By Associated Press
March 14, 2010
Immigrant deportees and immigration raids will be the focus of an upcoming Boston College conference.
The school is hosting conference Thursday on deportation, migration and human rights, featuring discussions on the effects of deportation raids across the U.S.
Filmmaker Luis Argueta is also scheduled to screen his documentary, "abUSed: The Postville Raid." The film chronicles the May 2008 arrests of 389 undocumented workers in Postville, Iowa, by the federal immigration agents.
Argueta will also speak about the Guatemalan mountain villages from which the workers migrated.
The conference is sponsored by Boston College’s Center for Human Rights and International Justice Post-Deportation Human Rights Project.
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100314boston_conference_to_focus_on_immigrant_deportees/
Showing posts with label New Bedford Raid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Bedford Raid. Show all posts
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Workers say agents took them to Gillette
Claim they were returned after being processed
By Maria Sacchetti
The Boston Globe
January 12, 2010
PROVIDENCE - Federal agents detained dozens of Guatemalan immigrants en route to shovel snow at Gillette Stadium last week, and then drove many of them back to the stadium to work, the immigrants said yesterday, giving their fullest account yet of the operation.
Yesterday, dozens of the immigrants poured into the Guatemalan consulate, a two-story red brick building near Federal Hill, wearing thick sweatshirts, baseball caps, and worried faces, since they are here illegally and now facing possible deportation. But they and their advocates said they are workers, not criminals, who had left poor villages in the hope of finding better lives for themselves and their families.
In interviews at the consulate, where they sought legal assistance, the workers, most of whom live in Rhode Island, said they had cleared snow at Gillette last Tuesday, and were heading back to work early Wednesday in four vans when federal agents pulled them over.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained 58 people during the operation as part of a search for fugitives, including criminals, who had been ordered deported. Seven people, including people with criminal records such as domestic assault, are being held in Bristol County jail.
The immigrants said the rest were taken to a nearby police station, fingerprinted, photographed and released, pending an interview with immigration officials to determine their legal status, before they were driven to the stadium.
“They brought us back to work themselves,’’ said Vicente Avila, 43, who said he lives on $200 a month so he can send as much as $800 a month to his family, including five children, in Guatemala. “They told us if you want to go to work, you can go to work.’’
Matthew Chandler, deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that carried out the operation, declined to confirm that federal agents drove the immigrants to Gillette or to describe the agency’s policy on transporting immigrants after such operations.
Gillette officials said they had hired an outside agency to take care of the shoveling, and that outfit was responsible for verifying the legal status of the workers.
The stadium fired the vendor in the uproar after the raid, which raised questions about security at one of the region’s premier sports complexes just before the Patriots playoff game Sunday. The vendor is All Stars Labor Inc. of Dorchester, according to a source with knowledge of the work agreement, but company officials could not be reached late last night.
Among those seeking free legal advice yesterday were a 16-year-old girl who recently arrived in the United States, a 16-year-old boy who has been here three years, and a woman who is five months’ pregnant.
Consul General Carlos Escobedo told the immigrants he would help them without charge. They would respect the laws of the United States, he said, but also seek ways they could stay in the country legally.
“We are here as a government to support you and help you,’’ he said as lawyers prepared to work with each immigrant. “You are not alone.’’
The immigrants said they left Guatemala because the civil war there left the country’s economy in tatters.
The workers said they did not know the name of the company that hired them. They had received phone calls from friends telling them to show up at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Providence at 5 a.m. for work and that they could earn as much as $8 an hour.
Catarina Alonzo, 25, said she left her daughter with her mother in a poor village eight years ago to join relatives in the United States. Alonzo sends money home for food.
Alonzo said she had worked at Gillette last year as well, cleaning up trash, half-eaten food, and plastic cups, once in the driving rain. “What are you going to do?’’ she said in Spanish. “I am poor. I went to work.’’
Next to her sat a shaken Tomasa Larios, 16, who arrived late last year. She said she jumped at the chance to earn some money at Gillette, but after she was detained, she was too scared to return with the others. “I was really affected by it,’’ said Larios.
The women said the operation was mostly calm. Immigration agents told them to put their hands on the seats, took the vans, and drove them to the police station.
The raid was in contrast to the dramatic 2007 raid in New Bedford, where the factory owners and 361 immigrants were arrested, some spirited quickly to Texas for deportation. But the Foxborough operation still stunned diplomats and advocates because officials had hoped the federal government would focus only on criminals, which is the agency’s stated priority, and not on ordinary workers with no previous convictions.
The Obama administration has said it favors legislation that would allow the nation’s 12 million illegal immigrants to apply for legal residency, but it has also vowed to continue enforcement action to show that the federal government will keep the borders secure.
Miguel Angel Ibarra, the vice minister of foreign affairs in Guatemala, said in an interview Saturday that he was surprised that deportations of Guatemalans had not slowed under President Obama, despite severe poverty, a drought in some areas, and widespread unemployment in the central American nation. He called for a halt to deportations.
According to federal statistics, deportations hit a record high in the fiscal year that runs from October to September; Obama took office at the end of January. Some 387,790 people were deported last year, up from 369,221 the year before.
Steve Kropper, cochairman of Massachusetts Citizens for Immigration Reform, said the government is enforcing the law.
“We love legal immigrants and all those people who waited in line for years,’’ he said. “People who bypass the system, we want . . . to discourage them.’’
Maria Sacchetti can be reached at msacchetti@globe.com.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/12/immigrants_say_agents_drove_them_to_gillette_after_being_detained/
By Maria Sacchetti
The Boston Globe
January 12, 2010
PROVIDENCE - Federal agents detained dozens of Guatemalan immigrants en route to shovel snow at Gillette Stadium last week, and then drove many of them back to the stadium to work, the immigrants said yesterday, giving their fullest account yet of the operation.
Yesterday, dozens of the immigrants poured into the Guatemalan consulate, a two-story red brick building near Federal Hill, wearing thick sweatshirts, baseball caps, and worried faces, since they are here illegally and now facing possible deportation. But they and their advocates said they are workers, not criminals, who had left poor villages in the hope of finding better lives for themselves and their families.
In interviews at the consulate, where they sought legal assistance, the workers, most of whom live in Rhode Island, said they had cleared snow at Gillette last Tuesday, and were heading back to work early Wednesday in four vans when federal agents pulled them over.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained 58 people during the operation as part of a search for fugitives, including criminals, who had been ordered deported. Seven people, including people with criminal records such as domestic assault, are being held in Bristol County jail.
The immigrants said the rest were taken to a nearby police station, fingerprinted, photographed and released, pending an interview with immigration officials to determine their legal status, before they were driven to the stadium.
“They brought us back to work themselves,’’ said Vicente Avila, 43, who said he lives on $200 a month so he can send as much as $800 a month to his family, including five children, in Guatemala. “They told us if you want to go to work, you can go to work.’’
Matthew Chandler, deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that carried out the operation, declined to confirm that federal agents drove the immigrants to Gillette or to describe the agency’s policy on transporting immigrants after such operations.
Gillette officials said they had hired an outside agency to take care of the shoveling, and that outfit was responsible for verifying the legal status of the workers.
The stadium fired the vendor in the uproar after the raid, which raised questions about security at one of the region’s premier sports complexes just before the Patriots playoff game Sunday. The vendor is All Stars Labor Inc. of Dorchester, according to a source with knowledge of the work agreement, but company officials could not be reached late last night.
Among those seeking free legal advice yesterday were a 16-year-old girl who recently arrived in the United States, a 16-year-old boy who has been here three years, and a woman who is five months’ pregnant.
Consul General Carlos Escobedo told the immigrants he would help them without charge. They would respect the laws of the United States, he said, but also seek ways they could stay in the country legally.
“We are here as a government to support you and help you,’’ he said as lawyers prepared to work with each immigrant. “You are not alone.’’
