguments before the court and has been providing support to Romero. "Children of undocumented immigrants should not be given up in adoption just because they are here illegally."
Romero was one of 136 alleged undocumented immigrants picked up at a raid of a Barry County chicken processing plant in May 2007 and later charged with various offenses related to the illegal use of false or stolen Social Security numbers.
While Romero was in jail, her child, an infant at the time, was passed around among family members before eventually being adopted privately by the Mosers.
In court documents and arguments in court today, Romero's attorneys argue that she was denied due process rights because the adoption took place while she was in jail, where she lacked proper legal representation. A state appeals court has previously ruled in her favor.
The case has drawn widespread attention nationally and internationally. It's a clash of two seemingly unrelated interests — those concerned about the aftermath of immigration raids that often lead to split families, and those who are fighting for the rights of adoptive parents. And both sides argue they only have the best interests of the child in mind.
Rick Schnake, the Joplin, Mo., attorney representing the Mosers, said that removing the child from the family he has known for the past few years would only compound the tragedy.
"This little boy is 4 years old. He doesn't speak Spanish, he speaks English," Schnake said in making his case to the seven-judge panel. "I don't mean to be caustic about it, but it's not the child's fault she was (in jail)."
But a ruling in favor of the adoptive parents would deeply impinge on critical parental rights, said Tony Rothert, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri.
"If the adoption is allowed to stand, it would set a dangerous precedent," he said in a phone interview Tuesday, noting birth parents are entitled to legal counsel at hearings and contact with their children throughout the custody proceedings.
"When these are just discarded, as they were in this case, the whole system would fall apart," he said.
In its brief, the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri said the birth mother was denied proper legal representation because the adoptive family took it upon itself to hire an attorney to act on behalf of the birth mother during court proceedings intended to both terminate her parental rights and OK the adoption.
In questioning, it's clear that several judges questioned that apparent conflict of interest.
"There's a legion of cases under Missouri law that you can't have that kind of conflict," said Judge Laura Denvir Stith.
What complicates Romero's case, as her attorneys argued Tuesday, is that she served two years in prison for violating a law that was determined unconstitutional by the Supreme Court shortly after she was incarcerated.
"That just compounds the tragedy here," Rothert said. "She probably never should have gone to prison."
And further, the adoptive court apparently ignored evidence in that civil proceeding that the Mosers had been denied an application to the state of Missouri to become foster parents, in part because of the father's criminal record and a history of abuse on the mother's side of the family.
For all the emotion behind the arguments in the case, the state's high court could decide it on the mundane matter of court rules. The Mosers argue that Romero filed her paperwork seeking to overturn the adoption after the time limit allowed by the courts, leaving the Supreme Court with no jurisdiction in the case.
Several judges made it clear in their questioning during the case that they had concerns with how the adoption was handled, but the balancing act for the court, Chief Justice William Ray Price Jr. indicated, would be weighing the best interests of the child against the rights of Romero.
The court could return the case to the trial court level, or it could award custody to Romero or the Mosers.
In their legal briefs filed with the court, the Mosers argue that giving the child back to Romero could in effect make the boy a victim of his mother's deportation.
"He faces involuntary deportation to Guatemala if this adoption is undone and he is forced to follow appellant when her deportation occurs," wrote attorneys Schnake and Joseph Hensley.
But an advocate for female immigrants said such an argument shows that child custody decisions regarding their U.S. born children are too often based on unfair biases without properly taking into account whether the illegal immigrants are adequate parents.
"We have people in the child welfare system unfairly saying we don't think it's a good idea for the child to be reunited with the parent in the parent's country because we don't think the country is a good place for the child to grow up," said Emily Butera, a program officer with the Women's Refugee Commission, which filed a brief in support of Romero.
Since Romero was released from prison, she has been living in southwest Missouri not far from the Mosers but has still been unable to see her son. Attorneys for both sides disputed whether an attempt had been made for mother and son to meet.
The Guatemalan ambassador said the U.S. government has agreed to delay Romero's deportation until the case is resolved, but that she plans to return to her home country — hopefully with her son — once the case ends.
"She has a lot of faith," said Omar Riojas, one of Romero's Seattle-based attorneys. "She's a strong, strong woman."
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_3e99fc06-5fe5-56a6-9826-47b140bc41d1.html
St. Louis Post Dispatch
November 10, 2010
Backed by her country and a horde of supporters, a Guatemalan woman living in southwest Missouri sat before the Missouri Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon seeking custody of the child she hasn't seen in nearly four years.
The woman, Encarnacion Romero, sat in the front row, her pitch-black hair pulled back in a ponytail, unable to fully follow the proceedings. Romero doesn't speak English. A few rows back sat Seth and Melinda Moser, the Carthage, Mo., couple who adopted Romero's then 1-year-old boy after Romero was arrested and jailed in an immigration raid on a Barry County poultry plant in 2007.
The Mosers argue that even if their adoption wasn't proper — which is key to Romero's case — it wouldn't be in the best interest of the child to take him away from the parents he knows now and send him to another country.
The boy, who is a citizen of both the U.S. and Guatemala, speaks only English. Romero is awaiting deportation.
"This is a tragedy," Judge Richard Teitelman said during questioning in the case Tuesday. "The longer the case goes on, it's a case of justice delayed is justice denied."
The case is more than tragic, argued the Guatemalan ambassador to the United States — it's a symbol of the ongoing national and international debate about what to do with immigration policy in America.
"We believe this is a very unfortunate result of the problems of immigration policy in this country," said Ambassador Francisco Villagran de Leon, who attended the arguments before the court and has been providing support to Romero. "Children of undocumented immigrants should not be given up in adoption just because they are here illegally."
Romero was one of 136 alleged undocumented immigrants picked up at a raid of a Barry County chicken processing plant in May 2007 and later charged with various offenses related to the illegal use of false or stolen Social Security numbers.
While Romero was in jail, her child, an infant at the time, was passed around among family members before eventually being adopted privately by the Mosers.
In court documents and arguments in court today, Romero's attorneys argue that she was denied due process rights because the adoption took place while she was in jail, where she lacked proper legal representation. A state appeals court has previously ruled in her favor.
The case has drawn widespread attention nationally and internationally. It's a clash of two seemingly unrelated interests — those concerned about the aftermath of immigration raids that often lead to split families, and those who are fighting for the rights of adoptive parents. And both sides argue they only have the best interests of the child in mind.
Rick Schnake, the Joplin, Mo., attorney representing the Mosers, said that removing the child from the family he has known for the past few years would only compound the tragedy.
"This little boy is 4 years old. He doesn't speak Spanish, he speaks English," Schnake said in making his case to the seven-judge panel. "I don't mean to be caustic about it, but it's not the child's fault she was (in jail)."
But a ruling in favor of the adoptive parents would deeply impinge on critical parental rights, said Tony Rothert, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri.
"If the adoption is allowed to stand, it would set a dangerous precedent," he said in a phone interview Tuesday, noting birth parents are entitled to legal counsel at hearings and contact with their children throughout the custody proceedings.
"When these are just discarded, as they were in this case, the whole system would fall apart," he said.
In its brief, the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri said the birth mother was denied proper legal representation because the adoptive family took it upon itself to hire an attorney to act on behalf of the birth mother during court proceedings intended to both terminate her parental rights and OK the adoption.
In questioning, it's clear that several judges questioned that apparent conflict of interest.
"There's a legion of cases under Missouri law that you can't have that kind of conflict," said Judge Laura Denvir Stith.
What complicates Romero's case, as her attorneys argued Tuesday, is that she served two years in prison for violating a law that was determined unconstitutional by the Supreme Court shortly after she was incarcerated.
"That just compounds the tragedy here," Rothert said. "She probably never should have gone to prison."
And further, the adoptive court apparently ignored evidence in that civil proceeding that the Mosers had been denied an application to the state of Missouri to become foster parents, in part because of the father's criminal record and a history of abuse on the mother's side of the family.
For all the emotion behind the arguments in the case, the state's high court could decide it on the mundane matter of court rules. The Mosers argue that Romero filed her paperwork seeking to overturn the adoption after the time limit allowed by the courts, leaving the Supreme Court with no jurisdiction in the case.
Several judges made it clear in their questioning during the case that they had concerns with how the adoption was handled, but the balancing act for the court, Chief Justice William Ray Price Jr. indicated, would be weighing the best interests of the child against the rights of Romero.
The court could return the case to the trial court level, or it could award custody to Romero or the Mosers.
In their legal briefs filed with the court, the Mosers argue that giving the child back to Romero could in effect make the boy a victim of his mother's deportation.
"He faces involuntary deportation to Guatemala if this adoption is undone and he is forced to follow appellant when her deportation occurs," wrote attorneys Schnake and Joseph Hensley.
But an advocate for female immigrants said such an argument shows that child custody decisions regarding their U.S. born children are too often based on unfair biases without properly taking into account whether the illegal immigrants are adequate parents.
"We have people in the child welfare system unfairly saying we don't think it's a good idea for the child to be reunited with the parent in the parent's country because we don't think the country is a good place for the child to grow up," said Emily Butera, a program officer with the Women's Refugee Commission, which filed a brief in support of Romero.
Since Romero was released from prison, she has been living in southwest Missouri not far from the Mosers but has still been unable to see her son. Attorneys for both sides disputed whether an attempt had been made for mother and son to meet.
The Guatemalan ambassador said the U.S. government has agreed to delay Romero's deportation until the case is resolved, but that she plans to return to her home country — hopefully with her son — once the case ends.
"She has a lot of faith," said Omar Riojas, one of Romero's Seattle-based attorneys. "She's a strong, strong woman."
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_3e99fc06-5fe5-56a6-9826-47b140bc41d1.html
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Anxiety remains a year after Danbury signs ICE agreement
Robert Miller, Staff Writer
NewsTimes.Com
September 20, 2010
DANBURY -- Nilton Coelho owns Banana Brazil, a luncheonette on Main Street in downtown Danbury. As the name suggests, he serves Brazilian food.
The problem is, there aren't as many Brazilians in the city as there used to be, which means there aren't as many orders for plantains and sausage.
"My business has gone down,'' Coelho said recently.
As a result, he's spending more money on advertising to bring more Hispanics and more whites through the door. The strategy has worked, Coelho said, and that's helped him make up for the decline in Brazilian business.
But there is also the impact of 287(g) -- the federal statute that has become the informal name of the Danbury Police Department's formal affiliation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
The memorandum of agreement between ICE and the city of Danbury was adopted in September 2009.
Fearing deportation, many undocumented immigrants in Danbury -- Brazilians, Hispanics and others -- have pulled up stakes the past few years and left the area, according to some local observers.
The U.S. recession has certainly played a role in stemming the number of immigrants coming to the United States. But ICE has also scattered them out of Danbury, cultural leaders claim.
"They have gone to Waterbury, to Bridgeport, to New York, to Westchester County,'' said Wilson Hernandez, the former president of the Ecuadorian Civic Center in Danbury. "Yes, the economy is a factor, but the other factor -- the biggest -- is the city's anti-immigration policies.''
The ICE partnership brought crowds of people to City Hall in 2008 to protest the city's proposed involvement with federal immigration enforcement officials. Despite those protests, the City Council -- with the support of Mayor Mark Boughton -- voted to join the program.
Two city police detectives -- Louis Ramos and Joseph LeRose -- have undergone training with ICE agents. At a council meeting in June, Police Chief Alan Baker said the program has resulted in "several arrests'' in the city.
Baker said last week that the ICE program simply formalized a working arrangement Danbury already had with ICE -- the same relationship it has with the State Police or the FBI.
Nothing has changed in the city, Baker insisted, and the dire warnings of the City Hall protesters have not come true.
"There haven't been any sweeps," he said. "We're not stopping people to check their immigration status. We don't do that and it hasn't happened.''
In large part, Baker said, that hasn't happened because the Danbury Police Department is opposed to such moves. At the same time, he said, it's also because the department can't afford to do it.
"We don't have the resources,'' Baker said.
Breno DaMata, editor of Communidade News, a local Brazilian weekly newspaper, offered a different take on the city's immigration climate.
