tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18176747458723651942024-03-06T12:01:07.265-08:00Immigration News BriefsImmigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New
York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. INB is also
distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com for info. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe.Immigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-29446804732390800342010-02-11T13:09:00.000-08:002010-02-11T13:13:35.307-08:00Notice to Immigration News Briefs subscribersUnfortunately, because of constraints on my time and priorities, I have had to stop producing Immigration News Briefs.<br /><br />I encourage you to subscribe to the Immigrant Action listserve, featuring news, information and announcements in support of action for immigrant rights in the United States, at<br /><a href="https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/immigrantaction">https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/immigrantaction</a>.<br /><br />Immigrant Action messages are also posted at <a href="http://immigrantaction.blogspot.com">http://immigrantaction.blogspot.com</a><br /><br />Back issues of Immigration News Briefs from 2006-2008 and into January 2009 will remain posted here at <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com">http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com</a><br /><br />(If you are interested in volunteering to get prior back issues of INB--dating back to 1998--on the INB blog site, let me know.)<br /><br />Thanks for your interest and support.<br /><br />- Jane Guskin, Immigration News Briefs editorImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-85405488915453625112009-03-15T13:00:00.001-07:002009-03-15T13:02:55.916-07:00INB on hiatusINB editor Jane Guskin has unfortunately been too busy with other projects to continue putting out Immigration News Briefs on a regular schedule. We hope to resume publication later this year. Apologies and thanks for your support.Immigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-37896833671888291352009-01-17T18:16:00.000-08:002009-01-17T18:47:53.783-08:00INB 1/17/09: Uprising Quelled in Arizona Prison; Fugitive Raids in Dallas, MiamiImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 12, No. 1 - January 17, 2009<br /><br />1. Uprising Quelled in Arizona Prison<br />2. Fugitive Raids in Dallas, Miami; ICE Abuses Protested<br />3. Pallet Company IFCO Settles Criminal Case<br />4. Restaurant Owners Sentenced in Kentucky, DC<br />5. Attorney General Limits Appeals<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. UPRISING QUELLED IN ARIZONA PRISON<br /><br />On Dec. 31, immigration detainees jailed in the South Special Housing Unit at Eloy Detention Center in Eloy, Arizona, began throwing furniture at prison staff and causing property damage in the unit, according to a Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) press release cited in a local news report. At the time of the incident, there were approximately 34 detainees assigned to the Special Housing Unit. According to the news report, staff used chemical agents against the detainees to force them back into their cells. Jail officials placed the entire facility on lockdown status, meaning that detainees were restricted to their cells until further notice.<br /> <br />The Eloy Detention Center is a 1,500-bed facility owned and operated by CCA, the largest private for-profit prison company in the US. CCA contracts with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to house immigration detainees. ICE officials were on site at the facility at the time of the incident. "We would commend CCA for their professionalism in getting a handle on the situation very quickly, and preventing something more serious from happening," said ICE Public Affairs Officer Vincent Picard.<br /><br />Surrounding CCA facilities were called to assist during the incident and the Eloy Police Department and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) personnel were notified. According to Eloy paramedics who arrived on the scene with two ambulances, only one officer was reportedly injured; he was treated at CCA's Saguaro facility for a bump on the head, and sent to Casa Grande Regional Hospital as a precautionary measure. [<a href="http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20233041">Casa Grande Valley Newspapers 1/2/09</a>, <a href="http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20236619">1/7/09</a>]<br /><br />*2. FUGITIVE RAIDS IN DALLAS, MIAMI; ICE ABUSES PROTESTED<br /><br />From Dec. 14 to Dec. 18, ICE agents from three local fugitive operations teams arrested 84 immigrants from Costa Rica, Mexico, Nepal and Nicaragua in the Dallas, Texas metropolitan area. The arrests were made in Argyle, Arlington, Balch Springs, The Colony, Carrollton, Dallas, Denton, Duncanville, Farmers Branch, Fort Worth, Garland, Haltom City, Irving, Kennedale, Mesquite, Plano, Richardson and Rowlett. Of the total 84 people arrested, 64 reportedly had final removal orders; the other 20 were out-of-status immigrants encountered during the course of the raids. Forty of the 84 reportedly had criminal histories. ICE was assisted in the operation by the US Marshals Service, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the police departments of Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco and Grand Prairie. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0812/081219dallas.htm">ICE News Release 12/19/08</a>]<br /><br />In a five-day operation ending Dec. 23, ICE agents arrested 110 immigrants in the South Florida areas of Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa. ICE said 81 of those arrested were "fugitives" who had failed to comply with deportation orders; the other 29 were out-of-status immigrants encountered during the raids. According to ICE, 24 of the 110 people arrested had criminal histories. Most of the arrests (47) took place in Miami-Dade County; 30 arrests were in Broward County; 15 in Palm Beach County; seven in the Orlando area and 11 in Tampa. Of the total 110 people arrested, 17 were released under the Alternatives to Detention Program because they were verified to be sole caregivers of young children or had medical concerns. The other 93 people were being held in ICE custody. Those arrested came from countries including Guatemala, Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Moldova, Cuba, Bahamas, Nicaragua, Peru, Poland, Jamaica, Bangladesh, Mexico, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and The Gambia. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0812/081223miamib.htm">ICE News Release 12/23/08</a>]<br /><br />The pre-Christmas raid in South Florida followed similar ICE operations in the same area in November. At a Dec. 9 press conference, several community groups called for an investigation into ICE abuses during a Nov. 19 raid in Homestead. ICE apparently used a human trafficking investigation to obtain warrants for the Nov. 19 operation, in which the agency swept up 77 people, none of whom were charged criminally in connection with the trafficking case. In a complaint sent to R. Alexander Acosta, the US Attorney who helped ICE secure the warrants, community members said ICE agents beat at least six Guatemalan men during the raid; officials at the Broward Transitional Center, where some of those arrested were detained, were so concerned that they called for an official inquiry into the injuries. Jonathan Fried, executive director of the Homestead-based community group <a href="http://www.we-count.org/">WeCount!</a>, said a Guatemalan woman saw agents beat her husband and throw him on the floor in front of their four-year-old daughter. Witnesses also reported several incidents of ICE agents pointing guns to residents' heads, including in front of children; using excessive force in executing search warrants; and using racial profiling to detain bystanders. [<a href="http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com/2008/12/south-florida-community-demands.html">News Release from WeCount! & Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center 12/10/08</a>; <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/806518.html">Miami Herald 12/10/08</a>; <a href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/12/10/1210sexslave.html">South Florida Sun-Sentinel 12/10/08</a>; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/us/10florida.html">New York Times 12/9/08</a>] ICE announced in a Nov. 21 news release that it had arrested four "sex traffickers" and "rescued" nine "victims" on Nov. 19 while executing search warrants tied to the investigation of more than a dozen brothels and stash houses in Palm Beach and Broward counties where immigrant women were reportedly forced into prostitution. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0811/081121miami.htm">ICE News Release 11/21/08</a>] [In a Nov. 25 news release, ICE reported the arrests of 71 people from Nov. 17 to 21 as part of a "fugitive" operation in Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa--see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/11/inb-113008-raids-protested-in-minnesota.html">INB 11/30/08</a>.]<br /><br />ICE spokesperson Nicole Navas announced on Dec. 9 that the ICE agents involved in the Nov. 19 raid on the sex slave ring are under investigation for the alleged abuses. "The ICE Office of Investigations strongly denies all allegations of agent misconduct," said Navas. "However, as is routine protocol, all allegations have been forwarded to the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility for their independent review." Steve Mocsary, special agent in charge of the Office of Professional Responsibility in Plantation, Florida, said the investigation could take months. [<a href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/12/10/1210sexslave.html">Sun-Sentinel 12/10/08</a>] Advocates said the internal probe was insufficient, and called for a robust investigation by the ICE Office of Inspector General or the US Attorney's office in Miami. [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/us/10florida.html">NYT 12/9/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. PALLET COMPANY IFCO SETTLES CRIMINAL CASE<br /><br />In a settlement announced Dec. 19, federal prosecutors agreed not to pursue corporate criminal charges against IFCO Systems North America, a wood pallet recycling company headquartered in Guilderland, New York, in the suburbs of Albany. In exchange, the company admitted it had hired unauthorized immigrants and agreed to pay $20.7 million over four years, including $2.6 million in back pay and penalties for having failed to provide sufficient overtime pay to 1,700 of its workers. The company agreed to use the government's "E-Verify" screening program for all new hires, to verify the social security numbers of all current employees through the Social Security Administration (SSA), and to maintain an employee hotline to receive reports of any suspected illegalities at the company. The agreement "severely punishes IFCO for its serious immigration and employment violations; but it also allows the corporation to continue its operations, so that its lawful employees and innocent shareholders do not suffer the consequences of a business failure in this economy," said Acting US Attorney Andrew Baxter.<br /><br />On Apr. 19, 2006, ICE agents raided more than 40 IFCO Systems locations in 27 states, arresting 1,187 workers on administrative immigration charges and seven current and former managers on criminal charges of conspiring to transport, harbor and encourage unauthorized workers to reside in the US for commercial advantage and financial gain [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2006/04/inb-42206-massive-raid-reflects-new-ice.html">INB 4/22/06</a>]. Between February and December 2008, nine IFCO managers pleaded guilty to felony or misdemeanor counts relating to the case in US District Court in Albany. Four other IFCO managers are awaiting trial on felony charges. [<a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--immigrationraids1219dec19,0,4560120.story">Newsday (NY) 12/19/08</a>; <a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0812/081219albany.htm">ICE News Release 12/19/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. RESTAURANT OWNERS SENTENCED IN KENTUCKY, DC<br /><br />On Jan. 6, US District Court Judge Charles R. Simpson III of the Western District of Kentucky sentenced restaurant owner Fei Guo Tang to eight months in federal prison and three years of probation. The sentencing followed Tang's guilty plea for having knowingly employed at least 10 unauthorized immigrants for commercial advantage and financial gain. Tang was arrested on Nov. 14, 2007, when ICE agents raided his restaurant, Jumbo Buffet, in LaGrange, Kentucky, just northeast of Louisville [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2007/12/inb-12207-raids-protested-in-idaho.html">INB 12/2/07</a>]. During the raid, ICE detained six workers who were subsequently deported, and seized about $59,000 which will be forfeited to the US government. Tang is not a US citizen, and will be subject to deportation proceedings after he completes his prison sentence. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0901/090107louisville.htm">ICE News Release 1/7/09</a>]<br /><br />Francisco Solano, co-owner of the local Washington DC-area restaurant chain El Pollo Rico, was sentenced on Dec. 17 to three years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to harbor immigrants and commit money laundering, and to arranging his bank transactions to avoid reporting income. Prosecutors said Solano must forfeit $7.2 million derived from the illegal activities, including 13 bank and investment accounts and seven properties in Maryland and Virginia. According to a plea agreement, Solano concealed unauthorized immigrants in homes and businesses he and his wife owned, paying the workers in cash and accepting only cash for rent. Solano was arrested on July 12, 2007, along with three of his family members and nine employees of the family's El Pollo Rico restaurant in Wheaton, Maryland [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2007/07/inb-72207-union-rep-arrested-more-raids.html">INB 7/22/07</a>]. [<a href="http://wjz.com/local/court.restaurant.employees.2.890207.html">AP 12/18/08</a>]<br /><br />*5. ATTORNEY GENERAL LIMITS APPEALS<br /><br />In an opinion released late on Jan. 7, Attorney General Michael Mukasey wrote that "neither the Constitution nor any statutory or regulatory provision entitles an alien to a do-over if his initial removal proceeding is prejudiced by the mistakes of a privately retained lawyer." The ruling came in the case of three people ordered deported who said their cases had been hurt by attorney errors. Mukasey's ruling is binding over the immigration courts, which are part of the Department of Justice rather than the judiciary. Immigrant advocates said they expected the ruling to be challenged in federal appeals courts. Until recently the Board of Immigration Appeals, the highest review panel within the immigration system, had generally found that immigrants whose lawyers had made critical errors could seek to reopen their cases on constitutional grounds. [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/us/09immig.html">New York Times 1/8/09</a>] The Attorney General's decision, Matter of Compean, 24 I & N Dec. 710 (A.G. 2009), is available at <br /><a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/vll/intdec/vol24/3632.pdf">http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/vll/intdec/vol24/3632.pdf</a>. The American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) has a summary of the case on its website at <a href="http://www.ailf.org/lac/chdocs/bia-SumCompean.pdf">http://www.ailf.org/lac/chdocs/bia-SumCompean.pdf</a>. [<a href="http://www.ailf.org/lac/chdocs/PressRelease01809.pdf">AILF Press Release 1/8/09</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-27468625686872843512008-12-28T23:59:00.000-08:002008-12-29T04:07:44.800-08:00INB 12/28/08: Texas Detainees Protest; Raids in Idaho, Georgia, IndianaImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 30 - December 28, 2008<br /> <br />1. Texas: Detainees Protest Death, Seize Hostages <br />2. Idaho Raid Protested<br />3. Georgia Poultry Plant Raided<br />4. Indiana Oil Refinery Raided<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. TEXAS: DETAINEES PROTEST DEATH, SEIZE HOSTAGES<br /><br />On Dec. 12, some 1,300 federal prisoners staged an uprising at the privately run Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos, Texas, to demand better medical treatment after a detainee died at the facility, allegedly of natural causes. The Reeves County Detention Center has been run since 2003 by the GEO Group, based in Boca Raton, Florida, under contract with the federal government. The medium security prison holds more than 2,400 people, mainly inmates detained for immigration law violations. The uprising took place after the detainee's body was removed from the prison, Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper John Barton told the Pecos Enterprise. The prisoners set a fire in an exercise room at the facility and were evacuated to an outdoor yard, where they took two prison recreation workers hostage. The newspaper reported that firefighters had to extinguish bonfires inmates had set to keep warm overnight.