The immigrants said they left Guatemala because the civil war there left the country’s economy in tatters.
The workers said they did not know the name of the company that hired them. They had received phone calls from friends telling them to show up at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Providence at 5 a.m. for work and that they could earn as much as $8 an hour.
Catarina Alonzo, 25, said she left her daughter with her mother in a poor village eight years ago to join relatives in the United States. Alonzo sends money home for food.
Alonzo said she had worked at Gillette last year as well, cleaning up trash, half-eaten food, and plastic cups, once in the driving rain. “What are you going to do?’’ she said in Spanish. “I am poor. I went to work.’’
Next to her sat a shaken Tomasa Larios, 16, who arrived late last year. She said she jumped at the chance to earn some money at Gillette, but after she was detained, she was too scared to return with the others. “I was really affected by it,’’ said Larios.
The women said the operation was mostly calm. Immigration agents told them to put their hands on the seats, took the vans, and drove them to the police station.
The raid was in contrast to the dramatic 2007 raid in New Bedford, where the factory owners and 361 immigrants were arrested, some spirited quickly to Texas for deportation. But the Foxborough operation still stunned diplomats and advocates because officials had hoped the federal government would focus only on criminals, which is the agency’s stated priority, and not on ordinary workers with no previous convictions.
The Obama administration has said it favors legislation that would allow the nation’s 12 million illegal immigrants to apply for legal residency, but it has also vowed to continue enforcement action to show that the federal government will keep the borders secure.
Miguel Angel Ibarra, the vice minister of foreign affairs in Guatemala, said in an interview Saturday that he was surprised that deportations of Guatemalans had not slowed under President Obama, despite severe poverty, a drought in some areas, and widespread unemployment in the central American nation. He called for a halt to deportations.
According to federal statistics, deportations hit a record high in the fiscal year that runs from October to September; Obama took office at the end of January. Some 387,790 people were deported last year, up from 369,221 the year before.
Steve Kropper, cochairman of Massachusetts Citizens for Immigration Reform, said the government is enforcing the law.
“We love legal immigrants and all those people who waited in line for years,’’ he said. “People who bypass the system, we want . . . to discourage them.’’
Maria Sacchetti can be reached at msacchetti@globe.com.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/12/immigrants_say_agents_drove_them_to_gillette_after_being_detained/
Friday, October 30, 2009
Immigrants: Conn. raid retaliation for ID cards
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
Associated Press
October 29, 2009
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Ten New Haven residents filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing federal agents of violating their rights during an immigration raid they say was in retaliation for a city program that provided ID cards to foreigners in the country illegally — the first of its kind in the nation.
The sweeps in New Haven on June 6, 2007, came two days after the city approved issuing identification cards to all of its residents, regardless of immigration status. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have denied that the early morning raids were retaliatory, saying planning began the year before.
"The New Haven raids were not a product of routine immigration enforcement," the lawsuit states. "Hartford ICE agents deliberately chose to conduct raids in New Haven in retaliation for the city's efforts to improve public safety for all its residents by integrating immigrants and Latinos into civic life."
Spokesmen for the U.S. Attorney's office and ICE declined comment, citing the pending lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, cites e-mails between federal officials that the residents say show hostility to the ID card program and an intent to stop it.
One e-mail from the U.S. Attorney's Office on March 28, 2007 disclosed that an ICE official "had been talking to his headquarters about the fact that New Haven is becoming a sanctuary city." On May 11, the ICE official held a conference call with several prosecutors to discuss how to address the "headaches in New Haven," according to the lawsuit.
The comments took on a racially charged tone after a city committee approved the ID card program, the lawsuit alleges. "Yale is loading up the Amistad with illegal immigrants and sailing them to freedom, while (ICE counsel) openly weeps in Hartford," an ICE attorney wrote, referring to the slave ship that was commandeered by African captives who eventually won their freedom.
An ICE official then drafted a letter to the city expressing concerns with the program and discouraging the mayor from implementing it, according to the lawsuit. ICE officials and the U.S. Attorney's Office agreed to disguise their collaboration to make it look like the letter was coming from prosecutors instead of ICE, the lawsuit alleges.
The defendants then planned their first and only raid of the year, including only 33 New Haven-area addresses in their target list when there were 5,500 outstanding warrants for fugitives, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit contends ICE's retaliatory intent became clear after the raid when a spokesman declared, "There is truly no safe haven for fugitive aliens."
The lawsuit alleges ICE agents broke into homes without search warrants or consent and arrested residents based on their race or ethnicity. When the girlfriend of one of those arrested asked where they were going during the raid, one of the agents laughed and taunted that they were going to a concert by Juan Gabriel, a famous Mexican singer, according to the lawsuit.
"ICE agents broke into my home without permission while I was still sleeping, pulled the covers from my bed, and arrested me for no reason," Jose Solano-Yangua, a plaintiff, said in a statement. "I was terrified and humiliated."
In June, a federal judge ruled that agents violated the constitutional rights of four immigrants in the raids. Immigration Judge Michael Straus said the ICE agents went into the immigrants' homes without warrants, probable cause or their consent, and he put a stop to deportation proceedings against the four defendants, whose names were not released.
Immigration officials have denied claims that the 32 arrests that morning were improper, and they said the people who were arrested had been ordered by judges to leave the country. They said in court documents that they were allowed into the homes during the sweep.
Witnesses have alleged in court documents that parents were arrested in front of their frightened children, agents refused to identify themselves and told people in the homes to shut up.
Yale Law School students are representing the immigrants.
Of the 32 arrested, none are still in custody, according to the Yale students. Of the 19 that Yale represents, 4 agreed to leave the country, 10 are still fighting their cases and five won motions to suppress evidence, according to the students.
The lawsuit, which names former and current ICE officials as defendants, seeks damages and a judgment that the officials violated the Constitution.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j9gwq_xjV5MtRZANVPq9GmATinzgD9BKA3H01
Associated Press
October 29, 2009
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Ten New Haven residents filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing federal agents of violating their rights during an immigration raid they say was in retaliation for a city program that provided ID cards to foreigners in the country illegally — the first of its kind in the nation.
The sweeps in New Haven on June 6, 2007, came two days after the city approved issuing identification cards to all of its residents, regardless of immigration status. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have denied that the early morning raids were retaliatory, saying planning began the year before.
"The New Haven raids were not a product of routine immigration enforcement," the lawsuit states. "Hartford ICE agents deliberately chose to conduct raids in New Haven in retaliation for the city's efforts to improve public safety for all its residents by integrating immigrants and Latinos into civic life."
Spokesmen for the U.S. Attorney's office and ICE declined comment, citing the pending lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, cites e-mails between federal officials that the residents say show hostility to the ID card program and an intent to stop it.
One e-mail from the U.S. Attorney's Office on March 28, 2007 disclosed that an ICE official "had been talking to his headquarters about the fact that New Haven is becoming a sanctuary city." On May 11, the ICE official held a conference call with several prosecutors to discuss how to address the "headaches in New Haven," according to the lawsuit.
The comments took on a racially charged tone after a city committee approved the ID card program, the lawsuit alleges. "Yale is loading up the Amistad with illegal immigrants and sailing them to freedom, while (ICE counsel) openly weeps in Hartford," an ICE attorney wrote, referring to the slave ship that was commandeered by African captives who eventually won their freedom.
An ICE official then drafted a letter to the city expressing concerns with the program and discouraging the mayor from implementing it, according to the lawsuit. ICE officials and the U.S. Attorney's Office agreed to disguise their collaboration to make it look like the letter was coming from prosecutors instead of ICE, the lawsuit alleges.
The defendants then planned their first and only raid of the year, including only 33 New Haven-area addresses in their target list when there were 5,500 outstanding warrants for fugitives, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit contends ICE's retaliatory intent became clear after the raid when a spokesman declared, "There is truly no safe haven for fugitive aliens."