"Everybody knows Danbury is not friendly to immigrants,'' DaMata said flatly.
A few blocks away from Banana Brazil, Cleates Xavier -- the owner of Eliza's Store on Main Street -- said he's seen the same loss of Brazilian clientele.
"The Brazilian population in the city has gone down by a lot -- at least a third,'' Xavier said.
Part of that decrease is because of the U.S. recession. Brazilians came to Danbury for years in part because there were good-paying jobs here. Now, those jobs are scarce and the Brazilian economy is heating up.
Simply put, people move to find work.
And yet, the anxiety of an ICE arrest -- the fear of deportation -- has not gone away.
The rhetoric on both sides has cooled, Hernandez said, but there is a still "a nervousness" in the city's immigrant population.
"There are still a lot of people who don't know what's going to happen,'' Hernandez said.
Danbury attorney Agostinho Ribeiro, who is of Brazilian heritage, echoed those remarks.
"The mood is different,'' Ribeiro said. "There seems to be an underlying anxiety. There's still a certain discomfort here."
Ingrid Alvarez-DeMarzo, the director of the Hispanic Center of Greater Danbury, called the issue "the elephant'' in the room of the city's policies.
"It's the conversation at the dinner table, at breakfast,'' she said. "We're still finding out what ICE means. There's a lot going on and we don't know. It's a big gray area."
But in some ways, it's not only 287(g) and the city's involvement with ICE that is having an effect on local immigrant populations.
This year, ICE began a program called Secure Communities, which it described on its website as "a comprehensive plan to identify and remove criminal aliens.''
All police departments in Fairfield County, including the Danbury police, are working cooperatively with ICE on the Secure Communities program.
Harold Ort, a spokesman for ICE, said last week that because these people are in the United States illegally, their arrest and deportation is a good thing.
"We're moving in a positive direction to remove criminals as well as illegal aliens,'' Ort said.
Whether it's the 287(g) program or the Secure Communities program, the impact has been felt in Greater Danbury and beyond.
"There has been an increase in people being picked up, a definite increase,'' said Kristan Exner, a Danbury attorney who works on immigration cases. "(Federal officials) are really focusing on criminal arrests and outstanding orders of deportation. It's not just in Danbury, it's in the entire Fairfield County area.''
Michael Boyle, an immigration lawyer with offices in Danbury and New Haven, concurred with Exner.
"I have people being arrested all the time,'' Boyle said. "No question.''
Both Boyle and Exner said they've had cases in which a person arrested for driving while intoxicated had the case turned over to ICE for deportation proceedings.
"A lot of the problems stem from people just not knowing the laws,'' Alvarez-DeMarzo said. "People need some street smarts.''
And, she said, there's not a lot of help in the city, or the state, to help people who are in Danbury illegally work toward legal residency.
"We do the best we can,'' Alvarez-DeMarzo said. "But we're in a city with very limited legalization counseling.''
DaMata said after the presidential election of Barack Obama in 2008, there was widespread hope that comprehensive reform on the nation's immigration policies would clarify what undocumented immigrants needed to do to earn legal status in the United States.
"It's not happening,'' DeMata said. "People are losing faith.''
And, he said, the combination of a sluggish economy and the fear of deportation is only accelerating the process.
"People are thinking, `It's time to leave,''' DeMata said.
Hernandez said that when those people leave, they take away a valuable human resource.
"These people are valuable human assets to the community,'' Hernandez said, adding that their loss will be felt economically and culturally.
"This has been politicians playing the immigration card,'' Hernandez said. "But nobody ever talks about what the cost to the city has been. I'm not running for office or anything. But I think we should get rid of that card forever."
http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Anxiety-remains-a-year-after-Danbury-signs-ICE-666528.php
NewsTimes.Com
September 20, 2010
DANBURY -- Nilton Coelho owns Banana Brazil, a luncheonette on Main Street in downtown Danbury. As the name suggests, he serves Brazilian food.
The problem is, there aren't as many Brazilians in the city as there used to be, which means there aren't as many orders for plantains and sausage.
"My business has gone down,'' Coelho said recently.
As a result, he's spending more money on advertising to bring more Hispanics and more whites through the door. The strategy has worked, Coelho said, and that's helped him make up for the decline in Brazilian business.
But there is also the impact of 287(g) -- the federal statute that has become the informal name of the Danbury Police Department's formal affiliation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
The memorandum of agreement between ICE and the city of Danbury was adopted in September 2009.
Fearing deportation, many undocumented immigrants in Danbury -- Brazilians, Hispanics and others -- have pulled up stakes the past few years and left the area, according to some local observers.
The U.S. recession has certainly played a role in stemming the number of immigrants coming to the United States. But ICE has also scattered them out of Danbury, cultural leaders claim.
"They have gone to Waterbury, to Bridgeport, to New York, to Westchester County,'' said Wilson Hernandez, the former president of the Ecuadorian Civic Center in Danbury. "Yes, the economy is a factor, but the other factor -- the biggest -- is the city's anti-immigration policies.''
The ICE partnership brought crowds of people to City Hall in 2008 to protest the city's proposed involvement with federal immigration enforcement officials. Despite those protests, the City Council -- with the support of Mayor Mark Boughton -- voted to join the program.
Two city police detectives -- Louis Ramos and Joseph LeRose -- have undergone training with ICE agents. At a council meeting in June, Police Chief Alan Baker said the program has resulted in "several arrests'' in the city.
Baker said last week that the ICE program simply formalized a working arrangement Danbury already had with ICE -- the same relationship it has with the State Police or the FBI.
Nothing has changed in the city, Baker insisted, and the dire warnings of the City Hall protesters have not come true.
"There haven't been any sweeps," he said. "We're not stopping people to check their immigration status. We don't do that and it hasn't happened.''
In large part, Baker said, that hasn't happened because the Danbury Police Department is opposed to such moves. At the same time, he said, it's also because the department can't afford to do it.
"We don't have the resources,'' Baker said.
Breno DaMata, editor of Communidade News, a local Brazilian weekly newspaper, offered a different take on the city's immigration climate.
"Everybody knows Danbury is not friendly to immigrants,'' DaMata said flatly.
A few blocks away from Banana Brazil, Cleates Xavier -- the owner of Eliza's Store on Main Street -- said he's seen the same loss of Brazilian clientele.
"The Brazilian population in the city has gone down by a lot -- at least a third,'' Xavier said.
Part of that decrease is because of the U.S. recession. Brazilians came to Danbury for years in part because there were good-paying jobs here. Now, those jobs are scarce and the Brazilian economy is heating up.
Simply put, people move to find work.
And yet, the anxiety of an ICE arrest -- the fear of deportation -- has not gone away.
The rhetoric on both sides has cooled, Hernandez said, but there is a still "a nervousness" in the city's immigrant population.
"There are still a lot of people who don't know what's going to happen,'' Hernandez said.
Danbury attorney Agostinho Ribeiro, who is of Brazilian heritage, echoed those remarks.
"The mood is different,'' Ribeiro said. "There seems to be an underlying anxiety. There's still a certain discomfort here."
Ingrid Alvarez-DeMarzo, the director of the Hispanic Center of Greater Danbury, called the issue "the elephant'' in the room of the city's policies.
"It's the conversation at the dinner table, at breakfast,'' she said. "We're still finding out what ICE means. There's a lot going on and we don't know. It's a big gray area."
But in some ways, it's not only 287(g) and the city's involvement with ICE that is having an effect on local immigrant populations.
This year, ICE began a program called Secure Communities, which it described on its website as "a comprehensive plan to identify and remove criminal aliens.''
All police departments in Fairfield County, including the Danbury police, are working cooperatively with ICE on the Secure Communities program.
Harold Ort, a spokesman for ICE, said last week that because these people are in the United States illegally, their arrest and deportation is a good thing.
"We're moving in a positive direction to remove criminals as well as illegal aliens,'' Ort said.
Whether it's the 287(g) program or the Secure Communities program, the impact has been felt in Greater Danbury and beyond.
"There has been an increase in people being picked up, a definite increase,'' said Kristan Exner, a Danbury attorney who works on immigration cases. "(Federal officials) are really focusing on criminal arrests and outstanding orders of deportation. It's not just in Danbury, it's in the entire Fairfield County area.''
Michael Boyle, an immigration lawyer with offices in Danbury and New Haven, concurred with Exner.
"I have people being arrested all the time,'' Boyle said. "No question.''
Both Boyle and Exner said they've had cases in which a person arrested for driving while intoxicated had the case turned over to ICE for deportation proceedings.
"A lot of the problems stem from people just not knowing the laws,'' Alvarez-DeMarzo said. "People need some street smarts.''
And, she said, there's not a lot of help in the city, or the state, to help people who are in Danbury illegally work toward legal residency.
"We do the best we can,'' Alvarez-DeMarzo said. "But we're in a city with very limited legalization counseling.''
DaMata said after the presidential election of Barack Obama in 2008, there was widespread hope that comprehensive reform on the nation's immigration policies would clarify what undocumented immigrants needed to do to earn legal status in the United States.
"It's not happening,'' DeMata said. "People are losing faith.''
And, he said, the combination of a sluggish economy and the fear of deportation is only accelerating the process.
"People are thinking, `It's time to leave,''' DeMata said.
Hernandez said that when those people leave, they take away a valuable human resource.
"These people are valuable human assets to the community,'' Hernandez said, adding that their loss will be felt economically and culturally.
"This has been politicians playing the immigration card,'' Hernandez said. "But nobody ever talks about what the cost to the city has been. I'm not running for office or anything. But I think we should get rid of that card forever."
http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Anxiety-remains-a-year-after-Danbury-signs-ICE-666528.php
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Most Mexican nationals arrested in '06 Bellingham raid have left U.S.; Feds still won't release names of arrestees
By SAM TAYLOR
The News Tribune
August 23rd, 2010
Nearly four years after the federal government raided a Bellingham business and arrested 26 alleged illegal immigrants, who they are remains a mystery to the public.
But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has finally provided basic details about what officials say are Mexican nationals who shouldn't have been in the country working at Northwest Health Care Linen. Most of them returned to Mexico - either voluntarily or by deportation - but the status of the other eight is unclear.
The lack of detail is a common back and forth debate between the media and federal officials, who spar over the right to information in a time when illegal immigration is at the forefront of national discourse.
At least one journalism advocacy group has called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement an extremely difficult organization to get information from, and that courts have been of little help to shine light on who is being arrested in immigration raids.
The local issue stems from an Aug. 30, 2006, immigration raid by ICE. At the time, officials refused to identify who had been arrested, saying they were "administrative arrests."
Homeland Security lawyers notified The Bellingham Herald in late July 2010 that a federal Freedom of Information Act request for the identities of those arrested - a request made Sept. 8, 2006 - was being finally and officially denied.
But after more questions from a reporter, Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa worked to provide more information, saying the records request was processed under a previous White House administration with different policies regarding requests.
There is information, Kudwa said, that could be released, but The Herald didn't ask for it. The previous policy would have been to respond only to the very specific information sought, she said.
The new administration, however, would work to provide related information that could be released.
Department officials have now provided the nationalities, ages, genders and immigration status of those who were arrested. No names will be provided, Kudwa said, because those are protected by federal privacy laws.
The details released still would not allow anyone to independently verify the status of the people arrested, if they're actually illegal immigrants, or if they're still in the country.
But they provide a snapshot into who was arrested that day, according to the federal government.
Sixteen women between the age of 20 and 50 who were citizens of Mexico were arrested. The majority returned to Mexico, either voluntarily or by deportation, the records indicate. One third of the women have not been deported, but it's unclear exactly where they are.
"Subject is out on bond and is not in ICE custody," the record say of one woman. The other five simply state "Subject is not in ICE custody."
Of the 10 men between the ages of 19 and 53 who were arrested that day, eight returned to Mexico, either voluntarily by deportation, according to Homeland Security. The other two are "not in ICE custody."
The federal government will not disclose to the media or the public what happens in immigration cases, said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
"They're never going to tell you who they got, no matter what, no how," Dalglish said. "They're going to throw everything they can at you. They're going to deny it under FOIA, they're going to deny it under any law they can, particularly because these folks aren't U.S. residents."