<br /><br />About 30 agents from the Border Patrol's Marfa Sector were deployed to the detention center in response to the incident. The border agents arrived with an assortment of less-than-lethal weapons, an armored vehicle and support from a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air & Marine Huey helicopter. CBP used the helicopter to allow a prison official to conduct aerial surveillance of the compound. The border agents surrounded the facility and guarded the perimeter but apparently did not enter it. After about 17 hours, negotiators from the police department of Odessa, Texas managed to end the uprising and secure the release of the two hostages on the morning of Dec. 13. Barton, the DPS trooper, said there were minor injuries during the standoff; he declined to say who or how many people were hurt. Patricia Dieschler, a DPS dispatcher in Pecos, said there were no injuries to responding law enforcement officers. [<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/13/AR2008121300731.html">AP 12/13/08</a>; <a href="http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/12162008_3.xml">CBP News Release 12/16/08</a>; <a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/12/14/1214riot.html">Austin American-Statesman 12/14/08 with info from wire reports</a>]<br /><br />In other detention news, German immigrant Guido Newborough died of apparent cardiac failure at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital in Richmond on Nov. 28, a day after being transported to the hospital from the Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, Virginia, where he had been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since Feb. 19. Newborough was transported to the hospital a day after the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissed his appeal and affirmed a final order of removal against him. [Undated statement from Andrew Strait at ICE, forwarded to the Detention Watch Network listserve on 12/4/08] On Dec. 7, about 15 activists working with a group called The People United carried out a leafleting action at Farmville's annual Christmas parade, followed by a vigil at the Piedmont Regional jail, to protest Newborough's death and blast plans for a new jail in the area. [<a href="http://www.thepeopleunited.org/immigrantJustice.php?id=18">The People United website, undated, accessed 12/28/08</a>]<br /><br />On Dec. 8, ICE began transferring all 153 immigration detainees housed at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island to other jails and prisons around the Northeast. The move came without explanation, a day before a team of investigators from ICE headquarters in Washington and elsewhere was expected to arrive at the detention facility to look into the death last August of Chinese immigrant Hiu Lui Ng while he was in Wyatt custody [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/08/inb-81608-detainee-dies-in-rhode-island.html">INB 8/16/08</a>]. [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/WYATT_IMMIGRANTS_12-09-08_SFCIH2S_v19.3d53833.html">Providence Journal 12/9/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. IDAHO RAID PROTESTED<br /><br />On Dec. 4, ICE agents raided Idaho Truss & Component Co., a wood framing company in Nampa, Idaho, just west of Boise, arresting 16 of the 22 workers present. The workers, all Mexican men, were expected to be placed into deportation proceedings for administrative immigration violations. ICE's investigation began with a tip from the public, said ICE spokesperson Lorie Dankers. ICE then initiated an investigation after reviewing the employment records of individuals who were helping build military housing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, about 50 miles south of Boise. Further investigation revealed that some of the workers may have secured employment using false Social Security numbers and other counterfeit identity documents. The company had been providing information to ICE for the past several weeks, said Idaho Truss President Kendall Hoyd. ICE was assisted in the investigation by the Metro Violent Crimes and Gang Task Force based in Nampa and the US Postal Inspection Service. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0812/081204boise.htm">ICE News Release 12/4/08</a>; <a href="http://www.idahostatesman.com/235/story/594009.html">Idaho Statesman 12/5/08</a>; <a href="http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A319673">Boise Weekly 12/10/08</a>]<br /><br />On Dec. 7 about 80 people took part in a vigil at the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise to support the arrested workers and protest the raid. The vigil was organized by Idaho Community Action Network and Catholic Charities of Idaho. [<a href="http://www.kivitv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9477031">AP 12/8/08 with info from Idaho Press-Tribune</a>; <a href="http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A319673">Boise Weekly 12/10/08</a>] On Dec. 8, a group of about 30 women from Mujeres Unidas de Idaho held a lunch meeting where they grilled two federal prosecutors and Don Buechner, the ICE agent in charge of Boise, about the raid. Buechner told the group that the investigation at Idaho Truss began with an encounter with two unauthorized laborers working at Mountain Home Air Force Base. ICE also received three letters from concerned citizens alleging that Idaho Truss was firing legal workers and hiring illegal workers. "Whether or not that's true or not, that sort of got us into investigating a little further," Buechner said. [<a href="http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A319673">Boise Weekly 12/10/08</a>]<br /><br /> On Dec. 9, a federal grand jury in Boise indicted all 16 of the arrested workers on federal charges including possession of counterfeit alien registration receipt cards, misuse of Social Security numbers, and illegal entry or re-entry after deportation. Twelve of the workers immediately pleaded guilty and were sentenced to time served and returned to ICE custody for removal from the US. Three workers are scheduled to go on trial on Feb. 10, 2009 for reentry after deportation. One worker has not yet entered a plea. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0812/081212boise.htm">ICE News Release 12/12/08</a>; <a href="http://www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?S=9514193">AP 12/12/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. GEORGIA POULTRY PLANT RAIDED<br /><br />On Dec. 5, ICE agents arrested 25 workers on immigration violations in a raid on the Sanderson Farms poultry processing plant off of Highway 133 in Moultrie, Georgia, in Colquitt County. The arrested workers were from Guatemala and Mexico. Ten of the arrested workers were released because they were sole caregivers for small children. The other 25 posted bail and were released. All face deportation hearings. No action has been taken against Sanderson Farms; investigators say the company has been fully cooperative in the ongoing investigation. [<a href="http://www.moultrieobserver.com/local/local_story_344233946.html">Moultrie Observer 12/9/08</a>; <a href="http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=9473341&nav=5kZQ">WALB News 12/7/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. INDIANA OIL REFINERY RAIDED<br /><br />On Dec. 10, ICE agents arrested 15 immigrants who were employed as contract janitorial workers at the BP oil refinery in the town of Whiting in northern Indiana. ICE said the arrests stemmed from "a two-year critical infrastructure worksite enforcement investigation that is continuing." The 11 women and four men arrested on administrative immigration charges were all employed by United Building Maintenance (UBM) of Carol Stream, Illinois. One of the workers is from Guatemala; the others are from Mexico. All were expected to be placed into deportation proceedings. Each case is also being reviewed for possible criminal charges by the US Attorney's Office, Northern District of Indiana. Two former UBM employees from Mexico were arrested by ICE earlier this year after they were discovered working without authorization at the BP refinery; they are currently facing criminal prosecution in the Northern District of Indiana. "BP Corporate Security has been fully cooperative in the investigation and has provided invaluable assistance to ICE," according to an ICE news release. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0812/081210whiting.htm">ICE News Release 12/10/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-85421461005634217002008-11-30T09:40:00.000-08:002008-11-30T09:57:30.681-08:00INB 11/30/08: Raids Protested in Minnesota, MichiganImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 29 - November 30, 2008<br /> <br />1. Another South Dakota Dairy Raided<br />2. Raids Protested in Minnesota, Michigan<br />3. More "Fugitive" Raids: Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, PA, DE, NJ, NY<br />4. New Indictment in Agriprocessors Case<br />5. South Carolina Poultry Workers Plead Guilty<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. ANOTHER SOUTH DAKOTA DAIRY RAIDED<br /><br />On Nov. 21, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested five Latin American immigrant workers at a dairy farm near Hamlin County, South Dakota. According to officials from ICE and the Hamlin County Sheriff's office, four of the five workers face criminal identity theft charges for using social security numbers that were not their own to get jobs at the farm. The fifth worker, a woman, was taken into ICE custody on administrative immigration violations. Sheriff Dan Mack said the investigation began when the people tried to register vehicles with false Social Security numbers. [<a href="http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=0,76908">KELOLAND TV (Sioux Falls, SD) 11/24/08</a>; <a href="http://www.kcautv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9423155&nav=1kgl">AP 11/27/08 with info from the Watertown Public Opinion</a>] The latest raid came less than a month after an Oct. 29 operation in which ICE agents arrested 27 people at several dairy farms in northeastern South Dakota [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/11/inb-11208-youth-march-in-san-francisco.html">INB 11/2/08</a>].<br /><br />*2. RAIDS PROTESTED IN MINNESOTA, MICHIGAN<br /><br />On Oct. 24, about 60 people demonstrated in Minneapolis to protest a recent ICE sweep through southern Minnesota. The demonstration was called by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition. [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7244/724403.html">The Militant Vol. 72/No. 44, 11/10/08</a>] From Oct. 21 to 23, ICE Fugitive Operations Team members arrested 17 people in southern Minnesota's Watonwan County: 10 in the town of Madelia, five in St. James and one each in Butterfield and Lewisville. ICE also arrested two people in Windom, the county seat of neighboring Cottonwood County. Four of the 19 people arrested had been deported previously; five had prior criminal convictions. All 19 were from Latin American countries: 11 were from Mexico, six were from Honduras and one each were from Guatemala and El Salvador. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0810/081024bloomington.htm">ICE News Release 10/24/08</a>] ICE spokesperson Tim Counts said six of the 19 people arrested were "fugitives" who had failed to comply with deportation orders; the other 13 were not being sought but were encountered during the sweep. Counts said several children were among those arrested; "This was because the immigration judge had ordered the entire family deported," he explained. [<a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/10/24/ice_raid/">Minnesota Public Radio 10/24/08</a>] Witnesses to the raids saw ICE agents knocking on the doors of neighboring homes and stopping and questioning people who were not specifically being sought. [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7244/724403.html">The Militant Vol. 72/No. 44, 11/10/08</a>]<br /><br />In Lansing, Michigan, a group calling itself the No Human Is Illegal Network has formed in response to an ICE sweep that took place in October. The group seeks to educate people about how immigration raids are separating families. About 25 people gathered on Nov. 20 at the East Lansing Public Library for an event to raise awareness about the situation and also to raise money for the families affected by the raids. Immigrants "come here because they just want to work," said Maximo Anguiano, a retired Lansing firefighter and member of the No Human Is Illegal Network. "And most of them pay taxes." [<a href="http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20081121/NEWS01/811210325/1001/NEWS">Lansing State Journal 11/21/08</a>] ICE agents arrested 64 people between Oct. 17 and Oct. 20 in the Lansing area; 40 were "fugitives" who had failed to comply with deportation orders, while the other 24 were found to be present in the US without permission. [<a href="http://michiganmessenger.com/6999/immigration-raids-net-64-in-lansing">Michigan Messenger 10/24/08</a>] The raids took place at the El Azteco restaurant in East Lansing and at an apartment building where undocumented workers were living, according to an article in the Lansing City Pulse. [<a href="http://www.lansingcitypulse.com/lansing/article-2275-conociendo-nuestros-derechos.html">Lansing City Pulse 11/5/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. MORE "FUGITIVE" RAIDS: CAROLINAS, GEORGIA, FLORIDA, ARIZONA, PA, DE, NJ, NY<br /><br />In a five-day operation that ended Nov. 21, ICE agents arrested 104 people in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Among those arrested were 94 "fugitives" who had failed to comply with deportation orders. Of the 104 people arrested, 23 had prior criminal convictions. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0811/081125charlotte.htm">ICE News Release 11/25/08</a>] <br /><br />In Florida, ICE arrested 71 immigrants in a five-day operation that ended Nov. 21. Sixty were "fugitives"; 18 had criminal histories. ICE agents arrested 33 people in Miami-Dade; 17 in Broward; five in Palm Beach; seven in Orlando and nine in Tampa. ICE released 21 people under supervision as part of the Alternatives to Detention Program because they were verified to be sole caregivers or had medical concerns. The other 49 people were being detained by ICE. Those arrested came from countries including Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, Peru, Cuba, Honduras, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Jamaica, El Salvador, Bangladesh, Uruguay, and Belgium. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0811/081126miami.htm">ICE News Release 11/26/08</a>] <br /><br />Between Nov. 19 and 22, ICE agents worked with federal, state and local officials to arrest 80 people in the Prescott, Sedona and Flagstaff areas of north central Arizona. Only 14 of the 80 people arrested were "fugitives" who had ignored final deportation orders or who had returned to the US after being deported. Two of the 80 people arrested had criminal records. Most of those arrested were from Mexico; some were from Guatemala. The sweep was carried out by an interagency task force led by ICE. The other agencies participating in the raids were the US Marshals Service, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office and the Prescott Valley, Sedona and Prescott police departments. [<a href="http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/stories/Flagstaff-local-news-112408-80-arrests-ice-illegal.1e4f7aa63.html">News Release from ICE & Yavapai County Sheriff's Office 11/24/08</a>]<br /><br />From Oct. 14 to Oct. 26, ICE fugitive operations teams based in Philadelphia arrested 99 immigrants in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Only 37 of those arrested were "fugitives" who had failed to comply with deportation; 14 of them had criminal records. The other 62 people were picked up for being out of status; 27 of them had criminal records. In New Jersey during the same Oct. 14-26 period, ICE arrested 145 "fugitives" (including 65 with criminal records) and 44 out-of-status immigrants (including 22 with criminal histories). In New York City, ICE agents arrested 90 "fugitives" (including 46 with criminal histories) and six other out-of-status immigrants (all with criminal histories) over the same period. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0810/081027philadelphia.htm">ICE News Release 10/27/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. NEW INDICTMENT IN AGRIPROCESSORS CASE<br /><br />In a 12-count indictment issued Nov. 20 and unsealed Nov. 21 in US District Court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the former CEO and three managers of the Agriprocessors kosher meat company were charged with new counts in connection with the hiring of unauthorized workers at the company's plant in Postville, Iowa. The case is based on allegations that a top manager provided cash for workers to obtain false documents and that lower level supervisors helped employees get new paperwork [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/11/inb-111608-raids-protested-in-ohio-iowa.html">INB 11/16/08</a>].<br /><br />The new indictment includes three defendants who haven't previously faced federal charges in the case: operations manager Brent Beebe and poultry managers Hosam Amara and Zeev Levi. Beebe, Amara and Levi are each charged with conspiracy to harbor unauthorized immigrants for profit, harboring unauthorized immigrants for profit, conspiracy to commit document fraud and aiding and abetting document fraud. Beebe is also charged with six counts and Amara and Levi with one count each of identity theft, according to the indictment. Beebe was arrested on Nov. 21 at the Postville plant and pleaded not guilty in court the same day. Beebe's trial has been scheduled for Jan. 20, and he has been placed under travel restrictions and fitted with an electronic monitoring device that prohibit him from leaving Iowa. Warrants have been issued for Amara and Levi; their whereabouts are unknown.<br /><br />Former CEO Sholom Rubashkin is charged in the new indictment with harboring unauthorized immigrants for profit and conspiracy to commit document fraud. He was previously charged with conspiracy to harbor unauthorized immigrants for profit, aiding and abetting document fraud, six counts of aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft and two counts of bank fraud. Also included in the new indictment is human resource employee Karina Freund, who faces a new charge of conspiracy to harbor unauthorized immigrants for profit. She was previously charged with harboring. Rubashkin and Freund have a trial date set for Jan. 20. Freund has been released with an electronic monitoring device. On Nov. 20, US Magistrate Judge Jon S. Scoles ordered Rubashkin detained without bail until trial. [<a href="http://gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081121/NEWS/711219928">The Gazette (Cedar Rapids)11/21/08</a>; <a href="http://wcco.com/iowawire/22.0.html?type=local&state=IA&category=n&filename=IA--KosherSlaughterho.xml">AP 11/21/08</a>; <a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0811/081121cedarrapids.htm">ICE News Release 11/21/08</a>]<br /><br />*5. SOUTH CAROLINA POULTRY WORKERS PLEAD GUILTY<br /><br />On Nov. 19 in Greenville, South Carolina, 12 immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras pleaded guilty in federal court to immigration and identity fraud charges in connection with an federal investigation into hiring practices at the Columbia Farms poultry plant in Greenville [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/09/inb-9708-al-arian-released-flower.html">INB 9/7/08</a>, <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/10/inb-102108-south-carolina-poultry-plant.html">10/21/08</a>]. Those pleading guilty on Nov. 19 included Nain Zarate-Camarero and Victor Cruz-Soto, who were arrested outside the plant in July. Three workers who pleaded guilty on Nov. 19 to misusing social security numbers were among 331 people arrested in an Oct. 7 raid of the plant. Seven former plant workers pleaded guilty on Nov. 19 to reentering the US illegally after having been previously deported. [<a href="http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20081120/NEWS06/311200002/1001/NEWS01">Greenville News 11/20/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-33383185597833544192008-11-22T14:45:00.000-08:002008-11-22T15:42:44.117-08:00INB 11/22/08: Iowa Restaurants Raided; Colorado Tax RaidsImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 28 - November 22, 2008<br /> <br />1. Chinese Restaurants Raided in Iowa<br />2. Colorado: Local Raids Target Tax Filers<br />3. Border Patrol Raids Vermont Worksite<br />4. NJ: 33 Arrested in "Gang" Raids<br />5. "Gang" Raids in California, Wisconsin<br />6. Raided Massachusetts Firm Settles Wage Suit<br />7. McDonald's Franchise Managers Sentenced<br />8. Long Island Youths Charged in Killing of Immigrant<br />9. WA: Detention Guards Hired Without Background Checks<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. CHINESE RESTAURANTS RAIDED IN IOWA<br /> <br />On Nov. 18, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested four workers in raids on Peony Chinese Restaurants in Vinton and Toledo, Iowa. The same family owns both restaurants. Two men from Mexico were arrested at the Toledo restaurant; one man from Mexico and one from China were arrested at the Vinton restaurant. All four face administrative immigration violations for being in the country illegally, said ICE spokesperson Tim Counts from the ICE office in Minneapolis. A hearing has not yet been scheduled before a federal immigration judge to determine whether the men will be deported. Counts said the enforcement actions were part of an ongoing investigation. "A 'raid' denotes something random or chaotic--this is neither," said Counts.<br /><br />State patrol assigned three troopers to Benton and Tama Counties to help ICE. During the raid at the Peony restaurant near the Benton County Courthouse in Vinton, four Iowa State Patrol squad cars and one Vinton police car were parked outside. [<a href="http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081118/NEWS/711189930/1006">The Gazette (Cedar Rapids) 11/18/08</a>; <a href="http://media.www.dailyiowan.com/media/storage/paper599/news/2008/11/20/Metro/Immigration.Raids.Continue-3554906.shtml">Daily Iowan (University of Iowa student newspaper, Iowa City) 11/20/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. COLORADO: LOCAL RAIDS TARGET TAX FILERS<br /><br />On Nov. 12 and 13, sheriff's deputies in Weld County, Colorado arrested 13 people in "Operation Number Games," a round-up of suspects who allegedly filed tax returns using suspicious Social Security numbers. Two more suspects were arrested in the sweep on Nov. 14. The suspects were identified from information uncovered in an Oct. 17 search of Amalia's Translation and Tax Services, a business in Greeley that primarily serves immigrants. As of Nov. 14, the District Attorney's office had presented a total of 98 cases. Deputies said they were continuing to search for suspects named on warrants while they wait for a judge to act on additional warrant requests. The investigation is expected to last for a year or more, with possibly more than 1,300 arrests. Weld District Attorney Ken Buck said he believes a majority of the suspects will ultimately be charged with felony criminal impersonation rather than the more serious charge of identity theft.<br /><br />The raids follow the Aug. 13 arrest of Servando Trejo, a Mexican immigrant who had used the Social Security number of a Texas resident. Trejo told a Weld County Sheriff's Office detective that he bought the ID in Texas after he crossed the border in 1995. He used the ID to get jobs, obtain loans, get a Colorado driver's license and pay taxes, which in recent years he filed through Amalia's Translation and Tax Services. According to Trejo's arrest affidavit, Amalia Cerrillo told authorities she helped Trejo and other clients who came in with false Social Security numbers apply for Individual Tax Identification Numbers from the Internal Revenue Service, and then helped them file tax returns which typically showed both numbers. Investigators said they believe many of the people who filed returns received more money in refunds than they paid in taxes. <br /><br />Authorities obtained a search warrant for Amalia's by arguing they had probable cause to suspect more potential identity thieves had tax records on file there. The warrant only allowed them to seize 2006 and 2007 records, but in the Oct. 17 search at Amalia's the sheriff's deputies ended up seizing the tax returns of more than 4,000 people dating to 2000. "In looking there, they found other returns that violated the law, in their opinion, so that allowed them to take other returns as a result of them being in plain view," explained Buck. [<a href="http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-weld-county-cracks-down-1300-cases-suspected-identity-/2008/11/14/3789446.htm">Greeley Tribune Via Acquire Media NewsEdge 11/14/08</a>; <a href="http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20081115/NEWS/811159996/1051&ParentProfile=1001&title=New%20immigration%20rift">Greeley Tribune 11/15/08</a>] <br /><br />*3. BORDER PATROL RAIDS VERMONT WORKSITE<br /><br />On Nov. 13, Border Patrol agents arrested five immigrant workers outside the Handy Suites Hotel in Essex Junction, Vermont. The workers were staying at the hotel and working on a construction site across the street for a new Lowe's home improvement store. A Border Patrol unit showed up at the site after receiving a tip. "We encountered these five subjects in the parking lot [and] determined yes in fact they were illegal in the United States," said Special Operations Supervisor Brad Curtis. "Once they're done being processed, they'll be moved over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and they will be put in deportation proceedings," Curtis added. [<a href="http://www.fox44.net/Global/story.asp?S=9346767">WFFF News (Burlington) 11/13/08</a>] Construction workers told Channel 3 News that the five immigrants were drywall workers employed by Kal-Vin Construction of Hudson, New Hampshire. Border Patrol agents arrested 14 undocumented construction workers last October near the Lowe's construction site in South Burlington. [<a href="http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=460229&nav=menu183_18_1">WCAX News (Burlington) 11/13/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. NJ: 33 ARRESTED IN "GANG" RAIDS<br /><br />On Nov. 18, ICE agents arrested 33 people in the New Jersey towns of Butler (Morris County) and Bloomingdale (Passaic County) in a sweep targeting people whom local police suspect have been taking part in gang activity, according to ICE spokesperson Harold Ort. ICE identified 12 of the 33 people arrested as violent gang members, six of whom have criminal records in New Jersey, Ort said. The gang members belong to the Mexican Latin Kings and Sureno 13, said Ort. The 31 men and two women arrested were sent to county jails in Middlesex, Hudson and Essex counties; ICE spokesperson Michael Gilhooly said that ICE may decide to transfer them to jails in other states. All those arrested will go before an immigration judge for removal proceedings, Gilhooly said. <br /><br />"These numbers reveal that about a third of the arrests were [of alleged] gang members, and presumably the [other people arrested] were swept up in dragnets," said Bassina Farbenblum, an attorney with Seton Hall Law School's Center for Social Justice. "The fact that they are labeled by ICE as gang members doesn't necessarily mean they are gang members," she said.<br /><br />"The government has not been forthcoming with information about the raids or the policies underlying them," said Farbenblum. "We've heard so many reports of unconstitutional practices.... The public has a right to know how [the raids] are being conducted, what the priorities are, whether they're relying on accurate data or whether this is just a waste of resources." The Seton Hall Center for Social Justice filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in December 2007, asking ICE for information pertinent to New Jersey immigration arrests dating back to 2006.<br /><br />Ort said ICE and local agencies spent more than two months investigating the targeted individuals, including doing surveillance. Ort admitted that none of the suspects committed crimes during that period, and none were picked up on arrest warrants. Authorities seized $10,000 in the sweep, as well as photographs and cell phone images of suspects flashing gang signs, said Ort.<br /><br />Pastor Steven Bechtold of the Butler United Methodist Church said two of the people arrested in the raids--a man and a woman--are members of his congregation. "Both people are active church attenders who come to worship every week," Bechtold said. "They are active in our Bible study group. They volunteer around the church--sometimes it's doing outside lawn work, washing dishes for dinners. We had very positive experiences." [<a href="http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/morris/index.ssf?