The lawsuit alleges ICE agents broke into homes without search warrants or consent and arrested residents based on their race or ethnicity. When the girlfriend of one of those arrested asked where they were going during the raid, one of the agents laughed and taunted that they were going to a concert by Juan Gabriel, a famous Mexican singer, according to the lawsuit.
"ICE agents broke into my home without permission while I was still sleeping, pulled the covers from my bed, and arrested me for no reason," Jose Solano-Yangua, a plaintiff, said in a statement. "I was terrified and humiliated."
In June, a federal judge ruled that agents violated the constitutional rights of four immigrants in the raids. Immigration Judge Michael Straus said the ICE agents went into the immigrants' homes without warrants, probable cause or their consent, and he put a stop to deportation proceedings against the four defendants, whose names were not released.
Immigration officials have denied claims that the 32 arrests that morning were improper, and they said the people who were arrested had been ordered by judges to leave the country. They said in court documents that they were allowed into the homes during the sweep.
Witnesses have alleged in court documents that parents were arrested in front of their frightened children, agents refused to identify themselves and told people in the homes to shut up.
Yale Law School students are representing the immigrants.
Of the 32 arrested, none are still in custody, according to the Yale students. Of the 19 that Yale represents, 4 agreed to leave the country, 10 are still fighting their cases and five won motions to suppress evidence, according to the students.
The lawsuit, which names former and current ICE officials as defendants, seeks damages and a judgment that the officials violated the Constitution.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j9gwq_xjV5MtRZANVPq9GmATinzgD9BKA3H01
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Workforce officials expand training for former Eagle workers
By Brian Boyd
South Coast Today
October 17, 2009
NEW BEDFORD — Workers who lost their jobs when the Eagle Industries plant shut down this summer will have more opportunities for job training and adult education thanks to additional state funding.
The state gave permission a few weeks ago for the Greater New Bedford Workforce Investment Board to draw down the first half of $565,000 in state funding. Any of the 350 who lost their jobs can go to the Greater New Bedford Career Center, which is overseen by the board, and sign up for services now, said Leonard W. Coriaty, the board's executive director.
"People can walk in the door, and there is no delay in services," Coriaty said Friday.
The board will be able to access the other half of the state money in two months, pending a review. The board is also working with state officials to apply for $1.4 million in federal money for training about 500 laid-off workers, most of them from Eagle.
If the board succeeds in winning the federal grant, the money would cover whatever the state had kicked in up to that point, so the total would not exceed $1.4 million, Coriaty said.
The state money covers the hiring of four more staff members at the career center, as well as adult education, English language lessons and job training. Most of the former Eagle employees need help in all three of those areas, he said.
"There is a high and deep need for the population that was in the company, in terms of education and skills, whether English skills or occupational skills," he said.
The sooner workers sign up for this training the better because the lessons could take months and officials want workers to be ready when more jobs become available, he said.
In March, Alliant Techsystems Inc. bought Eagle Industries and its South End plant, where military backpacks were made. Less than two months later, ATK announced it was shutting down the plant and moving the work to Puerto Rico. Before Eagle took it over, the plant had served as the Michael Bianco Inc. factory, the site of a massive federal immigration raid in March 2007.
While Workforce Investment Board officials are working on training the former Eagle employees, a new textile business, New Bedford Tactical Gear, was launched in August and has hired people who had worked at the closed factory.
New Jersey Headwear Corp. of Newark, N.J., the parent company of Tactical Gear, now employs 16 people at the New Bedford facility and expects to add another 15 to 20 next month. It aims to reach a total of 70 by the end of the year and will continue to give preference to former Eagle employees.
"We're basically on schedule," Mitch Cahn, president of New Jersey Headwear, said Friday.
Tactical Gear started by making ammunition bags. Cahn said he will be able to ramp up operations if he gets more orders under his current contract, wins another military contract or secures a separate contract with a private company, possibly manufacturing bags for Victoria's Secret.
He also expects to shift some of his baseball cap manufacturing from New Jersey to New Bedford, which will help support a staff of 70.
"I have enjoyed working in New Bedford," Cahn said. "I really do find it an easy place to do business."
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091017/NEWS/910170329/-1/NEWSMAP
South Coast Today
October 17, 2009
NEW BEDFORD — Workers who lost their jobs when the Eagle Industries plant shut down this summer will have more opportunities for job training and adult education thanks to additional state funding.
The state gave permission a few weeks ago for the Greater New Bedford Workforce Investment Board to draw down the first half of $565,000 in state funding. Any of the 350 who lost their jobs can go to the Greater New Bedford Career Center, which is overseen by the board, and sign up for services now, said Leonard W. Coriaty, the board's executive director.
"People can walk in the door, and there is no delay in services," Coriaty said Friday.
The board will be able to access the other half of the state money in two months, pending a review. The board is also working with state officials to apply for $1.4 million in federal money for training about 500 laid-off workers, most of them from Eagle.
If the board succeeds in winning the federal grant, the money would cover whatever the state had kicked in up to that point, so the total would not exceed $1.4 million, Coriaty said.
The state money covers the hiring of four more staff members at the career center, as well as adult education, English language lessons and job training. Most of the former Eagle employees need help in all three of those areas, he said.
"There is a high and deep need for the population that was in the company, in terms of education and skills, whether English skills or occupational skills," he said.
The sooner workers sign up for this training the better because the lessons could take months and officials want workers to be ready when more jobs become available, he said.
In March, Alliant Techsystems Inc. bought Eagle Industries and its South End plant, where military backpacks were made. Less than two months later, ATK announced it was shutting down the plant and moving the work to Puerto Rico. Before Eagle took it over, the plant had served as the Michael Bianco Inc. factory, the site of a massive federal immigration raid in March 2007.
While Workforce Investment Board officials are working on training the former Eagle employees, a new textile business, New Bedford Tactical Gear, was launched in August and has hired people who had worked at the closed factory.
New Jersey Headwear Corp. of Newark, N.J., the parent company of Tactical Gear, now employs 16 people at the New Bedford facility and expects to add another 15 to 20 next month. It aims to reach a total of 70 by the end of the year and will continue to give preference to former Eagle employees.
"We're basically on schedule," Mitch Cahn, president of New Jersey Headwear, said Friday.
Tactical Gear started by making ammunition bags. Cahn said he will be able to ramp up operations if he gets more orders under his current contract, wins another military contract or secures a separate contract with a private company, possibly manufacturing bags for Victoria's Secret.
He also expects to shift some of his baseball cap manufacturing from New Jersey to New Bedford, which will help support a staff of 70.
"I have enjoyed working in New Bedford," Cahn said. "I really do find it an easy place to do business."
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091017/NEWS/910170329/-1/NEWSMAP
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Kennedy Shaped Modern-Day Immigration System
By BIANCA VAZQUEZ TONESS
WBUR.ORG
Published August 27, 2009
BOSTON — Sen. Edward Kennedy’s first major legislative victory helped change the face of this country. In 1965, Kennedy sponsored the Immigration and Nationality Act, which lifted national quotas on immigrants entering the country. This victory also launched his political career advocating for the foreign-born.
Before 1965, it was nearly impossible for immigrants from anywhere besides Western Europe to come to the United States. Sen. Kennedy was in his early thirties and in office just a couple of years when he sponsored a bill that would change all that.
The legislation allowed “us to break away from the kind of discriminatory quotas that existed for decades,” said Paul Watanabe, professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
The law made family reunification the basis for immigration.
This ushered in a flood of immigrants from Latin America and Asia. The foreign-born population went from 10 million to nearly 30 million in 40 years. The system that Kennedy created has vexed people who favor strict restrictions on immigration.
“They created these immigration chains,” said Mark Krikorian, from the Center for Immigration Studies, “where one person comes here and then brings his brother, who brings his wife and so on, creating the mass immigration that we have today.”