Dalglish said the issue isn't only about holding immigrants accountable, it's about the federal government, as well.
"It's an abomination," she said. "It allows for no public oversight of the immigration process whatsoever. We have no idea what the federal government is doing to these people, and they're hiding under federal laws under the guise of 'We're trying to protect these people's privacy.' They don't give a rat's butt about these people."
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/08/20/1308623/feds-still-wont-release-names.html
The News Tribune
August 23rd, 2010
Nearly four years after the federal government raided a Bellingham business and arrested 26 alleged illegal immigrants, who they are remains a mystery to the public.
But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has finally provided basic details about what officials say are Mexican nationals who shouldn't have been in the country working at Northwest Health Care Linen. Most of them returned to Mexico - either voluntarily or by deportation - but the status of the other eight is unclear.
The lack of detail is a common back and forth debate between the media and federal officials, who spar over the right to information in a time when illegal immigration is at the forefront of national discourse.
At least one journalism advocacy group has called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement an extremely difficult organization to get information from, and that courts have been of little help to shine light on who is being arrested in immigration raids.
The local issue stems from an Aug. 30, 2006, immigration raid by ICE. At the time, officials refused to identify who had been arrested, saying they were "administrative arrests."
Homeland Security lawyers notified The Bellingham Herald in late July 2010 that a federal Freedom of Information Act request for the identities of those arrested - a request made Sept. 8, 2006 - was being finally and officially denied.
But after more questions from a reporter, Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa worked to provide more information, saying the records request was processed under a previous White House administration with different policies regarding requests.
There is information, Kudwa said, that could be released, but The Herald didn't ask for it. The previous policy would have been to respond only to the very specific information sought, she said.
The new administration, however, would work to provide related information that could be released.
Department officials have now provided the nationalities, ages, genders and immigration status of those who were arrested. No names will be provided, Kudwa said, because those are protected by federal privacy laws.
The details released still would not allow anyone to independently verify the status of the people arrested, if they're actually illegal immigrants, or if they're still in the country.
But they provide a snapshot into who was arrested that day, according to the federal government.
Sixteen women between the age of 20 and 50 who were citizens of Mexico were arrested. The majority returned to Mexico, either voluntarily or by deportation, the records indicate. One third of the women have not been deported, but it's unclear exactly where they are.
"Subject is out on bond and is not in ICE custody," the record say of one woman. The other five simply state "Subject is not in ICE custody."
Of the 10 men between the ages of 19 and 53 who were arrested that day, eight returned to Mexico, either voluntarily by deportation, according to Homeland Security. The other two are "not in ICE custody."
The federal government will not disclose to the media or the public what happens in immigration cases, said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
"They're never going to tell you who they got, no matter what, no how," Dalglish said. "They're going to throw everything they can at you. They're going to deny it under FOIA, they're going to deny it under any law they can, particularly because these folks aren't U.S. residents."
Dalglish said the issue isn't only about holding immigrants accountable, it's about the federal government, as well.
"It's an abomination," she said. "It allows for no public oversight of the immigration process whatsoever. We have no idea what the federal government is doing to these people, and they're hiding under federal laws under the guise of 'We're trying to protect these people's privacy.' They don't give a rat's butt about these people."
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/08/20/1308623/feds-still-wont-release-names.html
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Postville mayor says community still recovering from immigration raid
By O. Kay Henderson
Radio Iowa
April 14, 2010
The mayor of Postville says his community is still recovering from what happened at the town’s kosher meat packing plant nearly two years ago. In May of 2008 nearly 400 people were rounded up in an immigration raid at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville. Postville Mayor Leigh Rekow was in Des Moines Tuesday to celebrate the plant’s rebirth under a new name — Agri Star — and new management.
“As a city we are still dealing with some of the negative issues of the past,” Rekow said. “…Agri Star and its success play a large part in our recovery.” Rekow admits there was some concern that the Agriprocessors plant would not reopen after that raid and the fraud charges filed against the plant’s former manager.
But a Canadian-based company bought the plant eight months ago and spent nearly seven-and-a-half million dollars modernizing the facility, which has been processing kosher chicken and turkey under the “Agri Star” label. In the past two weeks beef production has resumed at the plant and there are 560 people on the payroll today.
“When the other plant closed we were left with a huge amount of empty houses, unpaid taxes, water bills that were owed, heating, electricity, but with the plant opening all these people have hope again,” Rekow said. “And our community has been very positive that we will survive and we will get back to where we were and maybe even be better.”
Agri Star C.E.O. Hershey Friedman says he meets regularly with the mayor and other city officials to build “trust” with the residents of Postville. Friedman says it made sense to keep production in Postville rather than build a new plant elsewhere because people who have expertise in kosher processing have made Postville their home.
“There’s a community in Postville which had been there,” Friedman says. “…There are managers and staffing that had stayed on even after the demise of the previous ownership, so we had the personnel to be able to do a quick start.” According to Friedman, there’s a shortage of American-produced kosher meat and the market is “more than ready to accept” products under the Agri Star brand. According to the mayor of Postville, Friedman has done more than just modernize the plant.
“I mean, it was a challenge because of the reputation, the raid, mistreatment of some of the workers,” Rekow said. “And when (Friedman) bought it, he just became straightforward and said, ‘This is what I’m going to do: the workers are going to be treated good. They will be safe…and we’ll pay a fair wage,’ so it has worked out real well and we’re real happy right now.”
About 35 students have enrolled in the town’s high school in the past two weeks because their parents got jobs at the plant when the beef production line started operating. As word spreads about new jobs at the plant, people have started traveling to Postville, looking for work and putting new strains on the support networks for the poor. The mayor acknowledges the upheaval surrounding the packing plant has been too much for some Postville residents.
“You’ll always have a certain amount of people that don’t accept change. They want things to be the way they were and in this day and age that cannot happen,” Rekow said. “We need to move forward. We have good community leaders that have stepped forward and have done a lot of good things to help Postville progress and we’re moving forward.” Before the raid in 2008, there were about 2,8oo people living in Postville.
A year later, the mayor estimates the population was down by about a thousand. Today — another year later — the population has begun to rebound.
http://www.radioiowa.com/2010/04/14/postville-mayor-says-community-still-recovering-from-immigration-raid/
Radio Iowa
April 14, 2010
The mayor of Postville says his community is still recovering from what happened at the town’s kosher meat packing plant nearly two years ago. In May of 2008 nearly 400 people were rounded up in an immigration raid at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville. Postville Mayor Leigh Rekow was in Des Moines Tuesday to celebrate the plant’s rebirth under a new name — Agri Star — and new management.
“As a city we are still dealing with some of the negative issues of the past,” Rekow said. “…Agri Star and its success play a large part in our recovery.” Rekow admits there was some concern that the Agriprocessors plant would not reopen after that raid and the fraud charges filed against the plant’s former manager.
But a Canadian-based company bought the plant eight months ago and spent nearly seven-and-a-half million dollars modernizing the facility, which has been processing kosher chicken and turkey under the “Agri Star” label. In the past two weeks beef production has resumed at the plant and there are 560 people on the payroll today.
“When the other plant closed we were left with a huge amount of empty houses, unpaid taxes, water bills that were owed, heating, electricity, but with the plant opening all these people have hope again,” Rekow said. “And our community has been very positive that we will survive and we will get back to where we were and maybe even be better.”
Agri Star C.E.O. Hershey Friedman says he meets regularly with the mayor and other city officials to build “trust” with the residents of Postville. Friedman says it made sense to keep production in Postville rather than build a new plant elsewhere because people who have expertise in kosher processing have made Postville their home.
“There’s a community in Postville which had been there,” Friedman says. “…There are managers and staffing that had stayed on even after the demise of the previous ownership, so we had the personnel to be able to do a quick start.” According to Friedman, there’s a shortage of American-produced kosher meat and the market is “more than ready to accept” products under the Agri Star brand. According to the mayor of Postville, Friedman has done more than just modernize the plant.
“I mean, it was a challenge because of the reputation, the raid, mistreatment of some of the workers,” Rekow said. “And when (Friedman) bought it, he just became straightforward and said, ‘This is what I’m going to do: the workers are going to be treated good. They will be safe…and we’ll pay a fair wage,’ so it has worked out real well and we’re real happy right now.”
About 35 students have enrolled in the town’s high school in the past two weeks because their parents got jobs at the plant when the beef production line started operating. As word spreads about new jobs at the plant, people have started traveling to Postville, looking for work and putting new strains on the support networks for the poor. The mayor acknowledges the upheaval surrounding the packing plant has been too much for some Postville residents.
“You’ll always have a certain amount of people that don’t accept change. They want things to be the way they were and in this day and age that cannot happen,” Rekow said. “We need to move forward. We have good community leaders that have stepped forward and have done a lot of good things to help Postville progress and we’re moving forward.” Before the raid in 2008, there were about 2,8oo people living in Postville.
A year later, the mayor estimates the population was down by about a thousand. Today — another year later — the population has begun to rebound.
http://www.radioiowa.com/2010/04/14/postville-mayor-says-community-still-recovering-from-immigration-raid/
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Former IFCO Managers Plead Guilty to Illegal Alien Conspiracy
By Chaille Brindley
MaterialsHandling.Net
4/4/2010
Two former IFCO employees recently pleaded guilty in federal court to criminal charges in connection with immigration raids conducted in 2006. William Hoskins, 33, and Tomas Soto Castillo, 56, both of Cincinnati, Ohio pled guilty to a felony conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens and to encourage and induce illegal aliens to remain in the United States. Soto Castillo also pled guilty to a felony conspiracy to knowingly hire illegal aliens.
Hoskins and Soto Castillo were former New Market Development managers for the Pallet Management Division of IFCO Systems North America. They pled guilty before Judge Lawrence Kahn in the U.S. District Court for Northern New York. Due to the time limitations before going to press, IFCO could not be reached for comment about the latest guilty pleas by former employees. Hoskins faces a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison while Soto Castillo could be imprisoned for up to five years. Both defendants face the possibility of a fine of up to $250,000.
On January 23, 2009, Hoskins, Soto Castillo and five IFCO executives were indicted by a grand jury in the Northern District of New York for immigration, tax and social security related felony offenses. Five IFCO executives are challenging the criminal charges against them. The trial was set for late April 2010. However, the defendants have requested a change of venue, which could delay the trial.
The five defendants challenging the charges against them are Haskell “Buddy” Ross of Lakeland, Fla. (Senior Vice President – Human Resources); Christopher Tiesman of Spring, Texas (Senior Vice President – Finance and Accounting); Charles Davidson of San Antonio, Texas (Vice President of New Market Development, formerly Director of New Market Development); Kenneth Gines Jr. of Spring, Texas (Controller – Pallet Services); and Wendy Mudra of Tampa, Fla. (Human Resources Manager).
The prosecution stems from the government’s investigation of illegal immigration and employment-related practices at IFCO’s pallet management service facilities. The investigation began following a tip to ICE in February 2005, that illegal alien laborers at the Albany IFCO plant were observed ripping up their W-2 forms.
On April 19, 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, in concert with other federal and state authorities, conducted work site enforcement raids at over 40 IFCO pallet plants in 26 states. This action resulted in the detention of 1,181 illegal aliens working at those plants.
The United States Attorney’s Office has previously prosecuted several IFCO managers for criminal offenses associated with the employment of illegal alien workers at IFCO pallet plants. Including the pleas announced today, eleven IFCO managers have entered guilty pleas related to hiring illegals and other violation of U.S. immigration, tax and workplace law.
In December 2008, the United States government reached a record corporate settlement with IFCO, pursuant to which the company agreed to pay $20.7 million dollars in civil forfeitures and penalties over four years. The settlement amount included $2.6 million dollars in back pay and penalties relating to IFCO’s overtime violations with respect to 1,700 of its pallet workers. IFCO also agreed to pay $18.1 million in civil forfeitures that will be available to support future law enforcement activities. IFCO has been fully compliant with the settlement agreement to date.