/base/news-5/122715821925100.xml&coll=1">Star Ledger (Newark) 11/20/08</a>]<br /><br />*5. "GANG" RAIDS IN CALIFORNIA, WISCONSIN<br /><br />On Nov. 19, a task force of more than 60 federal and local law enforcement personnel conducted a pre-dawn raid targeting gang members at 28 locations in the Newhall and Canyon Country sections of Santa Clarita, in Los Angeles County. Agencies participating in the sweep included ICE, the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff Station's Detective Bureau, the City of Santa Clarita/Sheriff's COBRA Unit and the Community Interaction Team (CIT), the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the Los Angeles County Department of Probation. A total of 21 people were arrested: four were booked on new criminal charges at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station; 15 were transported by ICE to downtown Los Angeles to face immigration proceedings; and two are being presented to the US Attorney's Office for prosecution on federal felony charges of re-entering the country after deportation. [<a href="http://www.scvtv.com/npnews/lasd111908.html">Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station Press Release 11/19/08 via SCVTV</a>; <a href="http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_11026602?nclick_check=1">Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek) 11/19/08</a>]<br /><br />On Nov. 19, federal, state and local authorities arrested 11 alleged "gang members and associates," all of them unauthorized immigrants from Mexico, in a multi-agency sweep in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Justice said the operation targeted the Surenos 13 street gang. One of the 11 immigrants was turned over to federal prosecutors to face charges of re-entering the US after having been deported. Two others were turned over to the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department to face outstanding criminal charges. ICE placed detainers on the two to ensure they are returned to ICE custody for deportation when the criminal proceedings end. The other eight people arrested are in ICE custody pending deportation. [<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-gangbust,0,4874907.story">AP 11/20/08</a>; <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-gangarrests,0,7854090.story">AP 11/21/08 from WGTD-FM</a>]<br /><br />*6. RAIDED MASSACHUSETTS FIRM SETTLES WAGE SUIT<br /><br />The manufacturing company Michael Bianco, Inc. has agreed to pay $850,000 to settle a federal class action lawsuit over unpaid overtime and wages at its former factory in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The settlement includes $613,000 in unpaid wages to be distributed to 764 workers, including some of the 361 immigrant workers who were arrested in an ICE raid at the factory on Mar. 6, 2007 [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2007/03/inb-3907-factory-raids-in-massachusetts.html">INB 3/9/07</a>]. Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), which has provided free counsel to more than 100 of the arrested workers, announced the settlement at a Nov. 18 press conference. GBLS joined with South Coastal Counties Legal Services and attorney Philip Gordon of the Gordon Law Group in filing the lawsuit last year in federal district court in Boston.<br /><br />The lawsuit charged that Bianco "systematically and intentionally violated the laws requiring time-and-a-half for overtime work by creating a sham second corporation called Front Line Defense Inc." Employees who worked more than eight hours on the same day were required to clock out of day shifts at 5pm from Michael Bianco Inc. and clock back in for evening shifts at 5:30pm with Front Line, the suit alleged. The workers received separate paychecks from Bianco and Front Line. Audrey Richardson, a senior attorney at GBLS, said workers had sought overtime before the raid, but former Bianco owner Francesco Insolia had made it "crystal clear" that he would not pay overtime. In addition to the overtime pay, the settlement requires Bianco to pay wages withheld from workers who were as little as one minute late for work, according to GBLS. The lawsuit alleged that workers were routinely docked 15 to 30 minutes of pay because they had waited in long lines to punch in for work due to an insufficient number of time clocks.<br /><br />The settlement covers the six named plaintiffs--one current and five former Bianco employees--and all employees who worked for Michael Bianco and/or Front Line Defense between 2004 and March 2007 . The US Department of Labor will supervise and administer the $613,000 in restitution payments to 764 workers, who will receive payments ranging from less than $20 to more than $8,000, depending on the length of employment at the plant and the number of overtime hours worked, said Richardson. Most workers will receive between $1,000 and $5,000. The settlement covers employees who are authorized to work and those who lack work authorization; Richardson noted that federal laws governing payment of wages and overtime cover all workers regardless of their immigration status. The six plaintiffs named in the lawsuit will receive a bonus of $2,000 each for their courage in testifying, Richardson said. <br /><br />The settlement also includes money for community groups in New Bedford that support and organize immigrant workers, and partial compensation for attorneys' fees and costs incurred by legal services groups representing the workers. GBLS and Organization Maya K'iche, a New Bedford advocacy group for Guatemalan Mayans, will assist in locating eligible workers and distributing checks. The groups have kept in touch with many of the workers who were deported and will work with family members to track down other workers, said Richardson. According to ICE, of 361 Bianco workers arrested in the raid, 168 have been deported; 116 have cases pending in immigration court; 26 have received final deportation orders; and 16 have had their legal status adjusted, allowing them to remain in the US. The situation of the other 35 workers was unclear. [<a href="http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081119/NEWS/811190357">Standard-Times (New Bedford) 11/19/08</a>; <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/11/19/raided_factory_workers_make_deal_on_owed_ot/">Boston Globe 11/19/08</a>; <a href="http://www.gbls.org/employment/bianco/bianco_press_release.htm">GBLS Press Release 11/18/08</a>]<br /><br />On Nov. 3, the US Attorney's office in Boston announced that Michael Bianco Inc. had pleaded guilty to criminal charges of hiring and harboring unauthorized immigrants, fraudulently misrepresenting social security numbers and failing to pay overtime. In the same plea agreement, Insolia, the company's president and principal shareholder, pleaded guilty to helping harbor and conceal unauthorized immigrants by allowing the company to submit false social security numbers to the government as if they were real. Insolia accepted a prison term of 12 to 18 months and a fine of $30,000. The company will have to pay a fine of approximately $1.5 million and another $460,000 in restitution for the overtime owed to employees. The restitution in the criminal case will be put toward the settlement of the class action lawsuit. On Oct. 24, Dilia Costa, production manager for Michael Bianco Inc., pleaded guilty to charges of hiring and harboring unauthorized immigrants. The company's contracts administrator, Gloria Melo, pleaded guilty on Oct. 24 to one count of continuing to employ unauthorized workers after the company had reason to know they were unauthorized.<br /><br />The criminal case against Michael Bianco Inc. was investigated by ICE with assistance from the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General, the Department of Defense's Criminal Investigative Service, the US Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General, the US Department of Labor - Employment Standards Administration, Wage and Hour Division, the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts and the US Postal Inspection Service. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0811/081103boston.htm">ICE News Release 11/3/08</a>; <a href="http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081119/NEWS/811190357">Standard-Times 11/19/08</a>; <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/11/19/raided_factory_workers_make_deal_on_owed_ot/">Boston Globe 11/19/08</a>]<br /><br />Eagle Industries Inc. purchased the former Bianco plant in New Bedford in November 2007 and took over the company's Department of Defense contracts to make military equipment for US troops. [<a href="http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081119/NEWS/811190357">Standard-Times 11/19/08</a>]<br /><br />*7. MCDONALD'S FRANCHISE MANAGERS SENTENCED<br /><br />During the week of Nov. 10, US District Court Judge James Mahan sentenced one current and one former top executive of Mack Associates Inc., a firm that owns 11 McDonald's restaurants in the Reno, Nevada area, to three years of probation each for systematically employing unauthorized immigrant workers. Jimmy Moore, the former vice president of Mack Associates, pleaded guilty to one felony count of inducing an unauthorized immigrant to remain in the US; Moore was also sentenced to 40 hours of community service. Joe Gillespie, director of operations for the firm, pleaded guilty to one felony count of aiding and abetting an alien to remain in the US. Anntoinette Richmond, the controller for Mack Associates, and Teresa Theiss, a former payroll clerk for the company, were each previously sentenced to 90 hours of community service and fined $1,000 after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count each of continuing employment of an unauthorized alien. The sentences were part of a July 16 plea agreement under which Mack Associates agreed to pay a $1 million fine and was placed on probation for one year.<br /><br />Plea agreements and documents filed in the case show that executives of Mack Associates knowingly hired unauthorized immigrants and supplied them with false identities in an effort to retain long-term employees, especially restaurant managers. Sometimes, the fake identities were of living or dead acquaintances of the firm's workers, according to the documents. Luther Mack, owner of Mack Associates, was not charged. The case came to light on Sept. 27, 2007 when ICE agents executed federal search warrants and arrested 58 immigrants working at 11 Reno area McDonald's restaurants operated by Mack Associates [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2007/12/inb-93007-ny-licenses-mcdonalds-raids.html">INB 9/30/07</a>]. At least 30 of the 58 workers arrested in that raid have since been deported. The remaining workers were provided with documentation allowing them to remain in the US pending the outcome of the criminal investigation. [<a href="http://www.rgj.com/article/20081120/NEWS01/811200346/1321/NEWS">Reno Gazette Journal 11/20/08</a>; <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS223450+16-Jul-2008+PRN20080716">US Department of Justice Press Release 7/16/08 via Reuters</a>]<br /><br />*8. LONG ISLAND YOUTHS CHARGED IN KILLING OF IMMIGRANT<br /><br />On Nov. 20, six teenagers were arraigned in Suffolk County Criminal Court on multiple counts of gang assault and hate crimes in connection with the Nov. 8 killing of Ecuadoran immigrant Marcelo Lucero in the community of Patchogue on Long Island, New York. A grand jury indictment unsealed on Nov. 20 lays out additional charges against the same defendants for earlier crimes targeting Latin American immigrants. The judge set bail for five of the youths at $250,000 cash or $500,000 bond; bail was denied to a sixth defendant who has a prior felony conviction for a 2007 burglary in which an East Patchogue man was killed. A seventh teenager, 17-year-old Jeffrey Conroy, is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 24 on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter as a hate crime; Conroy is accused of stabbing Lucero in the chest, killing him. All seven teens have pleaded not guilty in the attack on Lucero.<br /><br />One of the defendants, 17-year-old Jose Pacheco, was described by the New York Times as being half African-American and half Puerto Rican. The other six youths are white. Suffolk County district attorney Thomas J. Spota said three of the defendants--including Pacheco--went out driving five days before Lucero was killed with the intent of, in their words, "beaner hopping." They found a Hispanic man that day whom Pacheco admitted to punching and knocking out cold, Spota said. That man has not stepped forward. According to Spota, Pacheco later told the police, "I don't go out and do this very often, maybe once a week." [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/nyregion/21immigrant.html">New York Times 11/20/08</a>]<br /><br />Another defendant in the case, 17-year-old Jordan Dasch, is apparently of Jewish heritage. In his page on the social networking website MySpace, Dasch featured an image of a Jewish star with a Nazi swastika embedded in the middle, and laughingly referred to himself as a "Nazi Jew," according to information posted on the website of Long Island WINS, an immigrant rights organization that managed to download the page before it was removed from MySpace. [<a href="http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a14071/News/New_York.html">New York Jewish Week 11/22/08</a>; <a href="http://www.longislandwins.com/blog/in_the_news/hatespace_part_ii_warning_imag.php">Long Island WINS Blog Post 11/10/08</a>]<br /><br />Lucero's killing has sparked numerous vigils and protests in Long Island and beyond. More than 1,000 people gathered to honor Lucero in Patchogue on Nov. 14. [<a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-livigi1512178276nov15,0,215106.story">Newsday (LI) 11/14/08</a>] Also on Nov. 14, more than 30 people gathered with candles and signs in the community of Nanuet, in Rockland County, New York. [<a href="http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200811150230/NEWS03/811150346">Journal News (Westchester County) 11/15/08</a>] On Nov. 21, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Manhattan office of New York governor David Paterson to mourn Lucero's death and demand the resignation of Suffolk County executive Steve Levy, who is accused of stirring up hate on Long Island with his outspoken stance against undocumented immigrants. [<a href="http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/89445/city-protesters-call-for-justice-after-immigrant-s-murder/Default.aspx">NY1 News 11/22/08</a>]<br /><br />In Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, three teenagers charged in connection with the fatal beating last July of Mexican immigrant Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala appeared in court on Nov. 13 and asked Schuylkill County judge William E. Baldwin to dismiss charges against them or have them tried separately. Baldwin took the defendants' requests under advisement but did not indicate when he would rule. Schuylkill County detectives say that the three youths, along with a fourth teenager who is charged as a juvenile, yelled racial epithets as they beat Ramirez on July 12. Ramirez was hospitalized and died from his injuries on July 16. Two of the three defendants face third-degree murder charges; another is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, criminal solicitation/hindering apprehension or prosecution, ethnic intimidation, corruption of minors, purchase or consumption of alcohol by a minor and selling or furnishing alcohol to minors. All three are free on bail pending further court action. Immigrant rights groups have continued to protest and attend hearings in Shenandoah to demand justice for Ramirez. [<a href="http://republicanherald.com/articles/2008/11/14/news/local_news/pr_republican.20081114.a.pg1.pr14piekarsky_s1.2088714_top3.txt">Republican Herald (Pottsville, PA) 11/14/08</a>]<br /><br />*9. WA: DETENTION GUARDS HIRED WITHOUT BACKGROUND CHECKS<br /><br />During the week of Nov. 3, Sylvia Wong, an administrator