Until the end of his life, Kennedy advocated louder than anyone else in the U.S. Senate to widen opportunities for the nation’s immigrants. He crafted legislation raising the number of refugees coming to the U.S., and the 1986 bill that granted amnesty to 2.7 million people living here illegally.
Kennedy also helped individuals caught by immigration enforcement, people who weren’t here legally.
Mario Rodas was detained in an immigration sweep in 2006. Kennedy wrote letters on his behalf to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That delayed deportation long enough for Rodas to apply for and win political asylum to stay here.
Rodas, now 22, calls Kennedy his hero. “He didn’t care what other people thought,” Rodas said. “He always did what he thought was right. What he thought was moral. What he thought was human.”
Kennedy came to New Bedford in 2007 to meet with the families of 361 immigrants detained in a factory raid. Afterward, he denounced the government for detaining parents with young children, and sending them to a Texas lock-up.
“They terrorized women, they terrorized children, they broke up families,” Kennedy said, standing outside a Catholic Church in New Bedford where immigrant families were meeting. “I don’t want to go back to the United States Senate and hear from administration officials about family values.”
After the raid, Kennedy and Sen. John Kerry convinced ICE to write special guidelines for the treatment of immigrants with children.
Ali Noorani, from the National Immigration Forum, a coalition of reform advocates, was in Massachusetts at the time.
“The guidelines were the first time that immigration enforcement acknowledged that immigrants are human beings and should be treated as such,” Noorani said.
According to Noorani, the series of large-scale raids in New Bedford and other parts of the country caused Kennedy to re-dedicate himself to immigration reform. Kennedy sponsored a bill with Sen. John McCain in 2007 that would have helped 12 million illegal immigrants get on a path to citizenship and strengthened workplace sanctions.
The bill failed. Reform advocates are gearing up for another try in 2010. They say it will be harder without Kennedy, but the senator laid the groundwork.
http://www.wbur.org/2009/08/27/kennedy-immigration
WBUR.ORG
Published August 27, 2009
BOSTON — Sen. Edward Kennedy’s first major legislative victory helped change the face of this country. In 1965, Kennedy sponsored the Immigration and Nationality Act, which lifted national quotas on immigrants entering the country. This victory also launched his political career advocating for the foreign-born.
Before 1965, it was nearly impossible for immigrants from anywhere besides Western Europe to come to the United States. Sen. Kennedy was in his early thirties and in office just a couple of years when he sponsored a bill that would change all that.
The legislation allowed “us to break away from the kind of discriminatory quotas that existed for decades,” said Paul Watanabe, professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
The law made family reunification the basis for immigration.
This ushered in a flood of immigrants from Latin America and Asia. The foreign-born population went from 10 million to nearly 30 million in 40 years. The system that Kennedy created has vexed people who favor strict restrictions on immigration.
“They created these immigration chains,” said Mark Krikorian, from the Center for Immigration Studies, “where one person comes here and then brings his brother, who brings his wife and so on, creating the mass immigration that we have today.”
Until the end of his life, Kennedy advocated louder than anyone else in the U.S. Senate to widen opportunities for the nation’s immigrants. He crafted legislation raising the number of refugees coming to the U.S., and the 1986 bill that granted amnesty to 2.7 million people living here illegally.
Kennedy also helped individuals caught by immigration enforcement, people who weren’t here legally.
Mario Rodas was detained in an immigration sweep in 2006. Kennedy wrote letters on his behalf to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That delayed deportation long enough for Rodas to apply for and win political asylum to stay here.
Rodas, now 22, calls Kennedy his hero. “He didn’t care what other people thought,” Rodas said. “He always did what he thought was right. What he thought was moral. What he thought was human.”
Kennedy came to New Bedford in 2007 to meet with the families of 361 immigrants detained in a factory raid. Afterward, he denounced the government for detaining parents with young children, and sending them to a Texas lock-up.
“They terrorized women, they terrorized children, they broke up families,” Kennedy said, standing outside a Catholic Church in New Bedford where immigrant families were meeting. “I don’t want to go back to the United States Senate and hear from administration officials about family values.”
After the raid, Kennedy and Sen. John Kerry convinced ICE to write special guidelines for the treatment of immigrants with children.
Ali Noorani, from the National Immigration Forum, a coalition of reform advocates, was in Massachusetts at the time.
“The guidelines were the first time that immigration enforcement acknowledged that immigrants are human beings and should be treated as such,” Noorani said.
According to Noorani, the series of large-scale raids in New Bedford and other parts of the country caused Kennedy to re-dedicate himself to immigration reform. Kennedy sponsored a bill with Sen. John McCain in 2007 that would have helped 12 million illegal immigrants get on a path to citizenship and strengthened workplace sanctions.
The bill failed. Reform advocates are gearing up for another try in 2010. They say it will be harder without Kennedy, but the senator laid the groundwork.
http://www.wbur.org/2009/08/27/kennedy-immigration
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Immigrants' Assistance Center to hold annual fundraiser
By PEGGY AULISIO
Contributing writer
August 03, 2009
NEW BEDFORD — With nearly $50,000 in state funding lost due to budget cuts, the Immigrants' Assistance Center is looking to its annual fundraiser to make up some of the loss.
"Unfortunately, this year, we're trying to stay above water," said Helena Marques, executive director of the center, which is located at 58 Crapo St. in the South End.
The fundraiser will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday at the Museum of Madeiran Heritage at 27 Hope St. Tickets are $25 and can be obtained at the center or by calling (508) 996-8113.
Marques said the center usually serves 5,000 immigrants annually but has already seen an increase of about 1,000 this year because of the recession. The center serves legal immigrants with a variety of services, including helping them become U.S. citizens. Marques said the center also lost half the funding it usually receives for its citizenship program.
"The cuts are hitting the most vulnerable population," she said.
One of the social services hurt is the HIV/substance abuse program. Its state funding from the Department of Public Health was "totally cut," Marques said. She said the state used to provide $35,000 to the HIV/substance abuse program.
Marques said New Bedford has a high incidence of HIV because of heroin use and infected needles. She said the outreach program, which includes leaving literature in bars, clubs, bakeries and fish markets near the waterfront, has been very successful over the past 10 years.
Marques said the center will discontinue the outreach but will help those who come to the center seeking assistance with drug or alcohol-related problems, including their family members.
After the federal immigration raid of illegal immigrants working at Michael Bianco Inc. in New Bedford, the center provided social services to many of their children, who are U.S. citizens, Marques said.
The center was formed in the 1970s to serve primarily Portuguese immigrants "to help overcome language, cultural and economic barriers and help them integrate," Marques said. Today, its staff has the capacity to serve immigrants speaking five different languages.
The center's fundraiser is being sponsored by Senior Whole Health, an insurance company that specializes in serving low-income seniors.
Gabriel Martinez, corporate director, said they know of the Immigrant Assistance Center because of their work in that area of New Bedford.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090803/NEWS/908030321/-1/NEWSMAP
Contributing writer
August 03, 2009
NEW BEDFORD — With nearly $50,000 in state funding lost due to budget cuts, the Immigrants' Assistance Center is looking to its annual fundraiser to make up some of the loss.
"Unfortunately, this year, we're trying to stay above water," said Helena Marques, executive director of the center, which is located at 58 Crapo St. in the South End.
The fundraiser will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday at the Museum of Madeiran Heritage at 27 Hope St. Tickets are $25 and can be obtained at the center or by calling (508) 996-8113.
Marques said the center usually serves 5,000 immigrants annually but has already seen an increase of about 1,000 this year because of the recession. The center serves legal immigrants with a variety of services, including helping them become U.S. citizens. Marques said the center also lost half the funding it usually receives for its citizenship program.
"The cuts are hitting the most vulnerable population," she said.
One of the social services hurt is the HIV/substance abuse program. Its state funding from the Department of Public Health was "totally cut," Marques said. She said the state used to provide $35,000 to the HIV/substance abuse program.