IFCO’s agreement in essence shielded the company from prosecution and has allowed it to stay in business as long as the company agrees to follow U.S. laws as well as the letter of the agreement. Depending on what comes out at trial, IFCO or its senior executives could still face legal challenges. If new information emerges that indicate illegal actions were conducted outside the scope of the corporate settlement, the Department of Justice could always re-open its investigation into the company as a whole or senior management.
The IFCO raids alarmed the pallet industry back in 2006 because one of its largest companies became the poster child for aggressive enforcement of U.S. immigration and labor laws. Government analysis of IFCO’s payroll information suggests that as many as 6,000 illegal aliens worked at IFCO pallet plants from 2003 to April 2006. Since then, IFCO has worked to become compliant, according to the Department of Justice in its recent statement. Other pallet companies have worked to verify the legal work status of their employees as well.
http://www.materialshandling.net/articledatabase/view.asp?articleID=3088
MaterialsHandling.Net
4/4/2010
Two former IFCO employees recently pleaded guilty in federal court to criminal charges in connection with immigration raids conducted in 2006. William Hoskins, 33, and Tomas Soto Castillo, 56, both of Cincinnati, Ohio pled guilty to a felony conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens and to encourage and induce illegal aliens to remain in the United States. Soto Castillo also pled guilty to a felony conspiracy to knowingly hire illegal aliens.
Hoskins and Soto Castillo were former New Market Development managers for the Pallet Management Division of IFCO Systems North America. They pled guilty before Judge Lawrence Kahn in the U.S. District Court for Northern New York. Due to the time limitations before going to press, IFCO could not be reached for comment about the latest guilty pleas by former employees. Hoskins faces a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison while Soto Castillo could be imprisoned for up to five years. Both defendants face the possibility of a fine of up to $250,000.
On January 23, 2009, Hoskins, Soto Castillo and five IFCO executives were indicted by a grand jury in the Northern District of New York for immigration, tax and social security related felony offenses. Five IFCO executives are challenging the criminal charges against them. The trial was set for late April 2010. However, the defendants have requested a change of venue, which could delay the trial.
The five defendants challenging the charges against them are Haskell “Buddy” Ross of Lakeland, Fla. (Senior Vice President – Human Resources); Christopher Tiesman of Spring, Texas (Senior Vice President – Finance and Accounting); Charles Davidson of San Antonio, Texas (Vice President of New Market Development, formerly Director of New Market Development); Kenneth Gines Jr. of Spring, Texas (Controller – Pallet Services); and Wendy Mudra of Tampa, Fla. (Human Resources Manager).
The prosecution stems from the government’s investigation of illegal immigration and employment-related practices at IFCO’s pallet management service facilities. The investigation began following a tip to ICE in February 2005, that illegal alien laborers at the Albany IFCO plant were observed ripping up their W-2 forms.
On April 19, 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, in concert with other federal and state authorities, conducted work site enforcement raids at over 40 IFCO pallet plants in 26 states. This action resulted in the detention of 1,181 illegal aliens working at those plants.
The United States Attorney’s Office has previously prosecuted several IFCO managers for criminal offenses associated with the employment of illegal alien workers at IFCO pallet plants. Including the pleas announced today, eleven IFCO managers have entered guilty pleas related to hiring illegals and other violation of U.S. immigration, tax and workplace law.
In December 2008, the United States government reached a record corporate settlement with IFCO, pursuant to which the company agreed to pay $20.7 million dollars in civil forfeitures and penalties over four years. The settlement amount included $2.6 million dollars in back pay and penalties relating to IFCO’s overtime violations with respect to 1,700 of its pallet workers. IFCO also agreed to pay $18.1 million in civil forfeitures that will be available to support future law enforcement activities. IFCO has been fully compliant with the settlement agreement to date.
IFCO’s agreement in essence shielded the company from prosecution and has allowed it to stay in business as long as the company agrees to follow U.S. laws as well as the letter of the agreement. Depending on what comes out at trial, IFCO or its senior executives could still face legal challenges. If new information emerges that indicate illegal actions were conducted outside the scope of the corporate settlement, the Department of Justice could always re-open its investigation into the company as a whole or senior management.
The IFCO raids alarmed the pallet industry back in 2006 because one of its largest companies became the poster child for aggressive enforcement of U.S. immigration and labor laws. Government analysis of IFCO’s payroll information suggests that as many as 6,000 illegal aliens worked at IFCO pallet plants from 2003 to April 2006. Since then, IFCO has worked to become compliant, according to the Department of Justice in its recent statement. Other pallet companies have worked to verify the legal work status of their employees as well.
http://www.materialshandling.net/articledatabase/view.asp?articleID=3088
Monday, March 15, 2010
Immigrants in raid must cover own expenses
The Associated Press
March 14, 2010
Cedar Rapids, Ia. — The 37 former Agriprocessors illegal workers being deported by the end of this month have to pay their way home.
Greg Palmore, with the public affairs office with Immigration Customs and Enforcement, said those being deported were told several weeks ago, so they would have time to arrange for transportation and wrap up any business in the United States.
“We’re trying to make the process as humane as possible,” Palmore said. “We care about these individuals.”
He said that if they have a hardship and cannot pay their way home, immigration will consider the issue and may assist in removing them from the country.
The immigrants must pay their own way home because they are not in immigration custody, as others were after the raid who were removed a few months later.
Palmore said he couldn’t release a total number to be deported or dates of deportation because of security reasons.
The 37 were among the nearly 400 who pleaded guilty to charges related to identity theft. Many received probation and agreed to be deported.
Some were allowed to stay in Iowa because they were designated as material witnesses in criminal trials against former Agriprocessors managers in Postville.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100314/NEWS/100313014/1001/NEWS/Immigrants-in-raid-must-cover-own-expenses
March 14, 2010
Cedar Rapids, Ia. — The 37 former Agriprocessors illegal workers being deported by the end of this month have to pay their way home.
Greg Palmore, with the public affairs office with Immigration Customs and Enforcement, said those being deported were told several weeks ago, so they would have time to arrange for transportation and wrap up any business in the United States.
“We’re trying to make the process as humane as possible,” Palmore said. “We care about these individuals.”
He said that if they have a hardship and cannot pay their way home, immigration will consider the issue and may assist in removing them from the country.
The immigrants must pay their own way home because they are not in immigration custody, as others were after the raid who were removed a few months later.
Palmore said he couldn’t release a total number to be deported or dates of deportation because of security reasons.
The 37 were among the nearly 400 who pleaded guilty to charges related to identity theft. Many received probation and agreed to be deported.
Some were allowed to stay in Iowa because they were designated as material witnesses in criminal trials against former Agriprocessors managers in Postville.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100314/NEWS/100313014/1001/NEWS/Immigrants-in-raid-must-cover-own-expenses
Thursday, March 11, 2010
10 former Agriprocessors workers to be deported
By Ron Adams
The Associated Press
March 10, 2010
POSTVILLE, Iowa - Ten undocumented aliens who were arrested and charged in the May 2008 raid at the former Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse in Postville have learned that they will be deported by March 31.
The 10 workers, who were all from Mexico, picked up deportation papers Monday at the Immigration Customs and Enforcement office in Cedar Rapids.
The 10 were among the 389 arrested and charged in the raid. They pleaded guilty in court proceedings a few days after the raid.
A volunteer at St. Bridget's Church in Postville, which has been helping the immigrants, says a number of former Agriprocessors workers from Guatemala will receive their paperwork for deportation on Wednesday.
http://www.wctrib.com/event/article/id/64651/
The Associated Press
March 10, 2010
POSTVILLE, Iowa - Ten undocumented aliens who were arrested and charged in the May 2008 raid at the former Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse in Postville have learned that they will be deported by March 31.
The 10 workers, who were all from Mexico, picked up deportation papers Monday at the Immigration Customs and Enforcement office in Cedar Rapids.
The 10 were among the 389 arrested and charged in the raid. They pleaded guilty in court proceedings a few days after the raid.
A volunteer at St. Bridget's Church in Postville, which has been helping the immigrants, says a number of former Agriprocessors workers from Guatemala will receive their paperwork for deportation on Wednesday.
http://www.wctrib.com/event/article/id/64651/
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Deportation of Mothers in Iowa Tests Local Charity
By Susan Elan
WeNews correspondent
February 21, 2010
A 2008 immigration raid in Iowa separated women from their children through arrest and deportation with, some say, the children's fate left to chance. An immigration official refutes that, saying women with children were released on humanitarian grounds.
POSTVILLE, Iowa (WOMENSENEWS)--Consuelo Vega, a mother of three, lived and worked in this small town surrounded by cornfields for 11 years.
Then in May 2008, she was arrested, jailed for five months and deported to Mexico following a massive, military-style immigration raid at a Kosher meat processing plant.
Vega's three children remained behind in the care of her older daughter, San Lopez, who was 18 and worked part time at a local bakery while raising her infant son.
Overnight, after her mother's deportation, Lopez's responsibilities multiplied as she took charge of her 12-year-old brother Pedro Lopez and 8-year-old sister Samantha Lopez.
"How many nights I could not sleep wondering what we were going to do the next day," she said. "I had to act like nothing was wrong to help my sister and brother but I was also depressed."
A study by the nonpartisan Urban Institute, based in Washington, D.C., found that for every two immigrants apprehended, one child is left behind.
Potentially thousands of parents and children have been separated as a result of immigration enforcement activities and millions more may be at risk, the researchers said. Two-thirds of the children affected are U.S. citizens or legal residents.
Carl Rusnok, spokesperson for U.S. ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Central Region, said 62 of the nearly 400 arrested in the Postville raid were released on humanitarian grounds, mainly because they were the only caregivers for their children.
"ICE agents at that site and all sites take extraordinary measures to determine if any of those arrested are sole caregivers," Rusnok said.
At the time of her arrest, Vega worked 12-to-16 hour days, six days a week, butchering cattle at Agriprocessors Inc. She earned $6.25 an hour, less than Iowa's hourly minimum wage of $7.25.
When U.S. immigration agents stormed the plant on May 12, 2008, arresting Vega and hundreds of other mostly Mexican and Guatemalan workers, Vega told them she had no children because she feared they would be imprisoned and deported too.
'No One Would Listen'
Shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles and bused 90 miles to the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo for arraignment, Vega later tried to tell immigration officials that she had three children at home. No one would listen, her daughter said.
ICE's Rusnok doubts that could have happened. "During Postville and all our operations we repeatedly ask …whether they have medical issues, sole caregiver issues or any other issues that might cause them to be released on humanitarian grounds," he said.
Lopez said that with no means of communicating with her family for weeks, her mother began an odyssey through a series of detention centers scattered from Leavenworth, Kan., to Tallahassee, Fla., before her deportation to Mexico five months later.
About 40 other mothers arrested during the raid on Agriprocessors had GPS-like devices strapped to their ankles so ICE agents could monitor their movements. The devices caused bruising but could not be removed. It took two hours a day to charge them from an electrical wall outlet.
Often the only breadwinner in the family, the detained mothers were not permitted to work or to leave the state.
"It is a horrible life we are living now," said Maria Ruiz, 33, who came to Postville from Guatemala 11 years ago. The single mother of a 6-year-old U.S.-born son earned $7.25 an hour working in the frigid meat packaging area at Agriprocessors.
Relying on Church Charity
Since her arrest, Ruiz and her son, along with many other detainees and their children, have relied on local Catholic and Lutheran churches to pay for their food, housing, medical and other expenses.
ICE's Rusnok said the women had alternatives. Had they not contested their deportation, they would have been sent to their country of origin and not had to depend on charity. "It is something they chose to do themselves," he said.
The raid and enforced inactivity that followed resulted in emotional and other difficulties for many of the mothers, said Virginia Gibbs, a professor of Spanish at Luther College in nearby Decorah, who has volunteered as an interpreter.
Their symptoms include "extreme sadness, depression, anxiety, fear, frustration, nightmares, insomnia, flashbacks and physical ailments from stomach problems to intense headaches to hair loss," Gibbs said.
The raid also took a toll on the Postville school system, which without warning had to arrange for the care of hundreds of children whose mother or father or both had been arrested.