in charge of hiring at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, pleaded guilty in federal court in Tacoma to one count of making a false statement. Wong acknowledged lying to federal investigators about her failure to perform background checks when hiring guards for the privately-run immigration jail; she is due to be sentenced in February and faces a maximum of six months in prison. <br /><br />The Northwest Detention Center opened in 2004 and holds about 1,000 people accused of immigration violations, mainly detainees from Alaska, Oregon and Washington. It is operated for profit by the Florida-based GEO Group Inc. (formerly Wackenhut). <br /><br />In her plea agreement, Wong admitted that soon after starting work in November 2005, she began hiring guards without background checks "because of the pressure she felt to get security personnel hired at the NWDC as quickly as possible." ICE auditors discovered early in 2008 that 92 security guards were hired without background checks at the Tacoma; ICE didn't catch the practice for two years, court documents show. ICE acknowledges that some of the guards were fired after subsequent background checks. ICE spokesperson Lorie Dankers refused to say how many guards were fired, but she insisted the number was small, and that the agency has now "implemented a multitiered vetting process ... so that no contractor or federal employee has sole responsibility to process and approve employment documents." [<a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008361859_immigration07.html">AP 11/7/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-38866377814304618142008-11-16T19:00:00.000-08:002008-11-16T21:28:37.253-08:00INB 11/16/08: Raids Protested in Ohio; Iowa Meat Plant Raided AgainImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 27 - November 16, 2008<br /> <br />1. Raids Protested in Ohio <br />2. Iowa Meat Plant Raided Again<br />3. Election Week Raid in Florida<br />4. NJ: Detainee Escapes, Others Moved<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. RAIDS PROTESTED IN OHIO<br /><br />On Oct. 30, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested two workers at the Casa Fiesta restaurant in Oberlin, Ohio. Two employees of the Casa Fiesta restaurant in Fremont and one employee of Casa Fiesta in Ashland were also taken into custody on Oct. 30, said ICE spokesperson Mike Gilhooly. It was the second raid at the local restaurant chain in less than 100 days; on July 23 ICE agents arrested 58 Mexican workers at eight Casa Fiesta restaurants in northern Ohio, including five workers at the restaurant in Oberlin. The Fremont and Ashland restaurants were also among those raided on July 23 [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/08/inb-81008-union-protests-arrests-in.html">INB 8/10/08</a>]. <br /><br />On Nov. 8, about 50 people held a candlelight vigil at Tappan Square in Oberlin to protest the latest raid; about 100 people attended a similar vigil in Oberlin following the July raid. La Alianza Latina, a nonprofit student group at Oberlin College, plans to form a rapid response team to stage peaceful protests and provide legal observation when raids happen, said the group's secretary, Cindy Camacho. "People...should not have to be afraid in the place where they live and work," said Camacho.<br /><br />La Alianza Latina has been working with community leaders and the Immigrant Worker Project to draft a resolution proposing that the city of Oberlin establish a non-cooperation policy with federal immigration authorities. [<a href="http://www.chroniclet.com/2008/11/08/another-vigil-planned-after-casa-fiesta-raid_122/">Chronicle-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 11/8/08</a>, <a href="http://www.chroniclet.com/2008/11/09/oberlin-holds-vigil-for-immigrants_122/">11/9/08</a>] Oberlin's Human Relations Commission has recommended that the city council adopt the resolution as law; City Manager Eric Norenberg said it would enable all Oberlin residents to seek help from the police or fire department without fear of being turned over to immigration officials. "If Immigration comes to town, the city and the police force would not assist them unless ordered to by law or the court," Norenberg explained. "To me, it's important that our city residents trust us." [<a href="http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/lorain/1226568761266710.xml&coll=2">Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 11/13/08</a>]<br /><br />"Oberlin has an historic precedent for this," said Mark Fahringer, chair of the Catholic Action Commission of Lorain County. "They stood up to the slave-hunters with the Oberlin Rescue because the city was part of the Underground Railroad. That's the heritage we have here, and we have a responsibility to live up to it." [<a href="http://www.chroniclet.com/2008/11/09/oberlin-holds-vigil-for-immigrants_122/">Chronicle-Telegram 11/9/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. IOWA MEAT PLANT RAIDED AGAIN<br /><br />ICE agents returned to the Agriprocessors Inc. kosher meat processing plant in the small town of Postville, Iowa on Nov. 4 and arrested one suspected unauthorized worker, an ICE official said. Agents remained at the plant following the arrest, and frightened plant employees and their families quickly fled to the sanctuary of St. Bridget's Catholic Church, which has been providing support to Postville's immigrant population since ICE agents arrested 389 workers at the plant on May 12 [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/06/inb-6208-massive-raid-at-kosher-meat.html">INB 6/2/08</a>]. "It's appalling that the federal agents chose today, Election Day, to spread fear amongst the residents of Postville," said Marissa Graciosa, director of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement. [Postville is in a mainly rural area in northeastern Iowa. Throughout northeastern Iowa, voters<br />overwhelmingly supported Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Nov. 4.] [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081105/NEWS/811050337/-1/LIFE04">Des Moines Register 11/5/08</a>]<br /><br />Agriprocessors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 4, prompting the cancellation of a hearing scheduled for Nov. 5 in US District Court in Cedar Rapids, where the company was to face its biggest lender, First Bank of St. Louis. Agriprocessors owes at least $33 million to First Bank. The bank is seeking to foreclose on the Postville plant and appoint a third party to oversee the company's assets. <br /><br />The bankruptcy filing says Agriprocessors owes between 200 and 999 creditors. The company owes $845,390 to the Des Moines-based labor company Jacobson Staffing, which had served as its human-resources and recruitment arm. During the last week of October, Jacobson suspended its relationship with Agriprocessors and pulled out its 450 employees, leaving the slaughterhouse with about 250 workers. [<a href="http://www.kansascity.com/440/story/876783.html">AP 11/5/08</a>; <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/6097043.html">Houston Chronicle 11/5/08</a>]<br /><br />By Nov. 12, all but about 25 of 200 workers who came to the plant from the island nation of Palau had left Postville, said Joanne Obak, one of the Palau workers. The remaining workers from Palau, including Obak, all planned to leave soon. The plant has not processed beef in about two weeks, and shifts in the chicken and turkey departments have been cut back to eight hours a day, workers said. "[T]hose who still have jobs can't make it on eight hours a day," Obak explained. Jeff Abbas, manager of local radio station KPVL, said buses arrived on Nov. 12 to take away the last of the Agriprocessors workers hired by Jacobson Staffing and another recruitment firm, One Force Staffing. [<a href="http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081113/NEWS/711139926">The Gazette (Cedar Rapids) 11/13/08</a>]<br /><br />On Oct. 30, ICE agents arrested Agriprocessors former chief executive Sholom Rubashkin at his home in Postville. In a criminal complaint unsealed Oct. 30 in US District Court in Cedar Rapids, Rubashkin was charged with conspiring to harbor unauthorized immigrants for commercial gain, aiding and abetting document fraud, and aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft. Rubashkin was released on $1 million bail after a hearing; he faces a maximum of 22 years in prison if convicted on the federal charges.<br /><br />According to the complaint, in the days before the raid, plant managers told many workers they would have to present valid identity documents or be fired. Two floor supervisors said they asked Rubashkin for a $4,500 loan to "help the employees who were to be terminated"; Rubashkin allegedly agreed to the cash loan on May 9. One supervisor said he loaned $200 each to about a dozen workers, who paid a line supervisor to buy fake documents. On May 11, the complaint charges, human resources managers worked all day under Rubashkin's supervision to fill out job applications for workers with new fake documents. [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/us/31immig.html">New York Times 10/31/08</a>; <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122540155357885623.html?mod=googlenews_wsj">Wall Street Journal 10/31/08</a>; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103004617.html">Washington Post 10/31/08</a>; <a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0810/081030cedarrapids.htm">ICE News Release 10/30/08</a>]<br /><br />Agriprocessors supervisor Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza pleaded guilty on Aug. 20 to conspiring to hire and aiding and abetting the hiring of unauthorized workers. Another supervisor, Martin de la Rosa, pleaded guilty to harboring charges on Aug. 27. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080827cedarrapids.htm">ICE News Release 8/27/08</a>] The two supervisors were arrested at the plant on July 3 [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/07/inb-7508-raid-at-maryland-painting.html">INB 7/5/08</a>]. Agriprocessors human resources manager and payroll supervisor Laura Louise Althouse pleaded guilty on Oct. 29 to conspiracy to harbor unauthorized immigrants for financial gain and aggravated identity theft. [ICE News Release 10/29/08] Althouse and human resources manager Karina Freund were arrested in September. Freund, a Spanish translator who helped process work papers, is charged with aiding and abetting unauthorized immigrants. [<a href="http://www.columbustelegram.com/articles/2008/10/30/ap-state-ne/d944a0182.txt">AP 10/30/08</a>] <br /><br />On Oct. 16 ICE spokesperson Tim Counts announced that 18 former Agriprocessors workers who were arrested in the May 12 raid had completed their five-month prison sentences for false document convictions at the Federal Correctional Institution in Miami and had been released under supervision--with GPS electronic monitors on their ankles--to act as witnesses against Althouse and Freund. Less than a week after the workers completed their prison terms, federal agents had obtained warrants to hold them as material witnesses in the case; a federal judge then ordered that the workers be released with supervision. All 18 workers returned to Postville, where they are to remain for as long as federal prosecutors need them. They are eligible for work permits but will still face deportation after their cooperation is no longer needed. Court papers identified two of the workers as witnesses in the Freund case; the other 16 were listed as witnesses against Althouse. [It was unclear how Althouse's Oct. 29 guilty plea may have affected their situation.] Robert Teig, assistant US attorney for the northern district of Iowa, said his office planned to call as additional witnesses another 13 immigrants who had just finished federal prison sentences in Tallahassee and Miami. Tim Counts said ICE has asked US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to fast-track the immigrants' applications for work permits so they can find jobs. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008810170368">Des Moines Register 10/17/08</a>]<br /><br />On Oct. 29, Iowa labor authorities levied $10 million in fines against Agriprocessors for wage violations. About $9.6 million of the fines were for 96,436 illegal deductions totaling $192,597, taken from the paychecks of 2,001 workers for protective clothing that packinghouse workers were required to wear. Iowa inspectors assessed fines at $100 per incident. Agriprocessors was also fined $339,700 for illegally deducting more than $72,000 from the paychecks of 1,073 workers for "sales tax." The company also failed to give final paychecks to 42 workers arrested in the raid, and owes $264,786 in back wages, Iowa officials said. The fines cover violations from January 2006 through June 2008. [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/us/30fine.html">NYT 10/29/08</a>]<br /><br />On Sept. 9, the Iowa attorney general charged several Agriprocessors officials including Sholom Rubashkin and his father, Agriprocessors founder Abraham Aaron Rubashkin, with 9,311 misdemeanor violations of state child labor laws. The charges allege that Agriprocessors illegally hired 32 minors--including seven who were not yet 16 years old at the time--over the eight months prior to the May 12 raid, exposed the youths to dangerous chemicals and allowed them to operate meat grinders, circular saws and other heavy machinery. [<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103004617.html">WP 10/31/08</a>; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/us/10meat.html">NYT 9/10/08</a>]<br /><br />The Oct. 30 arrest of Sholom Rubashkin appeared designed to appease those who had criticized the May 12 ICE raid in Postville as punishing the plant's workers and not the employer. "Today, we are seeing concrete accountability in Postville, though it should not have taken the destruction of a town and cost more than five million taxpayer dollars to get here," said US Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat from Illinois who is a strong supporter of immigrants' rights. [<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103004617.html">WP 10/31/08</a>] Rubashkin's arrest came a day after the New York Times reported: "No federal charges have been brought against senior managers and owners of Agriprocessors." [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/us/30fine.html">NYT 10/29/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. ELECTION WEEK RAID IN FLORIDA<br /><br />In a five-day operation from Nov. 3 through Nov. 7--the week of the Nov. 4 presidential elections--ICE arrested 96 "immigration fugitives" and 15 "immigration violators" in southern and central Florida. ICE made 43 arrests in Miami-Dade County, 23 in Broward County, 13 in Palm Beach County, 16 in Orlando and 16 in Tampa. [The raids, announced on Nov. 7, were all in areas where Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama defeated Republican John McCain.] Of the total 111 people arrested, 20 had criminal records. ICE released 42 people under supervision (presumably with electronic ankle monitors) as part of the Alternatives to Detention Program after verifying that they were sole caregivers or had medical concerns. The other 69 people remained in ICE custody as of Nov. 7. Those arrested were from countries including Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, Peru, Cuba, Honduras, Argentina, Dominica, Guyana, Venezuela, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Tunisia, Mexico, Dominican Republic, China, Jamaica, Romania, and El Salvador. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0811/081107miami.htm">ICE News Release 11/7/08</a>; <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/762181.html">Miami Herald 11/8/08</a>]<br /><br />On Nov. 6, Florida activists urged President-Elect Obama to call a moratorium on ICE raids until Congress passes an immigration reform bill that includes a path to legalization. Obama's office responded that "our position is well-known" and that Obama's commitment "to immigration reform and all the important issues for Latinos in the US still stands." [<a href="http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=023baa26afb181beaef5e956369f7eeb">New California Media 11/9/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. NJ: DETAINEE ESCAPES, OTHERS MOVED<br /><br />On Oct. 25, immigration detainee Mamadou Bah escaped from Delaney Hall, a private detention facility in Newark, New Jersey which was holding 120 immigration detainees under contract with the federal government. Essex County corrections director Scott Faunce would not comment on how Bah was able to get out of the facility. ICE spokesperson in Newark Harold Ort said Bah had been turned over to the immigration agency after being convicted of fraud in Essex County, and that he was picked up by an ICE fugitive unit in Kentucky four days after his escape. Ort declined to disclose Bah's country of origin. Essex County officials have moved the remaining immigration detainees to the county jail and will keep them there while investigators from the county and ICE review the circumstances of the escape. Delaney Hall began taking federal detainees earlier this year under contract with ICE and the US Marshals Service, which pay the facility $105 a day for each detainee, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. [<a href="http://www.nj.com/newark/index.ssf/2008/11/120_detainees_moved_to_essex_c.html">Star-Ledger 11/2/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-89644085783601242212008-11-02T23:59:00.000-08:002008-11-22T15:43:05.515-08:00INB 11/2/08: Youth March in San Francisco; Indian Workers ArrestedImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 26 - November 2, 2008<br /> <br />1. Youth March in San Francisco<br />2. Indian Workers Arrested in North Dakota<br />3. South Dakota Dairy Farms Raided<br />4. Construction Raid in Alabama<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. YOUTH MARCH IN SAN FRANCISCO<br /><br />Hundreds of high school and college students from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area skipped class on Halloween morning, Oct. 31, to participate in a youth-led "Stop the Raids" protest against immigration enforcement in downtown San Francisco. Transit officials shut down the Fruitvale and Coliseum BART stations in Oakland and the Richmond BART station after hundreds of East Bay students entered the stations and tried to board trains to San Francisco without paying. Officials kept the stations closed for more than an hour. Some BART trains bound for San Francisco were delayed at the West Oakland station by protesters who held doors open and demanded that the Fruitvale station be reopened, passengers and BART officials said. Three people were detained at the Richmond station. [<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/10/31/BA5513RV7C.DTL">San Francisco Chronicle 11/1/08</a>]<br /><br />Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) police detained Oakland Tribune videographer Jane Tyska and confiscated her videotape as she was filming the student protest outside the Fruitvale BART station. Tyska was released about a half hour later without citation. Tyska said OUSD Police Chief Art Michel grazed her with his car as she was walking backwards, videotaping protesters in the middle of the street. Michel then stopped his car, began yelling profanities at her and accused her of hitting his car and inciting a riot, Tyska said. "I immediately identified myself as a photographer for the Oakland Tribune, showed him my press pass, and said I was just doing my job, but he continued yelling and screaming profanities and said he was going to arrest me. I asked the officer why it was illegal for me to shoot from the street and he said it was a 'moving crime scene'. To my knowledge, there is no such thing, and photographers are always in the middle of the action at protests." Troy Flint, the spokesman for the Oakland school district, accused Tyska of elbowing the police car as Michel drove by. "The officer confiscated the tape as alleged evidence of the photographer's interference with his ability to conduct his responsibilities, which in this case was protecting student-protesters," Flint said. [<a href="http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_10869638">Oakland Tribune 10/31/08</a>]<br /><br />The protest in San Francisco began with a morning rally at Ferry Park on the Embarcadero. Around noon, hundreds of people (about 400 according to the San Francisco Chronicle) marched peacefully through the downtown financial district to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building, demanding an end to immigration raids, detention and deportation. Many of the marchers wore skull makeup or other Halloween costumes. The march tied up traffic on several streets. At the immigration building, about 100 protesters took part in civil disobedience, at least a dozen of them linking themselves together or chaining themselves to oil drums to block a vehicle entrance. Police decided to wait them out and made no arrests. "What we are doing is shutting down ICE with our bodies. We are blocking a major entrance where the vans go in and out," said protester Inez Sunwoo. [<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/10/31/BA5513RV7C.DTL">SF Chronicle 11/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/10/30/18547466.php">Bay Area Indymedia (article & photos) updated 11/2/08</a>; <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=6481650">KGO-TV (San Francisco) 10/31/08</a>]<br /><br />Sagnicthe Salazar, a protest organizer from a youth group called Huaxtex, said protesters had jumped fare gates because they were organized independently and had no funding. "This was a peaceful protest. We were not trying to start anything," said 17-year old Kenya Ramirez, who traveled from San Diego for the rally. "We were just trying to get our message out. Our message is civil disobedience." [<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/10/31/BA5513RV7C.DTL">SF Chronicle 11/1/08</a>]<br /><br />The San Francisco Bay Area Chapter National Lawyers Guild (NLGSF) issued a statement in support of the protesters. "The NLGSF deplores BART's station closures which prevented hundreds of East Bay high school students from reaching the demonstration today at [ICE] headquarters in downtown San Francisco," the organization said. "These are young people who care about their communities and their loved ones," said NLGSF executive director Carlos Villarreal. "Our legal support team first heard about the BART closures this morning and we think it is unfortunate that our public transit system took such extreme measures, preventing these young people from exercising their First Amendment rights."<br /><br />Among other incidents, the protesters were reacting to a series of ICE raids in the Bay Area on Oct. 22 which allegedly targeted gang members. In the sweep, dubbed "Operation Devil Horns," ICE agents violently invaded 11 residences, setting off explosive devices and pointing high-powered weapons at children. [<a href="http://www.nlgsf.org/news/view.php?id=95">NLGSF Statement 10/31/08</a>] ICE announced the operation in an Oct. 23 news release, saying it had taken into custody 26 of 29 people indicted in a racketeering probe targeting the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang. Of the 29 people indicted, 22 face charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and seven face non-racketeering charges. <br /><br />ICE said it executed nearly two dozen search warrants and 20 arrest warrants in the operation, and also served search and arrest warrants at eight correctional facilities in California where 15 of the defendants named in the indictment were already jailed on other charges. ICE said four other individuals who were not named in the indictment were arrested on criminal charges in the sweep along with "11 gang members and gang associates" picked up on administrative immigration violations. <br /><br />Agencies providing support during the operation included the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the California Highway Patrol; the California Department of Justice; the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement; the San Mateo County Gang Task Force; and the Richmond, San Francisco and South San Francisco police departments. During the three-year investigation that preceded the raids, ICE got help from the DEA; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); the California Highway Patrol; the San Francisco Police Department; and other local law enforcement agencies. In addition, the Salvadoran National Police and ICE's Attaché Office in El Salvador aided with the case by conducting searches and interviews of MS-13 associates in El Salvador. Over the course of the probe, 17 other alleged gang members were taken into custody on criminal charges; some of them are also named in the 52-count indictment unsealed on Oct. 23. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0810/081023sanfrancisco.htm">ICE News Release 10/23/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. INDIAN WORKERS ARRESTED IN NORTH DAKOTA<br /><br />On Oct. 28, ICE agents arrested 23 workers from India at the construction site for an ethanol plant near Casselton, North Dakota. All 23 had been hired several months ago to work for Wanzek Construction Inc. of Fargo. A task force led by ICE made the arrests without incident when the workers showed up for what had been announced as a staff meeting at the Wanzek Construction office west of West Fargo. The raid was prompted by a tip from Wanzek Construction. Company president Jon Wanzek said members of his staff contacted authorities after noticing irregularities on the workers' identity documents, a few weeks after they were hired. The workers "just went through the normal process" to get hired, Wanzek said. "They just came in and applied just like everyone else." Company officials "have cooperated throughout the investigation in this case and they are to be complimented for making this investigation possible at all through their initial report," said Drew Wrigley, US Attorney for North Dakota.<br /><br />All 23 workers face federal felony charges for possession of counterfeit documents. They also are accused of falsely claiming they were US citizens. Wrigley said they entered the US legally on a temporary worker visa and were issued a temporary social security card. "What happened then, we allege, is that they subsequently got counterfeit social security cards which look the same, have the same number which is legitimate for them but now doesn't have the limiting information on it. That opens a whole variety of opportunities for them, for employment and then to overstay that visa," Wrigley said. The false Social Security cards also enabled them to obtain driver's licenses from Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi and Nebraska, said Wrigley. [<a href="http://www.in-forum.com/News/articles/220030">The Forum (Fargo) 10/28/08</a>, <a href="http://www.in-forum.com/News/articles/220425">11/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=91211">Grand Forks Herald (ND) 10/29/08 from The Forum</a>; <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/10/29/raid/">Minnesota Public Radio 10/29/08</a>; <a href="http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/10/29/ap5619043.html">AP 10/29/08</a>; <a href="http://www.kxmb.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=290433">KXMB.com (Bismarck, ND) 10/28/08</a>]<br /><br />According to the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice, the workers arrested in North Dakota were among a group of some 500 people trafficked to the US after Hurricane Katrina by Gulf Coast employer Signal International, LLC and subjected to forced labor in Mississippi and Texas labor camps. The workers escaped the labor camps earlier this year, reported the company's human trafficking to the Department of Justice, filed a federal class action lawsuit in New Orleans against Signal International and labor recruiters in the US and India, and held a march to Washington and a hunger strike to demand protection as witnesses to trafficking [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/03/inb-32908-h-2-workers-sue-march.html">INB 3/29/08</a>, <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/06/inb-62208-indian-workers-suspend-hunger.html">6/22/08</a>]. The criminal trafficking investigation triggered by their protest is still open. <br /><br />Upon realizing that they were being targeted by ICE, the workers in North Dakota presented letters explaining they were victims and witnesses to the federal crime of human trafficking. The letter listed their attorney's name and contact information. They communicated that they did not want to be questioned without legal counsel. ICE summarily refused the workers' requests and questioned them individually without attorneys or interpreters.<br /><br />"It is an outrage that workers who courageously came forward at great personal risk to cooperate with the Department of Justice in a federal trafficking investigation were targeted by ICE and then denied access to their own legal counsel," said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. "Why isn't ICE spending national resources investigating criminal traffickers, instead of targeting and terrifying the victims?" asked Saket Soni, director of the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice. "Since these workers have come forward to report Signal International, LLC, to the Department of Justice, they have faced ICE surveillance, ICE arrests, and now an ICE sting operation." [<a href="http://nolaworkerscenter.