Marques said New Bedford has a high incidence of HIV because of heroin use and infected needles. She said the outreach program, which includes leaving literature in bars, clubs, bakeries and fish markets near the waterfront, has been very successful over the past 10 years.
Marques said the center will discontinue the outreach but will help those who come to the center seeking assistance with drug or alcohol-related problems, including their family members.
After the federal immigration raid of illegal immigrants working at Michael Bianco Inc. in New Bedford, the center provided social services to many of their children, who are U.S. citizens, Marques said.
The center was formed in the 1970s to serve primarily Portuguese immigrants "to help overcome language, cultural and economic barriers and help them integrate," Marques said. Today, its staff has the capacity to serve immigrants speaking five different languages.
The center's fundraiser is being sponsored by Senior Whole Health, an insurance company that specializes in serving low-income seniors.
Gabriel Martinez, corporate director, said they know of the Immigrant Assistance Center because of their work in that area of New Bedford.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090803/NEWS/908030321/-1/NEWSMAP
Monday, July 27, 2009
Guatemala diplomat visits New Bedford
By BECKY W. EVANS
South Coast Today
July 23, 2009
NEW BEDFORD — Guatemala's vice minister of foreign relations discussed immigration issues with leaders of the city's Mayan immigrant community on Wednesday.
Ambassador Miguel Angel Ibarra, who is traveling throughout the United States, said he and Carlos Escobedo, counsel general for Guatemala in Providence, made a stop in New Bedford due to the nearly 5,000 Mayan Guatemalans who live here, many of them undocumented.
Ibarra said Guatemala and its Central American neighbors are lobbying the U.S. government for comprehensive immigration reform.
"We are asking Congress to stop raids and deportations and to avoid the separation of families," he said in Spanish through an interpreter.
After dining at Antonio's Restaurant in the North End, Ibarra met with members of Organization Maya K'iche, an advocacy group for Mayan immigrants.
Anibal Lucas, director of the group, said he hoped the ambassador will help find support for immigrants.
"I also hope Mr. Obama understands our situation," Lucas said.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090723/NEWS/907230345/-1/NEWSMAP
South Coast Today
July 23, 2009
NEW BEDFORD — Guatemala's vice minister of foreign relations discussed immigration issues with leaders of the city's Mayan immigrant community on Wednesday.
Ambassador Miguel Angel Ibarra, who is traveling throughout the United States, said he and Carlos Escobedo, counsel general for Guatemala in Providence, made a stop in New Bedford due to the nearly 5,000 Mayan Guatemalans who live here, many of them undocumented.
Ibarra said Guatemala and its Central American neighbors are lobbying the U.S. government for comprehensive immigration reform.
"We are asking Congress to stop raids and deportations and to avoid the separation of families," he said in Spanish through an interpreter.
After dining at Antonio's Restaurant in the North End, Ibarra met with members of Organization Maya K'iche, an advocacy group for Mayan immigrants.
Anibal Lucas, director of the group, said he hoped the ambassador will help find support for immigrants.
"I also hope Mr. Obama understands our situation," Lucas said.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090723/NEWS/907230345/-1/NEWSMAP
Monday, June 1, 2009
Factory that was site of '07 customs raid to shut
The Associated Press
May 30, 2009
NEW BEDFORD - A leather-goods factory raided in 2007 by US immigration agents will close its doors by July 31, the company that owns the plant said yesterday.
Alliant Techsystems, a Minneapolis-based military contractor, said in a statement that the factory was operating well below capacity and that the closure is part of a consolidation plan of its wholly owned subsidiary, Eagle Industries Inc.
US Representative Barney Frank called the closure "absolute corporate savagery" and said it made ATK "unfit" to continue as a US contractor. "To buy a company solely for the purpose of closing it down, presumably to eliminate a competitor, is irresponsibility of the worst sort," Frank said.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/05/30/factory_that_was_site_of_07_customs_raid_to_shut/
May 30, 2009
NEW BEDFORD - A leather-goods factory raided in 2007 by US immigration agents will close its doors by July 31, the company that owns the plant said yesterday.
Alliant Techsystems, a Minneapolis-based military contractor, said in a statement that the factory was operating well below capacity and that the closure is part of a consolidation plan of its wholly owned subsidiary, Eagle Industries Inc.
US Representative Barney Frank called the closure "absolute corporate savagery" and said it made ATK "unfit" to continue as a US contractor. "To buy a company solely for the purpose of closing it down, presumably to eliminate a competitor, is irresponsibility of the worst sort," Frank said.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/05/30/factory_that_was_site_of_07_customs_raid_to_shut/
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Effects felt 2 years after raid on US warehouse
Effects felt 2 years after raid on US warehouse
Associated Press/Taiwan News
March 8, 2009
It's been two years since federal immigration agents raided a leather-goods factory and U.S. military supplier and arrested nearly 400 workers suspected of being in the country illegally. But immigrant advocates say the effects on the community still can be felt.
Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said some cases from the raid remain unsolved and some families aren't sure if they will be split up permanently because of deportations.
"There's a general fear that's spread in the community," Millona said.
In March 2007, federal agents raided Michael Bianco Inc., in New Bedford, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) south of Boston, and arrested 361 workers, most of whom were from Central America.
Michael Bianco had 85 employees in 2002, when it began winning bids to supply gear to the military. It was up to 325 workers in 2004, when it landed an $82 million contract to make vests and backpacks for the Pentagon's purchasing arm.
Federal officials said the company's rapid growth was on the backs of illegal immigrants, and they arrested its owner and top managers.
As of last week, 168 of the arrested workers had been deported, and 116 were awaiting court rulings. Meanwhile, 26 had received deportation orders, and 16 had their residency changed to legal status. The statuses of other cases were unclear.
Immigrant advocates criticized the raid for separating families and leaving children without proper care. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the raid was properly handled.
In January, factory owner Francesco Insolia was sentenced to a year in prison for harboring and concealing illegal immigrants. The company was ordered to pay $1 million for 18 counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants between 2004 and late 2006.
Insolia's attorney, Frank Libby Jr., said the nation's immigration enforcement puts too much pressure on employers.
"It's left at the employers' door _ the one and only point where the country's immigration policies are supposed to be enforced," he said.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=886254&lang=eng_news
Associated Press/Taiwan News
March 8, 2009
It's been two years since federal immigration agents raided a leather-goods factory and U.S. military supplier and arrested nearly 400 workers suspected of being in the country illegally. But immigrant advocates say the effects on the community still can be felt.
Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said some cases from the raid remain unsolved and some families aren't sure if they will be split up permanently because of deportations.
"There's a general fear that's spread in the community," Millona said.
In March 2007, federal agents raided Michael Bianco Inc., in New Bedford, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) south of Boston, and arrested 361 workers, most of whom were from Central America.
Michael Bianco had 85 employees in 2002, when it began winning bids to supply gear to the military. It was up to 325 workers in 2004, when it landed an $82 million contract to make vests and backpacks for the Pentagon's purchasing arm.
Federal officials said the company's rapid growth was on the backs of illegal immigrants, and they arrested its owner and top managers.
As of last week, 168 of the arrested workers had been deported, and 116 were awaiting court rulings. Meanwhile, 26 had received deportation orders, and 16 had their residency changed to legal status. The statuses of other cases were unclear.
Immigrant advocates criticized the raid for separating families and leaving children without proper care. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the raid was properly handled.
In January, factory owner Francesco Insolia was sentenced to a year in prison for harboring and concealing illegal immigrants. The company was ordered to pay $1 million for 18 counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants between 2004 and late 2006.
Insolia's attorney, Frank Libby Jr., said the nation's immigration enforcement puts too much pressure on employers.