David Strudthoff, the superintendent of the 600-student Postville Community School District, said that in the hours following the raid a spontaneous volunteer network of school faculty, staff and Latino high school students reunited children from the same family inside the school and kept them there until a relative who was not in hiding or imprisoned came to claim them.
Search for Welcoming Families
At the end of the day, about 40 children remained in the school. Faculty and staff took the children to St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church, where hundreds of immigrant families took refuge. Then they and community volunteers began looking for relatives or neighbors to take the children in, Strudthoff said.
In the days following the raid, school officials went from house to house trying to assure families that it was safe to send their children back to school.
"ICE can say that was a successful raid because the community stepped up to the plate behind the scenes and covered for them with regard to the humanitarian issues that took place as a residual effect of the raid," said Strudthoff, who is now school superintendent in De Soto, Wisc. "Without the community stepping up and doing the humanitarian things, that raid would have been a complete, unadulterated disaster."
Rusnok said he did not know of any cases in Postville where children were left without someone to care for them.
"Sometimes following these operations, there are situations that are exaggerated," he said.
Nearly two years after the raid, a sense of normalcy has returned to the schools, said Ron Wahls, a guidance counselor at the Postville Elementary School. For the first year, about 40 children received regular counseling, he said.
"Every day was uncertain," Wahls said. "A lot of them wondered 'when I go home will mom be there.'"
Susan Elan covered politics at daily newspapers in the New York metropolitan area for more than a decade. She is now working on a Master of Public Health degree at New York Medical College.
WeNews correspondent
February 21, 2010
A 2008 immigration raid in Iowa separated women from their children through arrest and deportation with, some say, the children's fate left to chance. An immigration official refutes that, saying women with children were released on humanitarian grounds.
POSTVILLE, Iowa (WOMENSENEWS)--Consuelo Vega, a mother of three, lived and worked in this small town surrounded by cornfields for 11 years.
Then in May 2008, she was arrested, jailed for five months and deported to Mexico following a massive, military-style immigration raid at a Kosher meat processing plant.
Vega's three children remained behind in the care of her older daughter, San Lopez, who was 18 and worked part time at a local bakery while raising her infant son.
Overnight, after her mother's deportation, Lopez's responsibilities multiplied as she took charge of her 12-year-old brother Pedro Lopez and 8-year-old sister Samantha Lopez.
"How many nights I could not sleep wondering what we were going to do the next day," she said. "I had to act like nothing was wrong to help my sister and brother but I was also depressed."
A study by the nonpartisan Urban Institute, based in Washington, D.C., found that for every two immigrants apprehended, one child is left behind.
Potentially thousands of parents and children have been separated as a result of immigration enforcement activities and millions more may be at risk, the researchers said. Two-thirds of the children affected are U.S. citizens or legal residents.
Carl Rusnok, spokesperson for U.S. ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Central Region, said 62 of the nearly 400 arrested in the Postville raid were released on humanitarian grounds, mainly because they were the only caregivers for their children.
"ICE agents at that site and all sites take extraordinary measures to determine if any of those arrested are sole caregivers," Rusnok said.
At the time of her arrest, Vega worked 12-to-16 hour days, six days a week, butchering cattle at Agriprocessors Inc. She earned $6.25 an hour, less than Iowa's hourly minimum wage of $7.25.
When U.S. immigration agents stormed the plant on May 12, 2008, arresting Vega and hundreds of other mostly Mexican and Guatemalan workers, Vega told them she had no children because she feared they would be imprisoned and deported too.
'No One Would Listen'
Shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles and bused 90 miles to the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo for arraignment, Vega later tried to tell immigration officials that she had three children at home. No one would listen, her daughter said.
ICE's Rusnok doubts that could have happened. "During Postville and all our operations we repeatedly ask …whether they have medical issues, sole caregiver issues or any other issues that might cause them to be released on humanitarian grounds," he said.
Lopez said that with no means of communicating with her family for weeks, her mother began an odyssey through a series of detention centers scattered from Leavenworth, Kan., to Tallahassee, Fla., before her deportation to Mexico five months later.
About 40 other mothers arrested during the raid on Agriprocessors had GPS-like devices strapped to their ankles so ICE agents could monitor their movements. The devices caused bruising but could not be removed. It took two hours a day to charge them from an electrical wall outlet.
Often the only breadwinner in the family, the detained mothers were not permitted to work or to leave the state.
"It is a horrible life we are living now," said Maria Ruiz, 33, who came to Postville from Guatemala 11 years ago. The single mother of a 6-year-old U.S.-born son earned $7.25 an hour working in the frigid meat packaging area at Agriprocessors.
Relying on Church Charity
Since her arrest, Ruiz and her son, along with many other detainees and their children, have relied on local Catholic and Lutheran churches to pay for their food, housing, medical and other expenses.
ICE's Rusnok said the women had alternatives. Had they not contested their deportation, they would have been sent to their country of origin and not had to depend on charity. "It is something they chose to do themselves," he said.
The raid and enforced inactivity that followed resulted in emotional and other difficulties for many of the mothers, said Virginia Gibbs, a professor of Spanish at Luther College in nearby Decorah, who has volunteered as an interpreter.
Their symptoms include "extreme sadness, depression, anxiety, fear, frustration, nightmares, insomnia, flashbacks and physical ailments from stomach problems to intense headaches to hair loss," Gibbs said.
The raid also took a toll on the Postville school system, which without warning had to arrange for the care of hundreds of children whose mother or father or both had been arrested.
David Strudthoff, the superintendent of the 600-student Postville Community School District, said that in the hours following the raid a spontaneous volunteer network of school faculty, staff and Latino high school students reunited children from the same family inside the school and kept them there until a relative who was not in hiding or imprisoned came to claim them.
Search for Welcoming Families
At the end of the day, about 40 children remained in the school. Faculty and staff took the children to St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church, where hundreds of immigrant families took refuge. Then they and community volunteers began looking for relatives or neighbors to take the children in, Strudthoff said.
In the days following the raid, school officials went from house to house trying to assure families that it was safe to send their children back to school.
"ICE can say that was a successful raid because the community stepped up to the plate behind the scenes and covered for them with regard to the humanitarian issues that took place as a residual effect of the raid," said Strudthoff, who is now school superintendent in De Soto, Wisc. "Without the community stepping up and doing the humanitarian things, that raid would have been a complete, unadulterated disaster."
Rusnok said he did not know of any cases in Postville where children were left without someone to care for them.
"Sometimes following these operations, there are situations that are exaggerated," he said.
Nearly two years after the raid, a sense of normalcy has returned to the schools, said Ron Wahls, a guidance counselor at the Postville Elementary School. For the first year, about 40 children received regular counseling, he said.
"Every day was uncertain," Wahls said. "A lot of them wondered 'when I go home will mom be there.'"
Susan Elan covered politics at daily newspapers in the New York metropolitan area for more than a decade. She is now working on a Master of Public Health degree at New York Medical College.
For more information:
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union commissioned a report on "ICE Misconduct and Violations of 4th Amendment Rights" at six plants they represent including the one in Postville.
http://www.icemisconduct.org/docUploads/UFCW%20ICE%20rpt%20FINAL%20150B%...
Urban Institute Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children
http://www.urban.org/publications/411566.html
Pew Hispanic Center Between Two Worlds: How Young Latinos Come of Age in America
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1438/young-latinos-coming-of-age-in-america
Note: Women's eNews is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites and the contents of site the link points to may change.
http://www.womensenews.org/story/immigration/100219/deportation-mothers-in-iowa-tests-local-charity
Monday, February 22, 2010
After the Raid: Bellingham Immigration Raid Highlights Change In Obama Policy
By Liz Jones
KUOW News
February 22, 2010
What's turned out to be the only worksite immigration raid under Obama's watch happened in Bellingham, Washington. A year has passed since then, but effects of this raid still linger in the community. Federal officials say the goal of this type of raid is to make employers comply with the law. But what other consequences do raids have on the community, employers and workers? KUOW's Liz Jones went to Bellingham to find out, and to examine how federal immigration enforcement has shifted under the new administration.
Yamato Engine Specialists occupies a sprawling warehouse, on the outskirts of Bellingham. It's a family–owned and operated business that remanufactures car engines.
Dhanani: "Our specialty is imports, but we do domestics too. A lot of them."
Shirin Dhanani works here with her parents, her two brothers and about 120 other employees. One of her brothers flashes an uneasy look as we pass by. Since federal immigration agents raided the company last year, they've tried to move past the bad publicity.
Dhanani: "Oh it's been difficult, extremely difficult. Your reputation, your credibility, your confidence. It's been tough with banks. It's been tough with customers."
The raid last February was the second time federal immigration officials investigated Yamato. An investigation in 2005 ended with the company quietly dismissing several undocumented workers.
This time, things weren't so quiet.
Dhanani: "When I got here there were cars everywhere, ice agents everywhere. Everybody was gathered in the lunchroom and then they were going through people's paperwork. And then they took them on the busses with chains and I asked why the women had to go. I was pretty verbal. I was very, very upset because these are people that work for me."
In the end, agents arrested 28 workers and two Yamato corporate directors.
Before the raid, Dhanani and her family cooperated with federal officials for several months. If someone had slipped through the hiring process using fake papers she wanted to know about it. Dhanani figured officials would give her a list of employees to terminate whose documents didn't check out, like the time before.
Then, the agent working with Dhanani told her they'd found several undocumented workers at Yamato; some who were possibly gang members. After that, the strategy seemed to shift.
Dhanani: "There was some discussion about coming and taking them away, and I went well, you would do that? Just come here and take them away? And he said, yeah, that's how it's normally done."
Raids are how it was normally done before, but not so much under Obama.
In the 2008 fiscal year, agents with Immigration Customs Enforcement, or ICE, arrested more than 6,000 people during workplace raids. Last year that number was about 2,000. Almost two–thirds lower than the year before.
Matt Chandler is a spokesman with the Department of Homeland Security, in Washington D.C. He acknowledges the government's tactics have shifted away from military style raids where workers are rounded up and put in detention centers.
Instead, more emphasis is now on I–9 audits, which require businesses to verify employee social security numbers and other documents. Undocumented workers are then dismissed. Chandler says employers can also face civil fines or criminal charges.
Chandler: "We feel that by focusing on employers who are knowingly hiring illegal workers, we can begin to target the cycle that is a draw for illegal immigration in the first place. So we are focused currently on building strong cases against employers who knowingly hire illegal workers and go around the tenets of our law to get ahead unfairly."
But raids are still an option.
Chandler: "When you're saying raid, yes, we may still enter the workplace, but the objective is to go after the employer, not to go after the employees."
In 2009, ICE tripled the number I–9 audits across the country, compared the year before. That includes a few dozen audits in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In December, a fruit grower in Eastern Washington reportedly laid off hundreds of workers in response to an audit.
Back in Bellingham, immigration advocate Rosalina Guillen says audits and raids both have the same negative outcomes. Employers become more fearful about who they hire, and workers lose jobs. That unemployment can put extra strain on community services.
Guillen: "For a lot of social service agencies, it is overwhelming. I know many times for us we feel it's overwhelming. The need is overwhelming because you're not just talking adult males, you're talking entire families with children that are in our schools."
Guillen heads an organization called Community to Community Development. It helped support several families affected by the Yamato raid. Many families have since left the community, while other workers are still waiting for court hearings about their immigration status.
Reporter: "Honestly, what do you think happens to these workers down the road. They don't have jobs. They don't have documents to get jobs. Do they go home?"
Guillen: "I think a lot of them do go home, or just continue to move around. It creates a transient community in the United States."
As for workplace enforcement, Guillan admits the audits are more humane than the raids. But she did see one positive outcome from the raid. It seemed to renew community efforts to fight for comprehensive immigration reform, one that would provide a path to legalization for undocumented workers.
On the other side of the debate, many who favor tougher immigration laws are unsatisfied with Obama's approach so far.
William Gheen heads the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC.
Gheen: "We want comprehensive immigration enforcement. We want the raids. We want the I–9 forms checked. We want employers that hire illegal immigrants fined. And we want the border secured and our local police enforcing immigration law."