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/ice-raid-target-snares-victims-of-human-trafficking/">New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice 10/29/08</a>]<br /><br />On Oct. 31, the 23 workers made a court appearance at the Cass County Jail, with three interpreters communicating via speaker phone. Hearings are usually held at the federal courthouse. "There's some logistical difficulties, as you might imagine, with a case that involves 23 defendants all coming in en masse like this," Wrigley said. US Magistrate Judge Karen Klein set the detention hearing for next Nov. 7 after defense lawyers asked for more time to prepare. Nick Chase, assistant US attorney, told the magistrate that he expects a federal grand jury will consider the evidence against the workers early in the week of Nov. 3. [<a href="http://www.in-forum.com/News/articles/220030">The Forum (Fargo) 10/28/08</a>, <a href="http://www.in-forum.com/News/articles/220425">11/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/10/29/ap5619043.html">AP 10/29/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. SOUTH DAKOTA DAIRY FARMS RAIDED<br /><br />On Oct. 29, ICE agents raided several dairy farms in northeastern South Dakota, arresting 27 people. The South Dakota Highway Patrol said it arrested 13 people for having false identity documents; ICE arrested 14 others on administrative immigration charges for allegedly being in the US without permission. One of the raided dairies was operated by Prairie Ridge Management in Veblen; the others were not identified. ICE spokesperson in Minnesota Tim Counts said an investigation began three months earlier when a man stopped by the Highway Patrol presented suspicious documents. He says further investigation revealed others who were using invalid or stolen Social Security numbers to register vehicles. The raid involved six law enforcement agencies, including ICE. [<a href="http://www.kxmb.com/News/290978.asp">AP 10/30/08</a>; <a href="http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=0,75751">KELOLAND TV (Sioux Falls, SD) 10/30/08</a>; <a href="http://www.ksfy.com/news/local/33553904.html">KSFY.com (Sioux Falls) 10/29/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. CONSTRUCTION RAID IN ALABAMA<br /><br />Just before 6pm on Oct. 24, local police in Alabaster, Alabama, acting in cooperation with ICE, served a warrant at Rodriguez Construction in connection with a two-year investigation into businesses and individuals employing unauthorized workers. A helicopter hovered above the site during the raid. Temple Black, regional spokesperson for ICE in New Orleans, said 31 male Mexican immigrants were detained. Two of the men--a father and son--were released after questioning. The others were transferred to the Perry County Correctional Center in Uniontown to be held pending deportation. [<a href=" http://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/news/2008/oct/27/police-move-illegal-immigration/">Shelby County Reporter 10/27/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-82888045533654729942008-10-21T09:37:00.000-07:002008-10-21T09:48:22.635-07:00INB 10/21/08: South Carolina Poultry Plant RaidedImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 25 - October 21, 2008<br /> <br />1. South Carolina Poultry Plant Raided<br />2. Immigrant Rights Marches in North Carolina and Beyond<br />3. Protected Status Renewed for Central Americans, Urged for Haitians<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. SOUTH CAROLINA POULTRY PLANT RAIDED<br /><br />On Oct. 7, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents executed a federal criminal search warrant at the House of Raeford's Columbia Farms poultry processing plant in Greenville, South Carolina, arresting 11 workers on criminal charges and 320 workers on administrative immigration charges. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0810/081009greensville.htm">ICE News Release 10/9/08</a>] About 100 ICE agents raided the plant during shift change. ICE officials kept the workers inside the plant for most of the morning as they sought to determine how many were present in the US without permission. [<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27068873/">AP 10/7/08</a>; <a href="http://www.thestate.com/local/story/548004.html">Charlotte Observer 10/8/08</a>]<br /><br />Two women and nine men were transferred to the custody of the US Marshals Service to face charges including re-entry after deportation, aggravated identity theft, counterfeit documents and false statements. The other 121 women and 199 men arrested were processed for deportation; 77 women and six men were released with electronic ankle monitors to await removal hearings. The remaining women were taken to the Atlanta City Detention Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The men were taken to the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. The arrested workers are from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Costa Rica and Hungary. <br /><br />Six juveniles--three from Mexico and three from Guatemala--were found to be present in the US without permission. ICE released two youths to an authorized caregiver, and said it was working with the Mexican and Guatemalan consulates to reunite the others with their families in their home countries.<br /><br />The raid was part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the company's employment practices which saw prior criminal charges against nine supervisors, four plant employees and one human resources manager [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/09/inb-9708-al-arian-released-flower.html">INB 9/7/08</a>]. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0810/081009greensville.htm">ICE News Release 10/9/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. IMMIGRANT RIGHTS MARCHES IN NORTH CAROLINA AND BEYOND<br /><br />On Oct. 12, about 65 people marched more than three miles from the Mills Manufacturing plant in Woodfin, North Carolina, to downtown Asheville to protest an Aug. 12 ICE raid at the parachute manufacturing plant and the impending deportation of the 57 workers arrested there [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/08/inb-81608-detainee-dies-in-rhode-island.html">INB 8/16/08</a>]. The march concluded at the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office. Speakers blasted what they said was overzealous or selective law enforcement by local sheriffs, particularly Van Duncan in Buncombe and Rick Davis in Henderson. Activists also criticized Asheville City Council member Carl Mumpower, who claimed some responsibility for alerting ICE about unauthorized workers at Mills Manufacturing. A group of about 200 people also marched along US 25 to the Henderson County Courthouse in Hendersonville, North Carolina, in defense of immigrant rights. Nuestro Centro, WNC Workers Center and the Coalition of Latin American Organizations sponsored both marches. [<a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008810130319">Ashville Citizen Times 10/13/08</a>]<br /><br />The marches were part of a nationwide day of action on Oct. 12, Indigenous Peoples Day. Other actions took place at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia; in southwest Detroit, Michigan; in San Francisco’s Mission district; at a Wells Fargo bank in the immigrant neighborhood of Jackson Heights in Queens, New York City; and in the town of Sodus in upstate New York, just east of Rochester, where ICE raided a trailer park on Sept. 28 [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/10/inb-9508-another-construction-raid-in.html">INB 10/5/08</a>]. Actions also took place in Rochester, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Madison, Wisconsin; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. [<a href="http://www.workers.org/2008/us/immigrants_1023/">Workers World 10/19/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. PROTECTED STATUS RENEWED FOR CENTRAL AMERICANS, URGED FOR HAITIANS<br /><br />On Sept. 24, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it will extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of El Salvador through Sep. 9, 2010. The extension allows Salvadorans who have already been granted TPS to re-register and maintain their status for an additional 18 months. An estimated 229,000 Salvadorans are eligible for re-registration. They have 90 days to re-register for the special status, which was set to expire on Mar. 9, 2009. TPS does not apply to Salvadoran nationals who entered the US after Feb. 13, 2001. [<a href="http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=0621fcca4e49c110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD">USCIS Update 9/24/08</a>]<br /><br />On Sept. 26, USCIS announced it will extend TPS through July 5, 2010, for an estimated 3,500 Nicaraguans and 70,000 Hondurans who are eligible for re-registration; they have 60 days to re-register. Their status was due to expire on Jan. 5, 2009. TPS does not apply to Nicaraguans or Hondurans who entered the US after Dec. 30, 1998. [<a href="http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=ae2119e272b9c110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD">USCIS Update (Nicaraguans) 9/26/08</a>, <a href="http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=2585011522a9c110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD">USCIS Update (Hondurans) 9/26/08</a>]<br /><br />About 100 people held a candlelight vigil on Oct. 3 in front of the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building in West Palm Beach, Florida to advocate for temporary protected status for Haitians, whose homeland has been devastated by four major tropical storms since August. [<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6040116.html">Houston Chronicle 10/4/08</a>] "I just don't know how dire conditions have to become before the US government is willing to grant Haiti this long-merited assistance," said US Rep. Alcee Hastings, Democrat of Miramar, one of 31 members of Congress actively urging the government to grant TPS for Haitians. ICE temporarily stopped deporting Haitians in September, but the suspension could end at any moment, and it doesn't allow out-of-status immigrants from Haiti to work legally. On Oct. 3, pushed by local activists, Haitian President René Préval made his first public request for TPS since the recent storms. [<a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/social-issues/demographics/illegal-immigrants/14003003.topic">South Florida Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale) 10/13/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-37531320834896384552008-10-05T23:59:00.000-07:002008-10-21T09:19:09.782-07:00INB 10/5/08: Another Construction Raid in Hawai'i; More "Fugitive" RaidsImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 24 - October 5, 2008<br /> <br />1. Another Construction Raid in Hawai'i<br />2. Hawai'i: Workers Released Under Plea Bargain<br />3. Raid at Louisiana Cement Plant?<br />4. Texas Donut Company Pleads Guilty<br />5. More "Fugitive" Raids: CA, PA, DE, NJ, NY, FL, OK<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. ANOTHER CONSTRUCTION RAID IN HAWAI'I<br /><br />On Sept. 22, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 21 workers at the Honua Kai construction site in Kaanapali, on the island of Maui in Hawai'i. Twelve of the workers were from Mexico, eight were from Brazil and one was from Slovakia. All were placed in deportation proceedings. The Maui Police Department assisted in the raid.<br /><br />ICE coordinated the arrests with Ledcor Construction, the general contractor for the Honua Kai project. According to ICE, all 21 workers arrested in the raid worked for Global Stone Inc., a subcontractor based in Orem, Utah. <br /><br />On Aug. 20, ICE agents arrested 23 people working for three different companies at the Honua Kai site, including 13 people employed by Global Stone [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/08/inb-82308-deport-flight-to-southeast.html">INB 8/23/08</a>]. After the August arrests, Ledcor said it sent letters to subcontractors on the project advising them to comply with labor and immigration laws. [<a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20080923-2030-wst-illegalimmigrants.html">AP 9/24/08</a>; <a href="http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080924/NEWS0103/809240369/1001/LOCALNEWSFRONT">Honolulu Advertiser 9/24/08</a>]<br /><br />"We don't begrudge the workers who come to this country in search of an opportunity to better themselves and their families, as Hawai'i itself has an immigrant history," said Kyle Chock, executive director of the Pacific Resource Partnership, in a Sept. 23 statement. "But we are extremely concerned about employers who disregard the social and economical consequences they have on Hawai'i's economy and the workers they employ." The Partnership is a joint program of the 6,000-member Hawaii Carpenters Union, Local 745, and its 220 signatory contractors across the state. [<a href="http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080924/NEWS0103/809240369/1001/LOCALNEWSFRONT">HA 9/24/08</a>] The Partnership has been pushing for increased enforcement and recently launched an advertising campaign on the subject of unauthorized immigrant labor. [<a href="http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080921/NEWS21/809210353/1001">HA 9/21/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. HAWAI'I: WORKERS RELEASED IN PLEA DEAL<br /><br />Seven agricultural workers arrested in a July 7 ICE raid at an apartment building in Waipahu, Hawai'i, have pleaded guilty to criminal charges for using false identity documents to gain employment and have agreed to cooperate in a continuing investigation. In return, all seven have been released with work authorization pending sentencing dates scheduled for December and January. "Those dates might be postponed while the investigation continues," said Brandon Flores, an attorney for one of the defendants. "It's conceivable that they could be here for quite a while."<br /><br />Assistant US Attorney Tracy Hino, who is prosecuting the cases, explained that under the terms of the plea agreements, the defendants "receive a benefit" of temporary release from custody and work permits for agreeing to cooperate. When sentenced they will get credit for about a month of time already served in federal detention. All have agreed to be deported when their criminal cases are resolved, Hino said. As part of their plea agreements, the defendants are forbidden to have any contact with their former employer--The Farms Inc.--or its current employees. Hino said the defendants will be supervised by the Pretrial Services Office of the federal judiciary and by ICE agents. <br /><br />Initial housing was found for several of the workers at local YMCA facilities. Hino acknowledged that if they find jobs paying the minimum wage, that won't be enough to cover their housing and daily expenses. The government did get past paychecks owed to them by the Farms; lawyers involved in the case say those payments ranged from $200 to $1,200. <br /><br />The seven men were among 43 Mexican workers employed by The Farms Inc. who were arrested in the July 7 raid [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/08/inb-81008-union-protests-arrests-in.html">INB 8/10/08</a>]; 23 were indicted on three counts each of using false identity documents to obtain their jobs. One of the criminal cases was subsequently dismissed. The other 15 cases are pending.<br /><br />US Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren, who has approved a handful of the plea deals, called them an "extraordinary" new development. Kurren said he checked with judicial colleagues on the mainland who said they'd never heard of such plea deals. "Is this kind of thing happening elsewhere in the country?" Kurren asked ICE agent Amy Garon. "Not that I'm aware of," Garon answered.<br /><br />Dax Deason, a Texas attorney who is representing The Farms and its chief executive, Larry Jefts, declined to comment on the criminal cases or on the continuing federal investigation. No charges have been filed against the company or Jefts. All the defendants told agents they came across the Mexican border into the US without permission, sometimes paying more than $1,000 to smugglers, then bought phony green cards and Social Security numbers from vendors in Fresno, Stockton and other California cities for $40 to $150. [<a href="http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080921/NEWS21/809210353/1001">Honolulu Advertiser 9/21/08</a>] <br /><br />*3. RAID AT LOUISIANA CEMENT PLANT?<br /><br />According to a Sept. 26 story from Associated Press citing information from the Southwest Louisiana newspaper American Press, ICE agents said they arrested 127 male immigrant workers from Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras in an operation at Dunham Price cement and concrete plants in Westlake and Vinton, near Lake Charles, Louisiana. The workers were taken to a federal detention center in Oakdale, Louisiana, to face administrative immigration proceedings. [<a href="http://www.kplctv.com/global/story.asp?s=9078296">AP 9/26/08</a>] [A web search turned up no further information about this raid.]