"It's left at the employers' door _ the one and only point where the country's immigration policies are supposed to be enforced," he said.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=886254&lang=eng_news
Friday, March 6, 2009
Two years after raid, Bianco workers' lives in limbo
Two years after raid, Bianco workers' lives in limbo
By BECKY W. EVANS
revans@s-t.com
March 06, 2009
Southcoast Today
NEW BEDFORD — Life has changed a lot for Elsy Hernandez in the two years since she was detained in a federal immigration raid and sent to a Texas prison for working illegally at the Michael Bianco Inc. factory.
The 29-year-old Honduran immigrant now has a legal work permit and a driver's license.
"I can go to any company and ask for a job without being afraid," she said through a Spanish interpreter.
But life isn't perfect. Like others suffering from the economic downturn, she is unemployed and looking for a job.
She and her former co-workers drained their savings accounts in the aftermath of the Bianco raid, using the money to post bail and pay rent and utilities while they were fighting their immigration cases in court and unable to work.
Hernandez carries dark memories from the March 6, 2007, raid, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stormed the Bianco military equipment factory and arrested 361 undocumented workers, many of them Central American women whose children were stranded at day care or with baby-sitters.
Hernandez, who has no children, said she "suffered a lot" during her monthlong stay at an ICE detention facility in Los Fresnos, Texas. She is grateful to the lawyers, psychologists and philanthropists who have helped her stitch her life back together. Slowly.
"It's very hard to be stable again," she said.
STATUS UPDATE
Hernandez is among only a handful of former Bianco workers whose cases have been resolved. In May 2008, she was granted temporary protected status, a special designation allowing her to temporarily live and work in the United States. Hondurans received the protective status in 1998 following Hurricane Mitch. The designation has been extended through July 2010.
In November, ICE reported that of the 361 Bianco workers arrested in the raid, approximately 168 were deported to their home countries, 116 of the workers were awaiting a court ruling on deportation, 26 had received final deportation orders and would be sent to their home countries, and 16 had their residency changed to legal status. The exact status of another 35 cases in the system was unclear.
ICE officials failed to respond to repeated attempts made by The Standard-Times over the past two weeks to get updated figures on the status of Bianco workers.
The majority of the workers who were released from detention are still fighting their cases in U.S. immigration court, according to attorneys from Greater Boston Legal Services. More than 100 of those cases are being fought by lawyers from GBLS and Catholic Social Services. Both legal advocacy groups have provided free legal counsel to raid victims.
The lawyers have won a handful of cases and to date, none of their clients have been deported, said GBLS attorney John Willshire Carrera. Four workers are on the path to permanent legal residency, while another two have won temporary legal status to live and work in this country. Five other workers are filing for a U-visa, which grants temporary legal status to victims of violent crimes who cooperate with police.
Carrera estimated that it will be another year and a half before all the outstanding Bianco cases are resolved. If any of the decisions are appealed, it could take longer, he said.
LIVING IN LIMBO
Catholic Social Services attorney Ondine Galvez Sniffin said life will continue "to be very hard" for the Bianco workers, who have been living in limbo for the past two years.
"Families are just kind of waiting to get a resolution of their case," said Corinn Williams, director of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts. "They keep fighting to stay and build a life here. Their children are two years older and are now in the school system."
One group of workers must travel to Burlington at least once a month to check in with ICE officials, while another group is required to report to ICE through an automated telephone number. Since many do not drive, they rely on transportation provided by immigrant advocacy groups.
While they wait for their cases to be resolved, the Bianco workers are not authorized to work. Jobs for undocumented workers are increasingly hard to find.
"The way the economy is now and the anti-immigrant attitude of some people means (business owners) are not likely to give workers jobs without proper identification," Sniffin said.
Families affected by the raid have received financial assistance over the past two years from the Ninos Fund, which is supported through private donations and managed by the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts.
Fund managers have released an additional $45,000 in funding for housing assistance and food due to the worsening economy, said foundation president Craig Dutra. But he warned that the fund, which has raised a total of $185,000 since its establishment days after the Bianco raid, "is getting small."
Hernandez said financial assistance from the New Bedford community and beyond is one of the things that has helped keep hope alive for raid victims.
"With the blessing of God, we're getting better," she said. "Little by little, we're doing it."
INSOLIA SENTENCE
Former Bianco owner Francesco Insolia is expected to "self report" to federal authorities today to begin serving his sentence of 12 months and one day in federal prison. His sentencing includes three years of supervised release and payment of a $30,000 fine for helping to harbor and conceal illegal immigrants.
Insolia pleaded guilty in November to his role in employing illegal immigrants at the South End leather factory, which had won Department of Defense contracts to manufacture military vests and other equipment for U.S. troops fighting overseas.
Also in November, Michael Bianco Inc. pleaded guilty to 18 counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine. In a separate settlement agreement for a class action lawsuit, the company committed to paying $850,000 in unpaid overtime and wages to more than 750 workers.
Some Bianco workers on Sunday received the first settlement checks, ranging from less than $20 to $6,000 based on how much overtime they had worked. Hernandez received a check for about $3,500.
"We are very thankful for this," she said. "This fight was not a waste of time. They paid us what we were supposed to be paid. We won."
In a letter to new Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., wrote that he was "pleased that the owner of the Bianco factory was finally incarcerated for his crimes and some of the Bianco employees have received restitution. Sadly, there are families that will never be able to recover financially or emotionally from the ICE raid."
STILL TRAUMATIZED
UMass Dartmouth anthropology professor Lisa Maya Knauer has been studying the city's Central American immigrant community since the Bianco raid. Her interviews with Salvadoran and Mayan workers have revealed that the impact of the raid varies by individual.
"There are people for whom it is still really traumatic and a lot of people who have more or less taken it in stride," she said. "Some people are still pretty kind of shell-shocked."
Williams described the daily life of raid victims as "a continuing nightmare."
"When you speak to people who were detained and who were separated from their children and sent to Texas, you realize it is an ongoing trauma... I am convinced it is very tough for these families to put it all behind them and move forward," she said.
Sniffin explained how the process of filing for asylum has forced some of the Bianco workers to relive trauma they suffered earlier in life as victims of civil war in their home countries.
"Their survival depends on past horrors they have suffered," she said.
Knauer said she is most surprised by how the workers interpreted the raid as a sign of deep, personal rejection.
"They see it as, you, America, don't want me here," she said.
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Ken Pittman, a conservative talk radio host on WBSM-AM in Fairhaven, said he doesn't feel sympathy for the Bianco workers because they have made a conscious choice to stay in the country after they broke the law to get here.
"I'm glad they got their money; they worked for it," he said of the settlement checks. "Whether or not they should have had jobs in the first place is another story."
He said he would like to see Congress and the Obama administration develop comprehensive immigration reform that is strong on enforcement and "sensible, quick and efficient" in processing applications from those who want to enter the country legally.
Sniffin said she is looking for reform that will give her clients "a fairer shot at the American dream."
"They are entitled at a fair shot, but right now, with what's on the books, they do not get one," she said.
New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang said President Barack Obama and Congress need to develop a system "that has some sort of pathway for legal status for these individuals." He said their first step should be requiring all illegal immigrants to register so they come out of the shadows. The next step would be for both Republican and Democratic leaders to "pound out a bill that has a practical application for cities and towns ... so we can then implement the program," he said.
Reflecting on how the raid had impacted New Bedford, Mayor Lang said it highlighted both the charity and diversity of the city's residents.
"People regardless of their position on immigration reform stepped forward to try to help the families of the individuals who were detained. ... New Bedford is much more aware of who lives in our city and how they form part of the fabric of our city," he said.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090306/NEWS/903060344
By BECKY W. EVANS
revans@s-t.com
March 06, 2009
Southcoast Today
NEW BEDFORD — Life has changed a lot for Elsy Hernandez in the two years since she was detained in a federal immigration raid and sent to a Texas prison for working illegally at the Michael Bianco Inc. factory.