That's an agenda Gheen thinks President Bush also failed to enforce. But he rates Obama worse, because he's halted the workplace raids.
At Yamato, the machines are still running but the business has downsized. The cuts were planned before the raid, though that added another big setback.
The case cost them about $100,000 in fines, plus 500,000 in attorney fees and steep losses in productivity and business. Some think Yamato got off easy. But Dhanani believes they paid a high price for the government to make a point.
Dhanani: "What was the point of the government? They wanted to pull us out of business? They wanted to shut us down? What was the agenda? The agenda was to make a point that employers should follow the letter of the law. And this is what happens if you don't."
Dhanani says Yamato pled guilty to the charges, because the investigation uncovered that an HR employee did know some workers were undocumented.
Dhanani now personally handles HR for Yamato. And the company has enrolled in E–verify, a federal program that checks workers' documentation.
http://kuow.org/program.php?id=19492
KUOW News
February 22, 2010
What's turned out to be the only worksite immigration raid under Obama's watch happened in Bellingham, Washington. A year has passed since then, but effects of this raid still linger in the community. Federal officials say the goal of this type of raid is to make employers comply with the law. But what other consequences do raids have on the community, employers and workers? KUOW's Liz Jones went to Bellingham to find out, and to examine how federal immigration enforcement has shifted under the new administration.
Yamato Engine Specialists occupies a sprawling warehouse, on the outskirts of Bellingham. It's a family–owned and operated business that remanufactures car engines.
Dhanani: "Our specialty is imports, but we do domestics too. A lot of them."
Shirin Dhanani works here with her parents, her two brothers and about 120 other employees. One of her brothers flashes an uneasy look as we pass by. Since federal immigration agents raided the company last year, they've tried to move past the bad publicity.
Dhanani: "Oh it's been difficult, extremely difficult. Your reputation, your credibility, your confidence. It's been tough with banks. It's been tough with customers."
The raid last February was the second time federal immigration officials investigated Yamato. An investigation in 2005 ended with the company quietly dismissing several undocumented workers.
This time, things weren't so quiet.
Dhanani: "When I got here there were cars everywhere, ice agents everywhere. Everybody was gathered in the lunchroom and then they were going through people's paperwork. And then they took them on the busses with chains and I asked why the women had to go. I was pretty verbal. I was very, very upset because these are people that work for me."
In the end, agents arrested 28 workers and two Yamato corporate directors.
Before the raid, Dhanani and her family cooperated with federal officials for several months. If someone had slipped through the hiring process using fake papers she wanted to know about it. Dhanani figured officials would give her a list of employees to terminate whose documents didn't check out, like the time before.
Then, the agent working with Dhanani told her they'd found several undocumented workers at Yamato; some who were possibly gang members. After that, the strategy seemed to shift.
Dhanani: "There was some discussion about coming and taking them away, and I went well, you would do that? Just come here and take them away? And he said, yeah, that's how it's normally done."
Raids are how it was normally done before, but not so much under Obama.
In the 2008 fiscal year, agents with Immigration Customs Enforcement, or ICE, arrested more than 6,000 people during workplace raids. Last year that number was about 2,000. Almost two–thirds lower than the year before.
Matt Chandler is a spokesman with the Department of Homeland Security, in Washington D.C. He acknowledges the government's tactics have shifted away from military style raids where workers are rounded up and put in detention centers.
Instead, more emphasis is now on I–9 audits, which require businesses to verify employee social security numbers and other documents. Undocumented workers are then dismissed. Chandler says employers can also face civil fines or criminal charges.
Chandler: "We feel that by focusing on employers who are knowingly hiring illegal workers, we can begin to target the cycle that is a draw for illegal immigration in the first place. So we are focused currently on building strong cases against employers who knowingly hire illegal workers and go around the tenets of our law to get ahead unfairly."
But raids are still an option.
Chandler: "When you're saying raid, yes, we may still enter the workplace, but the objective is to go after the employer, not to go after the employees."
In 2009, ICE tripled the number I–9 audits across the country, compared the year before. That includes a few dozen audits in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In December, a fruit grower in Eastern Washington reportedly laid off hundreds of workers in response to an audit.
Back in Bellingham, immigration advocate Rosalina Guillen says audits and raids both have the same negative outcomes. Employers become more fearful about who they hire, and workers lose jobs. That unemployment can put extra strain on community services.
Guillen: "For a lot of social service agencies, it is overwhelming. I know many times for us we feel it's overwhelming. The need is overwhelming because you're not just talking adult males, you're talking entire families with children that are in our schools."
Guillen heads an organization called Community to Community Development. It helped support several families affected by the Yamato raid. Many families have since left the community, while other workers are still waiting for court hearings about their immigration status.
Reporter: "Honestly, what do you think happens to these workers down the road. They don't have jobs. They don't have documents to get jobs. Do they go home?"
Guillen: "I think a lot of them do go home, or just continue to move around. It creates a transient community in the United States."
As for workplace enforcement, Guillan admits the audits are more humane than the raids. But she did see one positive outcome from the raid. It seemed to renew community efforts to fight for comprehensive immigration reform, one that would provide a path to legalization for undocumented workers.
On the other side of the debate, many who favor tougher immigration laws are unsatisfied with Obama's approach so far.
William Gheen heads the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC.
Gheen: "We want comprehensive immigration enforcement. We want the raids. We want the I–9 forms checked. We want employers that hire illegal immigrants fined. And we want the border secured and our local police enforcing immigration law."
That's an agenda Gheen thinks President Bush also failed to enforce. But he rates Obama worse, because he's halted the workplace raids.
At Yamato, the machines are still running but the business has downsized. The cuts were planned before the raid, though that added another big setback.
The case cost them about $100,000 in fines, plus 500,000 in attorney fees and steep losses in productivity and business. Some think Yamato got off easy. But Dhanani believes they paid a high price for the government to make a point.
Dhanani: "What was the point of the government? They wanted to pull us out of business? They wanted to shut us down? What was the agenda? The agenda was to make a point that employers should follow the letter of the law. And this is what happens if you don't."
Dhanani says Yamato pled guilty to the charges, because the investigation uncovered that an HR employee did know some workers were undocumented.
Dhanani now personally handles HR for Yamato. And the company has enrolled in E–verify, a federal program that checks workers' documentation.
http://kuow.org/program.php?id=19492
Monday, December 21, 2009
Convicted Agriprocessors supervisor requests revisit of sentence
By Lynda Waddington
The Iowa Independent
12/16/09
The first Agriprocessors supervisor sentenced following a massive immigration raid at the Postville meatpacking plant is requesting the court review his sentence on a belief that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling will mitigate it.
Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, 36, was sentenced to and is serving 36 months in federal prison. Two years of that sentence was a mandatory ruling for aggravated identity theft, according to court documents, and was a term of the plea deal he signed that allowed him to avoid deportation and for his wife and children to return to the U.S. following his prison term. He entered into the plea agreement in late August 2008.
Roughly nine months later, on May 4, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that many of the convictions and sentences given to immigrant detainees from the Postville raid were in error. According to the ruling, federal prosecutors inappropriately used aggravated identity theft laws to prosecute undocumented workers because the prosecution did not prove that the workers knowingly used identities that belonged to other individuals.
“As a matter of ordinary English grammar, it seems natural to read the statute’s word ‘knowingly’ as applying to all subsequently listed elements of the crime,” wrote Justice Stephen G. Breyer in the decision.
Other Agriprocessors supervisors, despite being originally charged with aggravated identity theft, had charges removed by the prosecution following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. In light of this, attorneys for Guerrero-Espinoza is requesting the court vacate or correct his sentence to reflect what has happened in the other cases and the decision by the Justices. If the request is granted, he could be freed after serving 19 months.
Court documents filed in August 2008 indicated that Guerrero-Espinoza “conspired with others, and aided and abetted his employer, in hiring more than 10 individuals” whom he knew to be undocumented and unable to legally work in the U.S. He was convicted, in part, due to a conversation he had with employees under his supervision on May 7, 2008. At that time Guerrero-Espinoza allegedly told workers he knew to be illegal immigrants that they were going to be terminated and then immediately rehired by Agriprocessors. While this testimony goes directly to the aiding and abetting illegal aliens charge, it does not speak directly to whether Guerrero-Espinoza was aware that the documents used to re-hire the workers stemmed from stolen identities.
Upon the federal conviction of Sholom Rubashkin, former Agriprocessors day-to-day manager, on numerous fraud-related charges, prosecutors have agreed not to seek a second trial on the immigration-related offenses that he faced. Without that trial, it is unlikely that much of the immigration-related evidence gathered at the Agriprocessors site following the 2008 raid, or much of the key witness testimony, will ever be publicly revealed.
http://iowaindependent.com/23857/convicted-agriprocessors-supervisor-requests-revisit-of-sentence
The Iowa Independent
12/16/09
The first Agriprocessors supervisor sentenced following a massive immigration raid at the Postville meatpacking plant is requesting the court review his sentence on a belief that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling will mitigate it.
Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, 36, was sentenced to and is serving 36 months in federal prison. Two years of that sentence was a mandatory ruling for aggravated identity theft, according to court documents, and was a term of the plea deal he signed that allowed him to avoid deportation and for his wife and children to return to the U.S. following his prison term. He entered into the plea agreement in late August 2008.
Roughly nine months later, on May 4, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that many of the convictions and sentences given to immigrant detainees from the Postville raid were in error. According to the ruling, federal prosecutors inappropriately used aggravated identity theft laws to prosecute undocumented workers because the prosecution did not prove that the workers knowingly used identities that belonged to other individuals.
“As a matter of ordinary English grammar, it seems natural to read the statute’s word ‘knowingly’ as applying to all subsequently listed elements of the crime,” wrote Justice Stephen G. Breyer in the decision.
Other Agriprocessors supervisors, despite being originally charged with aggravated identity theft, had charges removed by the prosecution following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. In light of this, attorneys for Guerrero-Espinoza is requesting the court vacate or correct his sentence to reflect what has happened in the other cases and the decision by the Justices. If the request is granted, he could be freed after serving 19 months.
Court documents filed in August 2008 indicated that Guerrero-Espinoza “conspired with others, and aided and abetted his employer, in hiring more than 10 individuals” whom he knew to be undocumented and unable to legally work in the U.S. He was convicted, in part, due to a conversation he had with employees under his supervision on May 7, 2008. At that time Guerrero-Espinoza allegedly told workers he knew to be illegal immigrants that they were going to be terminated and then immediately rehired by Agriprocessors. While this testimony goes directly to the aiding and abetting illegal aliens charge, it does not speak directly to whether Guerrero-Espinoza was aware that the documents used to re-hire the workers stemmed from stolen identities.
Upon the federal conviction of Sholom Rubashkin, former Agriprocessors day-to-day manager, on numerous fraud-related charges, prosecutors have agreed not to seek a second trial on the immigration-related offenses that he faced. Without that trial, it is unlikely that much of the immigration-related evidence gathered at the Agriprocessors site following the 2008 raid, or much of the key witness testimony, will ever be publicly revealed.
http://iowaindependent.com/23857/convicted-agriprocessors-supervisor-requests-revisit-of-sentence
Friday, December 18, 2009
On hold, 18 months
By Perla Trevizo
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Candelaria Jacinto is among 100 workers arrested in April 2008 for being in the country illegally during the Pilgrim's Pride raid. Ms Jacinto's case is still not resolved and she is not able to work.
Since Candelaria Jacinto was caught by immigration officials more than 18 months ago, she has wondered if her children are going to eat the following day or if they are going to have clean clothes to wear.
"I simply don't have any money," said the Guatemalan native, who still is waiting for her case to be resolved and has not worked since April 2008, when she was arrested during a raid at a Pilgrim's Pride chicken processing plant.
Of the 100 workers initially arrested for being in the country illegally, 13 still have cases pending before the immigration court, according to immigration officials.
Another 15 are categorized as Immigration and Customs Enforcement fugitives -- they either failed to appear for their hearing or failed to comply with the judge's order to leave voluntarily in lieu of deportation -- ICE spokesman Temple Black wrote in an e-mail. The remaining 72 have left the country, he said.
For workers who've asked for a form of relief in front of a judge, a resolution might take anywhere from a year to several years, depending on the individual case and if there are any appeals, said Terry Smart Jr., an immigration attorney in Memphis who is representing Mrs. Jacinto for free.
"The more (complex) the case, the longer it's going to take for it to come to fruition in immigration court," he said.
But the families who are still here have put themselves in that situation, said Janice Kephart, national security policy director of the Center for Immigration Studies, an independent organization that does research on the impacts of immigration on the United States.
"They've chosen this route, they came here voluntarily illegally, they worked here voluntarily illegally, and now they've chosen to stay in the process to try to garner an immigration status," she said.
GIVEN ANOTHER CHANCE
Lubia del Cid, whose daughter Kemberly Mendez is being treated for Poland syndrome -- a pattern of physical malformations present at birth -- said it's very difficult because she hasn't been able to work. But at the same time, she's grateful for the medical treatment her daughter is receiving.
"She has improved so much in this time," the mother of five said in Spanish. "There's no way she would get this type of treatment in Guatemala."
Mrs. del Cid, who recently applied for a work permit, still has three teens in Guatemala, but Kemberly is a U.S. citizen who will be 2 years old in January. The little girl recently went through one of several surgeries she needs to separate some of her fused right-hand fingers and eventually insert a plate in her chest because of muscle deficiency.
"Sometimes she looks at her hand and says 'Mommy' and tries to separate her fingers," Mrs. del Cid said.
"I'm just appreciative on behalf of my client that the government is willing to work with us on this case," said her attorney David Elliott. "Whereas removal cases can take many years, in this situation, the fact that they haven't scheduled a hearing is somewhat unique, and I think it's just based upon the fact that Kemberly has medical issues that cannot be addressed in Lubia's home country."
Even before she was arrested in the Pilgrim's Pride raid, Mrs. del Cid faced a deportation order. Immigration agents caught her as she crossed the Texas-Mexico border five years ago.
She was given a notice to appear in court, but because she didn't understand what the notice was, she said she didn't go and missed a deportation hearing.
SURVIVAL MODE
Immediately after the raid at Pilgrim's Pride, social service and legal organizations from across Tennessee swooped in to help the families financially and with legal representation.
Within six months of the arrests, the help diminished because of a lack of funds, although the support continued to be there, said Melody Bonilla, care manager for La Paz de Dios, one of about 12 organizations that stepped up to help.
But by that time, many of those arrested also had left the country, she said.
"We kept working with those who stayed behind, working with the lawyers representing them, and at this point it's very slow," said Mrs. Bonilla. "They are not coming as frequently, but we are working with a few of them to get all their information for hearings, with translations," among other services.
For Mrs. Jacinto, a widow who can't read or write and has three children ages 7 to 12, the ensuing months have been extremely difficult.
"I don't have any money for the rent or the bills," she said during a recent afternoon, sitting on the porch of a house she shares with a relative of her late husband and that woman's two children. Two pairs of children's pants were hanging from the fence drying.
"I haven't had money to do the laundry in 15 days," she said in broken Spanish. "I hope they will be dried when they go to school tomorrow."
Having grown up speaking a Guatemalan dialect, she speaks very little Spanish and no English.
Her husband's relative was helping her with the rent and paying her to take care of her children, but the woman is also unemployed and can't help anymore, said Mrs. Jacinto, a 40-year-old who came to the United States 13 years ago.
"It's hard not to be caught up in the humanity of these individual cases. There are certainly human issues here," said Ms. Kephart, "but the value of our law is only in it's ability to be followed, and when we become a country (whose) own laws are not important enough to follow, then we are only hurting ourselves in multiple ways."
CASE BACKLOGS
The time an immigration court case takes to be resolved depends on a number of factors, said Elaine Komis, spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice.
"For example, the alien needs more time to seek legal representation, or the Department of Homeland Security requires more time for preparation," she said. "All that builds time into the case."
The backlog of immigration cases awaiting disposal is steadily increasing, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data gathering organization at Syracuse University.
Since the end of fiscal year 2006, the backlog has grown by 19 percent, the clearinghouse said in a report published earlier this year.
But lawyers representing the arrested workers from Chattanooga say the court in Memphis, which has two judges, has done a good job of scheduling the cases in a timely manner.
"Cases tend to take a little longer in (the immigration court of) Atlanta," said Mr. Elliott, "I think they do a pretty good job with their dockets (in Memphis)."
"(Immigration judges) continue to handle challenging caseloads," said Ms. Komis, "(but) they do an excellent job in adjudicating their cases, (and) take as much time as necessary to ensure fairness in their adjudication."
THE STORY SO FAR
* On April 16, 2008, 100 Chattanooga workers were among almost 300 immigrants arrested in Pilgrim's Pride plants in five states for being in the country illegally.
* The workers faced charges that included identity theft, document fraud and immigration violations.
* The majority of the Chattanooga workers went back to their country of origin, but a handful are still here as their cases move through the legal system.
BY THE NUMBERS
* 231: Number of immigration judges nationwide
* 2: Number of immigration judges in the Memphis court
* 350,000: Number of immigration proceedings nationwide in fiscal year 2008
* 2,844: Number of immigration proceedings in the Memphis court in fiscal year 2008
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/dec/12/on-hold-18-months/
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, December 10, 2009
Postville, immigrants inching toward closure
By GRANT SCHULTE
gschulte@dmreg.com
The Desmoines Register
Postville, Ia. - Forty-year-old Juventino Lopez Pichia wants to bring his wife and children to Iowa.
But he knows that likely will never happen.
Instead Pichia and about 29 other immigrants arrested in the massive 2008 raid of Agriprocessors Inc. face deportation, probably sometime before the end of the year. The 30 or so immigrants were given temporary work visas so they could remain in Iowa and be available to testify in Sholom Rubashkin's second federal trial.
However, those charges were dropped against the former Agriprocessors vice president.
"If I could bring my wife and children here, I would," said Pichia, who cut chicken breasts at the plant for $7.25 an hour. "This is a country of opportunities. But since that can't happen, I'm going to work hard here until I go back."
Pichia shares a home in Decorah with six other men involved with the raid and commutes with them to their jobs in Postville. All are originally from Guatemala. In their free time, they alternate chores cooking and cleaning the home, rented from a local family.
Javier Lopez Sache, 19, said he had hoped to help support his five brothers and five sisters back at home. Sache said he worked in a refrigerated area of the plant, in a cold comparable to the outdoor temperature in the teens.
Work at the plant remains hectic, "but the pace is better now," Sache said. "Before, all the supervisors were very demanding."
Many of the men attend services at local churches. Pichia, who said he doesn't drink or smoke because of his Christian faith, said he now calls his family once a day.
Advocates for the immigrants who were supposed to testify against Rubashkin say they are outraged that a federal jury will never hear about past abuses at the plant.
"What is their future?" asked the Rev. Paul Ouderkirk, retired pastor of St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville. "What will the government do with them? Will any recognition be made that they sacrificed two years of their lives?"
Some immigrants suffered so greatly from their post-raid experiences that the Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque, which encompasses Postville, hired bilingual psychiatric counselors to help them with depression and other mental illnesses, Ouderkirk said.
"The raid isn't over," he said. "There's no closure, no matter how hard the people want there to be."
Agriprocessors was the site of a May 2008 federal raid that caught 389 illegal-immigrant workers. About 300 were charged with aggravated identity theft or possession of false documents and sent to prison for five months.
Among them was Victor Hugo Sis Tepaz, 44, a Guatemalan who worked a 4 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. shift at the plant before the raid. Tepaz was arrested, pleaded guilty to an identity theft charge for using an Ohio Social Security number, and served a five-month prison sentence in Florida and Oklahoma.
Federal agents returned Tepaz and other former workers to Postville in November 2008 so they could testify against Rubashkin in his 72-count immigration trial.
But those charges were dropped in November, after a South Dakota jury convicted Rubashkin of 86 counts of financial fraud. The decision hinged, in part, on the likely cost and inconvenience to witnesses. Prosecutors also argued that jurors had effectively declared Rubashkin's guilt on some immigration charges when they found him guilty of lying to the plant's lender about the work force. Defense lawyers dispute the assertion.
When the immigration charges were dropped, prosecutors no longer needed the immigrant witnesses, who now face deportation.
The immigrants were given temporary work visas while they waited to testify in the trial, and eventually returned to Agriprocessors.
Rubashkin, along with his father and several former human resource employees, still faces thousands of child labor charges levied by the Iowa attorney general's office. All have pleaded not guilty, and a trial is slated to begin at a not-yet-set date next year.
Tepaz said conditions at the kosher meat plant have improved. The supervisors before "were very strict" and always pushed employees to work faster, he said through a Spanish translator. "Now, they're friendly," he said.
He said he now makes $9.25 per hour, up from the $7.50 hourly wage he collected when he first started. He works 50 to 60 hours per week.
Workers have alleged that they were illegally underpaid, overworked and threatened with job termination if they complained. One girl, who was 15 when she was hired, told state investigators of repeated sexual harassment from some low-level supervisors.
A sense of caution still hovers in Postville about Agri Star, the plant's new name under new ownership. Hershey Friedman, a Canadian businessman, bought the plant out of bankruptcy and reopened it with promises to restart the now-dormant beef kill line.
Becky Monroe, a stylist at the Headquarters hair salon in Postville, said she has noticed smaller crowds outside the Postville church pantry, which used to attract lines that stretched well down Greene Street.
"It's going to take a long time to recover," she said. " ... I think that the community's perspective on Agri Star is going to be: Sit back and wait with caution."
Other business owners said an Oct. 17 fire at a downtown bakery, a popular local business, had overshadowed immediate concerns about the raid.
The fire destroyed the 126-year-old building and displaced more than 10 people who lived in the apartments upstairs. The blaze also damaged the Wishing Well, a gift and flower shop and one of the few remaining retail businesses in town.
Some residents express hope that, as the raid's aftermath nears an end, their northeast Iowa town might start to recover.
"Everyone predicted this town would dry up and blow away," said Gary DeVilbiss, who runs an insurance firm downtown. "But we knew we were going to survive."
DeVilbiss said the Rubashkin verdict inched the town toward a sense of closure. "You could feel the weight come off the town's shoulders," he said. "It wasn't that he got convicted. It was just the sense that it was over."
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091206/NEWS/912060343/-1/COMM07/Postville-immigrants-inching-toward-closure
gschulte@dmreg.com
The Desmoines Register
Postville, Ia. - Forty-year-old Juventino Lopez Pichia wants to bring his wife and children to Iowa.
But he knows that likely will never happen.
Instead Pichia and about 29 other immigrants arrested in the massive 2008 raid of Agriprocessors Inc. face deportation, probably sometime before the end of the year. The 30 or so immigrants were given temporary work visas so they could remain in Iowa and be available to testify in Sholom Rubashkin's second federal trial.
However, those charges were dropped against the former Agriprocessors vice president.
"If I could bring my wife and children here, I would," said Pichia, who cut chicken breasts at the plant for $7.25 an hour. "This is a country of opportunities. But since that can't happen, I'm going to work hard here until I go back."
Pichia shares a home in Decorah with six other men involved with the raid and commutes with them to their jobs in Postville. All are originally from Guatemala. In their free time, they alternate chores cooking and cleaning the home, rented from a local family.
Javier Lopez Sache, 19, said he had hoped to help support his five brothers and five sisters back at home. Sache said he worked in a refrigerated area of the plant, in a cold comparable to the outdoor temperature in the teens.
Work at the plant remains hectic, "but the pace is better now," Sache said. "Before, all the supervisors were very demanding."
Many of the men attend services at local churches. Pichia, who said he doesn't drink or smoke because of his Christian faith, said he now calls his family once a day.
Advocates for the immigrants who were supposed to testify against Rubashkin say they are outraged that a federal jury will never hear about past abuses at the plant.