The 29-year-old Honduran immigrant now has a legal work permit and a driver's license.
"I can go to any company and ask for a job without being afraid," she said through a Spanish interpreter.
But life isn't perfect. Like others suffering from the economic downturn, she is unemployed and looking for a job.
She and her former co-workers drained their savings accounts in the aftermath of the Bianco raid, using the money to post bail and pay rent and utilities while they were fighting their immigration cases in court and unable to work.
Hernandez carries dark memories from the March 6, 2007, raid, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stormed the Bianco military equipment factory and arrested 361 undocumented workers, many of them Central American women whose children were stranded at day care or with baby-sitters.
Hernandez, who has no children, said she "suffered a lot" during her monthlong stay at an ICE detention facility in Los Fresnos, Texas. She is grateful to the lawyers, psychologists and philanthropists who have helped her stitch her life back together. Slowly.
"It's very hard to be stable again," she said.
STATUS UPDATE
Hernandez is among only a handful of former Bianco workers whose cases have been resolved. In May 2008, she was granted temporary protected status, a special designation allowing her to temporarily live and work in the United States. Hondurans received the protective status in 1998 following Hurricane Mitch. The designation has been extended through July 2010.
In November, ICE reported that of the 361 Bianco workers arrested in the raid, approximately 168 were deported to their home countries, 116 of the workers were awaiting a court ruling on deportation, 26 had received final deportation orders and would be sent to their home countries, and 16 had their residency changed to legal status. The exact status of another 35 cases in the system was unclear.
ICE officials failed to respond to repeated attempts made by The Standard-Times over the past two weeks to get updated figures on the status of Bianco workers.
The majority of the workers who were released from detention are still fighting their cases in U.S. immigration court, according to attorneys from Greater Boston Legal Services. More than 100 of those cases are being fought by lawyers from GBLS and Catholic Social Services. Both legal advocacy groups have provided free legal counsel to raid victims.
The lawyers have won a handful of cases and to date, none of their clients have been deported, said GBLS attorney John Willshire Carrera. Four workers are on the path to permanent legal residency, while another two have won temporary legal status to live and work in this country. Five other workers are filing for a U-visa, which grants temporary legal status to victims of violent crimes who cooperate with police.
Carrera estimated that it will be another year and a half before all the outstanding Bianco cases are resolved. If any of the decisions are appealed, it could take longer, he said.
LIVING IN LIMBO
Catholic Social Services attorney Ondine Galvez Sniffin said life will continue "to be very hard" for the Bianco workers, who have been living in limbo for the past two years.
"Families are just kind of waiting to get a resolution of their case," said Corinn Williams, director of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts. "They keep fighting to stay and build a life here. Their children are two years older and are now in the school system."
One group of workers must travel to Burlington at least once a month to check in with ICE officials, while another group is required to report to ICE through an automated telephone number. Since many do not drive, they rely on transportation provided by immigrant advocacy groups.
While they wait for their cases to be resolved, the Bianco workers are not authorized to work. Jobs for undocumented workers are increasingly hard to find.
"The way the economy is now and the anti-immigrant attitude of some people means (business owners) are not likely to give workers jobs without proper identification," Sniffin said.
Families affected by the raid have received financial assistance over the past two years from the Ninos Fund, which is supported through private donations and managed by the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts.
Fund managers have released an additional $45,000 in funding for housing assistance and food due to the worsening economy, said foundation president Craig Dutra. But he warned that the fund, which has raised a total of $185,000 since its establishment days after the Bianco raid, "is getting small."
Hernandez said financial assistance from the New Bedford community and beyond is one of the things that has helped keep hope alive for raid victims.
"With the blessing of God, we're getting better," she said. "Little by little, we're doing it."
INSOLIA SENTENCE
Former Bianco owner Francesco Insolia is expected to "self report" to federal authorities today to begin serving his sentence of 12 months and one day in federal prison. His sentencing includes three years of supervised release and payment of a $30,000 fine for helping to harbor and conceal illegal immigrants.
Insolia pleaded guilty in November to his role in employing illegal immigrants at the South End leather factory, which had won Department of Defense contracts to manufacture military vests and other equipment for U.S. troops fighting overseas.
Also in November, Michael Bianco Inc. pleaded guilty to 18 counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine. In a separate settlement agreement for a class action lawsuit, the company committed to paying $850,000 in unpaid overtime and wages to more than 750 workers.
Some Bianco workers on Sunday received the first settlement checks, ranging from less than $20 to $6,000 based on how much overtime they had worked. Hernandez received a check for about $3,500.
"We are very thankful for this," she said. "This fight was not a waste of time. They paid us what we were supposed to be paid. We won."
In a letter to new Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., wrote that he was "pleased that the owner of the Bianco factory was finally incarcerated for his crimes and some of the Bianco employees have received restitution. Sadly, there are families that will never be able to recover financially or emotionally from the ICE raid."
STILL TRAUMATIZED
UMass Dartmouth anthropology professor Lisa Maya Knauer has been studying the city's Central American immigrant community since the Bianco raid. Her interviews with Salvadoran and Mayan workers have revealed that the impact of the raid varies by individual.
"There are people for whom it is still really traumatic and a lot of people who have more or less taken it in stride," she said. "Some people are still pretty kind of shell-shocked."
Williams described the daily life of raid victims as "a continuing nightmare."
"When you speak to people who were detained and who were separated from their children and sent to Texas, you realize it is an ongoing trauma... I am convinced it is very tough for these families to put it all behind them and move forward," she said.
Sniffin explained how the process of filing for asylum has forced some of the Bianco workers to relive trauma they suffered earlier in life as victims of civil war in their home countries.
"Their survival depends on past horrors they have suffered," she said.
Knauer said she is most surprised by how the workers interpreted the raid as a sign of deep, personal rejection.
"They see it as, you, America, don't want me here," she said.
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Ken Pittman, a conservative talk radio host on WBSM-AM in Fairhaven, said he doesn't feel sympathy for the Bianco workers because they have made a conscious choice to stay in the country after they broke the law to get here.
"I'm glad they got their money; they worked for it," he said of the settlement checks. "Whether or not they should have had jobs in the first place is another story."
He said he would like to see Congress and the Obama administration develop comprehensive immigration reform that is strong on enforcement and "sensible, quick and efficient" in processing applications from those who want to enter the country legally.
Sniffin said she is looking for reform that will give her clients "a fairer shot at the American dream."
"They are entitled at a fair shot, but right now, with what's on the books, they do not get one," she said.
New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang said President Barack Obama and Congress need to develop a system "that has some sort of pathway for legal status for these individuals." He said their first step should be requiring all illegal immigrants to register so they come out of the shadows. The next step would be for both Republican and Democratic leaders to "pound out a bill that has a practical application for cities and towns ... so we can then implement the program," he said.
Reflecting on how the raid had impacted New Bedford, Mayor Lang said it highlighted both the charity and diversity of the city's residents.
"People regardless of their position on immigration reform stepped forward to try to help the families of the individuals who were detained. ... New Bedford is much more aware of who lives in our city and how they form part of the fabric of our city," he said.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090306/NEWS/903060344
Friday, January 30, 2009
Mass. factory owner sentenced in immigration case
Mass. factory owner sentenced in immigration case
The Boston Globe
January 27, 2009
BOSTON --The president of a New Bedford leather-goods factory that was raided in 2007 by immigration agents was sentenced Tuesday to 12 months in federal prison for harboring and concealing illegal immigrants.
Francesco Insolia, the owner of Michael Bianco Inc., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock after Insolia agreed in November to plead guilty.
Michael Bianco Inc. was also ordered to pay $1 million for 18 specific counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants between 2004 and late 2006.
Insolia told Woodlock he took full responsibility for not taking any action after being informed he had illegal immigrants working in his factory.