"What is their future?" asked the Rev. Paul Ouderkirk, retired pastor of St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville. "What will the government do with them? Will any recognition be made that they sacrificed two years of their lives?"
Some immigrants suffered so greatly from their post-raid experiences that the Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque, which encompasses Postville, hired bilingual psychiatric counselors to help them with depression and other mental illnesses, Ouderkirk said.
"The raid isn't over," he said. "There's no closure, no matter how hard the people want there to be."
Agriprocessors was the site of a May 2008 federal raid that caught 389 illegal-immigrant workers. About 300 were charged with aggravated identity theft or possession of false documents and sent to prison for five months.
Among them was Victor Hugo Sis Tepaz, 44, a Guatemalan who worked a 4 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. shift at the plant before the raid. Tepaz was arrested, pleaded guilty to an identity theft charge for using an Ohio Social Security number, and served a five-month prison sentence in Florida and Oklahoma.
Federal agents returned Tepaz and other former workers to Postville in November 2008 so they could testify against Rubashkin in his 72-count immigration trial.
But those charges were dropped in November, after a South Dakota jury convicted Rubashkin of 86 counts of financial fraud. The decision hinged, in part, on the likely cost and inconvenience to witnesses. Prosecutors also argued that jurors had effectively declared Rubashkin's guilt on some immigration charges when they found him guilty of lying to the plant's lender about the work force. Defense lawyers dispute the assertion.
When the immigration charges were dropped, prosecutors no longer needed the immigrant witnesses, who now face deportation.
The immigrants were given temporary work visas while they waited to testify in the trial, and eventually returned to Agriprocessors.
Rubashkin, along with his father and several former human resource employees, still faces thousands of child labor charges levied by the Iowa attorney general's office. All have pleaded not guilty, and a trial is slated to begin at a not-yet-set date next year.
Tepaz said conditions at the kosher meat plant have improved. The supervisors before "were very strict" and always pushed employees to work faster, he said through a Spanish translator. "Now, they're friendly," he said.
He said he now makes $9.25 per hour, up from the $7.50 hourly wage he collected when he first started. He works 50 to 60 hours per week.
Workers have alleged that they were illegally underpaid, overworked and threatened with job termination if they complained. One girl, who was 15 when she was hired, told state investigators of repeated sexual harassment from some low-level supervisors.
A sense of caution still hovers in Postville about Agri Star, the plant's new name under new ownership. Hershey Friedman, a Canadian businessman, bought the plant out of bankruptcy and reopened it with promises to restart the now-dormant beef kill line.
Becky Monroe, a stylist at the Headquarters hair salon in Postville, said she has noticed smaller crowds outside the Postville church pantry, which used to attract lines that stretched well down Greene Street.
"It's going to take a long time to recover," she said. " ... I think that the community's perspective on Agri Star is going to be: Sit back and wait with caution."
Other business owners said an Oct. 17 fire at a downtown bakery, a popular local business, had overshadowed immediate concerns about the raid.
The fire destroyed the 126-year-old building and displaced more than 10 people who lived in the apartments upstairs. The blaze also damaged the Wishing Well, a gift and flower shop and one of the few remaining retail businesses in town.
Some residents express hope that, as the raid's aftermath nears an end, their northeast Iowa town might start to recover.
"Everyone predicted this town would dry up and blow away," said Gary DeVilbiss, who runs an insurance firm downtown. "But we knew we were going to survive."
DeVilbiss said the Rubashkin verdict inched the town toward a sense of closure. "You could feel the weight come off the town's shoulders," he said. "It wasn't that he got convicted. It was just the sense that it was over."
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091206/NEWS/912060343/-1/COMM07/Postville-immigrants-inching-toward-closure
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Former Agriprocessors Workers Face Deportation
Associated Press
December 7, 2009
About 30 immigrants arrested in the May 2008 of kosher meat plant Agriprocessors Inc. are currently facing deportation now that they’re no longer needed to testify against former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin.
Last month, federal prosecutors dropped all 72 federal immigration charges against Rubashkin, determining that the cost of a second trial wasn’t necessary since Rubashkin was convicted of 86 counts of financial fraud and is facing more than 1,200 years in prison. As a result, the Des Moines Register is reporting that the immigrants who were allowed to stay and work in the U.S. so they could testify at the second trial are no longer needed and could potentially be deported.
Advocates for the workers are complaining that their voice has been taken away and are questioning the workers’ fates.
“What is their future?” asked the Rev. Paul Ouderkirk, retired pastor of St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, Iowa. “What will the government do with them? Will any recognition be made that they sacrificed two years of their lives?”
Among the 389 illegal immigrants arrested in last year’s raid is 40-year-old Juventino Lopez Pichia and 44-year-old Victor Hugo Sis Tepaz, both of Guatemala. Agriprocessors officials were accused of falsifying documents in order to employ illegal immigrants, and most of the arrested workers were charged with identity theft and served five months in prison, including Pichia and Tepaz. In the months after the raid, Agriprocessors filed for bankruptcy. The plant is now under new ownership and has a new name - Agri Star.
http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2009/12/07/former-agriprocessors-workers-face-deportation/?mod=rss_WSJBlog
December 7, 2009
About 30 immigrants arrested in the May 2008 of kosher meat plant Agriprocessors Inc. are currently facing deportation now that they’re no longer needed to testify against former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin.
Last month, federal prosecutors dropped all 72 federal immigration charges against Rubashkin, determining that the cost of a second trial wasn’t necessary since Rubashkin was convicted of 86 counts of financial fraud and is facing more than 1,200 years in prison. As a result, the Des Moines Register is reporting that the immigrants who were allowed to stay and work in the U.S. so they could testify at the second trial are no longer needed and could potentially be deported.
Advocates for the workers are complaining that their voice has been taken away and are questioning the workers’ fates.
“What is their future?” asked the Rev. Paul Ouderkirk, retired pastor of St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, Iowa. “What will the government do with them? Will any recognition be made that they sacrificed two years of their lives?”
Among the 389 illegal immigrants arrested in last year’s raid is 40-year-old Juventino Lopez Pichia and 44-year-old Victor Hugo Sis Tepaz, both of Guatemala. Agriprocessors officials were accused of falsifying documents in order to employ illegal immigrants, and most of the arrested workers were charged with identity theft and served five months in prison, including Pichia and Tepaz. In the months after the raid, Agriprocessors filed for bankruptcy. The plant is now under new ownership and has a new name - Agri Star.
http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2009/12/07/former-agriprocessors-workers-face-deportation/?mod=rss_WSJBlog
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Postville workers to share their stories on stage
18 months after immigration raid, workers awaiting deportation
By Chris Hubbuch
lacrossetribune.com
Saturday, December 5, 2009
DECORAH, Iowa - They came for the promise of prosperity.
From villages in Guatemala and Mexico to a little town in Iowa. They paid thousands - borrowed from brothers and cousins already in America - to coyotes, smugglers who led them across the desert.
They found jobs skinning cattle and cutting chickens, working 12-hour days in dangerous conditions for $7 an hour.
For this, they got prison.
It's been a year and a half since immigration officials raided the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, where more than 300 workers, mostly from Guatemala and Mexico, were arrested on immigration charges. Most pleaded guilty and were sentenced to five months in prison.
Now, as they wait to be sent home, seven are telling their stories on stage.
After serving their time, 24 of the Postville workers - all government witnesses in a case against the plant manager - were released. A handful settled in nearby Decorah, where church groups helped them find a home.
But the promised work permits were slow to come.
As they struggled to get by on odd jobs, seven of the workers came up with the idea of a play about their experiences.
Over the winter, they would get together and tell stories while Spanish-speaking students and recent Luther College graduates took notes. Playwright Alex Skitolsky helped shape the work.
The play is called "La Historia de Nuestras Vidas" - "The Story of Our Lives." The men recite lines in Spanish, with a written English translation provided.
"When we left from the jail, we thought of this idea because we were trying to get some money to send back to our families," said Oscar Mejia Santos, a 30-year-old from Guatemala.
It's also helped people understand their lives in Postville and their struggles since the raid, said Aaron Junech Vega.
They will perform the play for the 15th time tonight at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Admission is free, though donations are welcome.
Mark Kastel saw the play this summer in Viroqua and was so moved he helped bring it to La Crosse.
As co-founder and policy analyst at the Cornucopia Institute - a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable food production - Kastel saw the play as a reflection on the economics of cheap food. He can remember when meatpackers earned good wages.
"We have farmers going out of business. The people who produce our food are treated in an abusive manner. ... We're supporting companies that won't pay enough so that a domestic worker will take a job," Kastel said.
The men eventually got work permits and found jobs at the Postville plant, now under new management.
The pay is better - most now earn about $11 an hour, though without benefits - but the work still treacherous. The days start at 5:45 a.m. and stretch to 5 p.m.
And last month, Agriprocessors manager Sholom Rubashkin was convicted of 86 fraud charges and may spend the rest of his life in prison. A week later, the government dropped its immigration case, eliminating the need for witnesses.
The actors now face deportation, though they don't know when. A farewell party is scheduled for next weekend at First Lutheran Church.
They look forward to reuniting with wives and children they haven't seen in years, but they don't know if they'll be able to provide for them in a country where they might earn only $7 or $8 a day.
"The situation is really hard. There's not very much work," Junech said.
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/news/local/article_538c2e10-e161-11de-a5f5-001cc4c002e0.html
By Chris Hubbuch
lacrossetribune.com
Saturday, December 5, 2009
DECORAH, Iowa - They came for the promise of prosperity.
From villages in Guatemala and Mexico to a little town in Iowa. They paid thousands - borrowed from brothers and cousins already in America - to coyotes, smugglers who led them across the desert.
They found jobs skinning cattle and cutting chickens, working 12-hour days in dangerous conditions for $7 an hour.
For this, they got prison.
It's been a year and a half since immigration officials raided the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, where more than 300 workers, mostly from Guatemala and Mexico, were arrested on immigration charges. Most pleaded guilty and were sentenced to five months in prison.
Now, as they wait to be sent home, seven are telling their stories on stage.
After serving their time, 24 of the Postville workers - all government witnesses in a case against the plant manager - were released. A handful settled in nearby Decorah, where church groups helped them find a home.
But the promised work permits were slow to come.
As they struggled to get by on odd jobs, seven of the workers came up with the idea of a play about their experiences.
Over the winter, they would get together and tell stories while Spanish-speaking students and recent Luther College graduates took notes. Playwright Alex Skitolsky helped shape the work.
The play is called "La Historia de Nuestras Vidas" - "The Story of Our Lives." The men recite lines in Spanish, with a written English translation provided.
"When we left from the jail, we thought of this idea because we were trying to get some money to send back to our families," said Oscar Mejia Santos, a 30-year-old from Guatemala.
It's also helped people understand their lives in Postville and their struggles since the raid, said Aaron Junech Vega.
They will perform the play for the 15th time tonight at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Admission is free, though donations are welcome.
Mark Kastel saw the play this summer in Viroqua and was so moved he helped bring it to La Crosse.
As co-founder and policy analyst at the Cornucopia Institute - a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable food production - Kastel saw the play as a reflection on the economics of cheap food. He can remember when meatpackers earned good wages.
"We have farmers going out of business. The people who produce our food are treated in an abusive manner. ... We're supporting companies that won't pay enough so that a domestic worker will take a job," Kastel said.
The men eventually got work permits and found jobs at the Postville plant, now under new management.
The pay is better - most now earn about $11 an hour, though without benefits - but the work still treacherous. The days start at 5:45 a.m. and stretch to 5 p.m.
And last month, Agriprocessors manager Sholom Rubashkin was convicted of 86 fraud charges and may spend the rest of his life in prison. A week later, the government dropped its immigration case, eliminating the need for witnesses.
The actors now face deportation, though they don't know when. A farewell party is scheduled for next weekend at First Lutheran Church.
They look forward to reuniting with wives and children they haven't seen in years, but they don't know if they'll be able to provide for them in a country where they might earn only $7 or $8 a day.
"The situation is really hard. There's not very much work," Junech said.
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/news/local/article_538c2e10-e161-11de-a5f5-001cc4c002e0.html
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