"I'm responsible for the conduct," Insolia said, while more than 30 emotional supporters listened. "Never in my worst nightmare would I think I'd find myself in the position I am in today."
In March 2007, federal authorities raided the Michael Bianco factory and arrested 361 workers, most of whom were from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
Immigrant advocates criticized the March 2007 raid for separating families and leaving children without proper care. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the raid was properly handled.
The company was sold to Eagle Industries of Fenton, Mo., more than a year ago.
Woodlock said he received an "extraordinary group of letters" from Insolia's supporters -- including former Latino employees -- who praised the Sicilian-born Insolia as a boss and for his community work.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/01/27/mass_factory_owner_sentenced_in_immigration_case/
The Boston Globe
January 27, 2009
BOSTON --The president of a New Bedford leather-goods factory that was raided in 2007 by immigration agents was sentenced Tuesday to 12 months in federal prison for harboring and concealing illegal immigrants.
Francesco Insolia, the owner of Michael Bianco Inc., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock after Insolia agreed in November to plead guilty.
Michael Bianco Inc. was also ordered to pay $1 million for 18 specific counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants between 2004 and late 2006.
Insolia told Woodlock he took full responsibility for not taking any action after being informed he had illegal immigrants working in his factory.
"I'm responsible for the conduct," Insolia said, while more than 30 emotional supporters listened. "Never in my worst nightmare would I think I'd find myself in the position I am in today."
In March 2007, federal authorities raided the Michael Bianco factory and arrested 361 workers, most of whom were from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
Immigrant advocates criticized the March 2007 raid for separating families and leaving children without proper care. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the raid was properly handled.
The company was sold to Eagle Industries of Fenton, Mo., more than a year ago.
Woodlock said he received an "extraordinary group of letters" from Insolia's supporters -- including former Latino employees -- who praised the Sicilian-born Insolia as a boss and for his community work.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/01/27/mass_factory_owner_sentenced_in_immigration_case/
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Immigrant mothers of infants not being deported
Immigrant mothers of infants not being deported
By Liz Mineo/Daily News staff
MetroWest Daily News
Posted Dec 14, 2008
Two women who were arrested on Immigration and Customs Enforcement warrants nearly two weeks ago and then released on court supervision may be examples of new guidelines by the agency for identifying humanitarian concerns when arresting illegal immigrants.
The women, Flaviane Aldria Levindo-Morais, 23, and Estael Fernandes Gomes, 29, are mothers of infant children, according to sources close to them. Neither Levindo-Morais nor Gomes could be reached for comment. Nobody answered when a visitor knocked on their residences' doors in downtown Framingham Wednesday afternoon.
Both women were released from ICE custody on orders of supervision a few hours after their arrests, said Paula Grenier, a spokesman with ICE in Boston. In most cases, people arrested on ICE warrants are taken into ICE custody and placed in detention centers while they wait to be deported.
Citing confidentiality issues, Grenier said she couldn't comment on the reasons or the conditions of the release of both Levindo-Morais and Gomes. They are not wearing electronic monitoring devices, she said, but they have to abide by conditions set by ICE.
"It'd be inappropriate for ICE to give specific details on the conditions that allowed them to be released from ICE custody," said Grenier. "But they're required to abide by those conditions."
Both Levindo-Morais and Gomes had been ordered deported by an immigration judge and had stayed in the country in violation of those order of removals, said Grenier. Because they had already been deported, they don't face deportation proceedings, but impending removal.
"The next step is removal," she said. "The bottom line is that they were ordered removed, and ICE's job is to carry out the judge's orders."
As to whether the women were released on humanitarian concerns, Grenier declined to comment.
Everybody who is taken into custody has the opportunity to raise those concerns to ICE officers, she said, and ICE officers take those concerns seriously regardless of the gender of those arrested, she said.
According to immigrant advocates, that wasn't always the case.
"Before the New Bedford raids, ICE agents would arrest people without checking on whether they had young children," said Fausto da Rocha, who runs the Brazilian Immigrant Center in Allston. "After the New Bedford raids, ICE agents became more human."
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x433389159/Immigrant-mothers-of-infants-not-being-deported
By Liz Mineo/Daily News staff
MetroWest Daily News
Posted Dec 14, 2008
Two women who were arrested on Immigration and Customs Enforcement warrants nearly two weeks ago and then released on court supervision may be examples of new guidelines by the agency for identifying humanitarian concerns when arresting illegal immigrants.
The women, Flaviane Aldria Levindo-Morais, 23, and Estael Fernandes Gomes, 29, are mothers of infant children, according to sources close to them. Neither Levindo-Morais nor Gomes could be reached for comment. Nobody answered when a visitor knocked on their residences' doors in downtown Framingham Wednesday afternoon.
Both women were released from ICE custody on orders of supervision a few hours after their arrests, said Paula Grenier, a spokesman with ICE in Boston. In most cases, people arrested on ICE warrants are taken into ICE custody and placed in detention centers while they wait to be deported.
Citing confidentiality issues, Grenier said she couldn't comment on the reasons or the conditions of the release of both Levindo-Morais and Gomes. They are not wearing electronic monitoring devices, she said, but they have to abide by conditions set by ICE.
"It'd be inappropriate for ICE to give specific details on the conditions that allowed them to be released from ICE custody," said Grenier. "But they're required to abide by those conditions."
Both Levindo-Morais and Gomes had been ordered deported by an immigration judge and had stayed in the country in violation of those order of removals, said Grenier. Because they had already been deported, they don't face deportation proceedings, but impending removal.
"The next step is removal," she said. "The bottom line is that they were ordered removed, and ICE's job is to carry out the judge's orders."
As to whether the women were released on humanitarian concerns, Grenier declined to comment.
Everybody who is taken into custody has the opportunity to raise those concerns to ICE officers, she said, and ICE officers take those concerns seriously regardless of the gender of those arrested, she said.
According to immigrant advocates, that wasn't always the case.
"Before the New Bedford raids, ICE agents would arrest people without checking on whether they had young children," said Fausto da Rocha, who runs the Brazilian Immigrant Center in Allston. "After the New Bedford raids, ICE agents became more human."
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x433389159/Immigrant-mothers-of-infants-not-being-deported
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Massachusetts: Plea Deal in Raid Case
Massachusetts: Plea Deal in Raid Case
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 4, 2008
National Briefing New England
The owner of a New Bedford leather-goods factory that was raided last year by immigration agents has pleaded guilty to harboring and concealing illegal immigrants.
The owner of Michael Bianco Inc., Francesco Insolia, was charged with conspiring to induce illegal immigrants to live in the United States and conspiring to hire illegal immigrants.
As part of a deal with prosecutors, Mr. Insolia agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of harboring and concealing immigrants. The company also pleaded guilty to 18 counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants from early 2004 to late 2006. It has agreed to pay a fine of about $1.5 million and pay about $460,000 in restitution for overtime owed to employees.
Mr. Insolia faces 12 to 18 months in prison and has agreed to pay a fine of $30,000. In March 2007, the federal authorities arrested 361 workers at the company.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/us/04brfs-003.html
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 4, 2008
National Briefing New England
The owner of a New Bedford leather-goods factory that was raided last year by immigration agents has pleaded guilty to harboring and concealing illegal immigrants.
The owner of Michael Bianco Inc., Francesco Insolia, was charged with conspiring to induce illegal immigrants to live in the United States and conspiring to hire illegal immigrants.
As part of a deal with prosecutors, Mr. Insolia agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of harboring and concealing immigrants. The company also pleaded guilty to 18 counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants from early 2004 to late 2006. It has agreed to pay a fine of about $1.5 million and pay about $460,000 in restitution for overtime owed to employees.
Mr. Insolia faces 12 to 18 months in prison and has agreed to pay a fine of $30,000. In March 2007, the federal authorities arrested 361 workers at the company.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/us/04brfs-003.html
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