<br /><br />*4. TEXAS DONUT COMPANY PLEADS GUILTY<br /><br />On Sept. 5, Shipley Do-Nut Flour and Supply Company Inc. pleaded guilty through its president, Lawrence Shipley III, to conspiring to harbor unauthorized immigrants. The Houston, Texas-based company agreed to pay a $1,334,000 forfeiture to the government, federal prosecutors said. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 19. Shipley Do-Nut faces a maximum fine of $500,000 and up to five years probation. As part of the plea deal, the company also agreed to revise its immigration compliance program and implement new procedures to prevent future violations of immigration laws. The company made its guilty plea before US District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. The case was prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Ryan D. McConnell, Southern District of Texas. Shipley Do-Nut Flour and Supply Company supplies baking materials and logistical support to retail stores and to 200 franchises in Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.<br /><br />Former Shipley Do-Nut warehouse manager Jimmy Rivera, current warehouse manager Julian Garcia and current warehouse supervisor Christopher Halsey pleaded guilty on Sept. 5 before US Magistrate Judge Stephen William Smith to misdemeanor charges of hiring or continuing to hire unauthorized immigrants. All three men were sentenced to six months probation. Halsey, Rivera and Garcia were fined $1,000, $1,500 and $2,000, respectively. Company president Lawrence Shipley III pleaded guilty Aug. 28 before the same court to continuing to hire unauthorized immigrants and was sentenced to a similar probationary term and fined $6,000.<br /><br />The guilty pleas are the result of an ICE criminal investigation that began in January after an employment discrimination suit against Shipley Do-Nut ended. Transcripts and other documents from that case showed the company knew it was hiring unauthorized workers, said Robert Rutt, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Houston. On Apr. 16, ICE agents raided the company's Houston headquarters and plant and arrested 27 workers, including some who lived in properties owned by Shipley Do-Nut [see INB 4/20/08]. The $1.334 million forfeiture was equal to the value of those properties, Rutt said; the company agreed to pay the amount in lieu of forfeiting its interest in the properties. [<a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D930RMMG0.html">AP 9/5/08</a>; <a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080905houston.htm">ICE News Release 9/5/08</a>]<br /><br />*5. MORE "FUGITIVE" RAIDS: CA, PA, DE, NJ, NY, FL, OK<br /><br />In a three-week enforcement operation that ended Sept. 27, ICE fugitive operations teams arrested 1,157 immigrants in California: 436 in the San Francisco area, 420 in the Los Angeles area and 301 in the San Diego area. The operation targeted "fugitives" who have failed to comply with deportation orders and immigrants with criminal convictions. ICE spokesperson Virginia Kice said 595 of those arrested had outstanding deportation orders and 346 had criminal convictions. Those arrested come from 34 countries. [<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-raids30-2008sep30,0,6398266.story">Los Angeles Times 9/29/08</a>; <a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080929losangeles.htm">ICE News Release 9/29/08</a>]<br /><br />On Oct. 1, ICE announced that its fugitive operations teams had arrested 78 out-of-status immigrants in a week-long operation in Pennsylvania and Delaware; 43 of those arrested were people the agency considers "fugitives"; of those 43, 13 had criminal records. The other 35 people arrested were in the US without permission. ICE was supported in the operation by the Federal Protective Service, the Georgetown Police Department in Delaware and the Ross Police Department in Pennsylvania. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0810/081001philadelphia.htm">ICE News Release 10/1/08</a>]<br /><br />On Sept. 30, ICE announced that its New Jersey fugitive operations teams had arrested 76 people in a six-day statewide operation that ended the weekend of Sept. 27-28. Sixty of those arrested were considered "fugitives"; 24 of them had criminal records. Another 16 people were found to be out of status; seven of them also had criminal records. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080930newark.htm">ICE News Release 9/30/08</a>]<br /><br />According to a news report from WROC-TV in Rochester, New York, 20 people were arrested in ICE raids over the weekend of Sept. 27-28 in the area around Sodus, just east of Rochester in Wayne County. ICE told the station its agents were after at least two "fugitives." In the process, they found and arrested other out-of-status immigrants. A woman who lives in a trailer park in Sodus, who spoke to WROC through an interpreter, said one of the raids took place there around 6am on Sept. 28. The woman, who asked not to be identified, said the agents went into her bedroom without permission as she and her two daughters watched in fear. "That's when they found my husband inside the room, and they took him out and took him," she said. [<a href="http://rochesterhomepage.net/content/fulltext/?cid=36571">WROC-TV 10/2/08</a>]<br /><br />In a five-day operation that ended on Sept. 26, ICE fugitive operations team in Miami arrested 116 immigrants in South Florida: 42 in Miami-Dade county, 33 in Broward county and 41 in Monroe county. Of the total 116 people arrested, 74 had failed to comply with deportation orders and 42 were out of status. Thirty of the 116 were verified to be sole caregivers or as having medical concerns and were released under ICE supervision as part of the Alternatives to Detention Program after being processed for removal. The other 86 people remain in detention. Those arrested were from countries including Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Mexico, Honduras, China, Haiti, El Salvador, and Jamaica. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080929miami.htm">ICE News Release 9/29/08</a>]<br /><br />From Sept. 20 through 24, ICE fugitive operations teams and other area officers arrested 63 immigrants in western Oklahoma. The arrests were made in the towns of Oklahoma City, Norman, Harrah, Mustang, Edmond, Chickasha, Jones and surrounding areas. Those arrested are from El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Ghana, Guatemala and Honduras. The agents that took part in the raids are based in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Lubbock, Texas. Of the total 63 people arrested, 45 had final orders of deportation; 18 were out-of-status immigrants encountered during the course of the raids. Nine of those arrested had criminal convictions. The Oklahoma City Police Department collaborated with some of the arrests. Two alleged gang members had nine outstanding state warrants; they were released to the Oklahoma City police to resolve their pending criminal charges. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080926oklahomacity.htm">ICE News Release 9/26/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-20967323977683882732008-09-20T12:06:00.000-07:002008-09-20T12:24:36.463-07:00INB 9/20/08: California Bakery, Restaurants Raided; Raids in ChicagoImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 23 - September 20, 2008<br /> <br />1. Southern California Bakery Raided<br />2. Northern California Restaurants Raided<br />3. Chicago Neighborhood Raided, Again<br />4. “Fugitive” Raids in Chicago Area<br />5. “Fugitive” Raids in Colorado<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BAKERY RAIDED<br /><br />On Sept. 10, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided the Palm Springs Baking Company in Palm Springs, California, about 100 miles east of Los Angeles. ICE agents executed a federal search warrant at the bakery and arrested 51 workers on administrative immigration violations. More than 60 officials from ICE and the federal Food and Drug Administration participated in the raid. Agents arrived in 10 passenger vans, blocking driveways and doors to prevent workers from leaving. <br /><br />All but two of the 31 women and 20 men arrested were from Mexico; one worker was from Guatemala and one was from Honduras. ICE released 24 workers because of childcare or health issues and transferred the other 27 people to an ICE contract detention facility operated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in Lancaster, California. Eleven of the 27 people who were detained were released the following day, Sept. 11, with electronic monitoring devices on their ankles, according to the Desert Sun newspaper. The paper cited ICE spokesperson Lori Haley as saying that the remaining 16 workers are being held as witnesses in the case.<br /><br />ICE agents also arrested a current and a former company supervisor on one criminal count each of continuing to employ an unauthorized alien. According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal arrest warrants, local law enforcement alerted ICE in 2006 about an extortion scheme in which the Palm Springs Baking Company was allegedly guaranteeing employment to unauthorized workers in exchange for a payment of approximately $3,000 for each worker. During the ensuing investigation, ICE agents submitted the names and Social Security numbers of more than 130 of the company's employees for verification and were advised that more than 100 of those numbers were invalid or did not match the accompanying name. The complaint also alleges that the bakery's employees were forced to work in the heat without water and that supervisors threatened to call immigration on those who complained about the conditions. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080910palmsprings.htm">ICE News Release 9/10/08</a>; <a href="http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080911/NEWS01/809110308/1026/news12">Desert Sun (Palm Springs) 9/11/08</a>, <a href="http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080912/NEWS01/80912011/1263/update">9/12/08</a>]<br /><br />Palm Springs Baking Company CEO Brandon Tesmer said the company did nothing wrong. "We've worked with INS in the past," Tesmer said, referring to the immigration agency by its pre-2003 name, Immigration and Naturalization Service. "We'll work with them now. We've done everything right." [<a href="http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080911/NEWS01/809110308/1026/news12">Desert Sun 9/11/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RESTAURANTS RAIDED<br /><br />On Sept. 17, ICE special agents executed federal criminal search warrants at four sites in the northern California towns of Vacaville, Vallejo and Hercules–-in the North Bay area northeast of San Francisco--as part of an investigation into the hiring and possible harboring of unauthorized workers at local Chinese restaurants. The raided sites included the King's Buffet restaurant in Vacaville, one Vacaville residence, the Empire Buffet in Vallejo and one Vallejo residence. Agents also conducted what ICE called "a consensual search"--without a warrant--at a home in Hercules. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080918sacramento.htm">ICE News Release 9/18/08</a>] <br /><br />Authorities are also investigating a second outlet of the Empire Buffet in San Pablo. That restaurant wasn't searched on Sept. 17 because it wasn't open, most likely because agents had already rounded up its workers, said ICE spokesperson Virginia Kice. [<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/20/BACP131843.DTL">San Francisco Chronicle 9/20/08</a>]<br /><br />ICE agents apparently made no criminal arrests but arrested 21 workers on administrative immigration violations. Thirteen of those arrested were picked up at the restaurants and eight were discovered at the residences, which were owned by individuals affiliated with the restaurants. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080918sacramento.htm">ICE News Release 9/18/08</a>] According to ICE, six people were arrested at the Hercules residence; seven were arrested at Empire Buffet in Vallejo; and two were arrested at the Vallejo residence. [<a href="http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_10496842">Vallejo Times-Herald 9/18/08</a>] [This suggests that ICE arrested six people at King's Buffet in Vacaville and made no arrests at the Vacaville residence.]<br /><br />According to the affidavit filed in support of the search warrants, the investigation began after local law enforcement responded to a citizen's call about suspicious activity at the Vacaville residence. Agents subsequently uncovered alleged evidence that unauthorized workers from King's Buffet were being housed at the Vacaville home, while unauthorized workers from Empire Buffet were living at the Vallejo residence. Agents said it appeared all of the homes were being used to house significant numbers of people. According to the affidavit, investigators also determined that some of the workers were paid in cash and that wage information about those workers was not being reported to the California Employment Development Department as required by law. <br /><br />The arrested workers are from five countries: nine are from China, five from Mexico, three from Guatemala, two from Indonesia, one from Singapore and one from Honduras. Those arrested were processed at the ICE office in Sacramento; one person was released on humanitarian grounds pending a future hearing before an immigration judge. The others were transferred to ICE contract detention facilities in northern California to await their hearings in immigration court. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080918sacramento.htm">ICE News Release 9/18/08</a>] <br /><br />*3. CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD RAIDED, AGAIN<br /><br />On Sept. 18, ICE agents raided several homes and apartment buildings in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood in an operation targeting people who allegedly produce and sell fake identity documents. ICE agents executed search warrants simultaneously at five locations in the area: an office where fraudulent identification documents were allegedly produced; two residences; and two photo studios which allegedly produced photos for fake documents. Activists on the scene reported that ICE agents stormed buildings, hid in garages and interrogated people on the street. Word of the raid spread quickly; tensions in the heavily Mexican neighborhood have been high since ICE made dozens of arrests at a Little Village shopping mall in April 2007 in a similar operation targeting a false document ring [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2007/04/inb-42807-more-raids-border-agent.html">INB 4/28/07</a>]. [<a href="http://www.examiner.com/a-1595278~ICE_makes_arrests_in_Chicago_s_Little_Village.html">Associated Press 9/18/08</a>; <a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080919chicago.htm">ICE News Release 9/19/08</a>]<br /><br />José Landaverde, the pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Anglican church in Little Village, said he was questioned during the raids by agents who asked to see his mica, a slang term for green card. Landaverde said he was visiting the local alderman's office to pick up a block-party permit. "When I walked outside the office, three officers of Immigration approached me and put me on top of my car, and then searched me," said Landaverde. "And they said, 'I want to see your documents, mica.' And then I said, 'I don't have any mica, but I have my United States passport because I'm a United States citizen.' When he saw the passport, he gave it back to me right away and he said, 'Go away.'"<br /><br />On 26th Street, the neighborhood's main drag, Landaverde said immigration agents "were stopping everyone who was walking on the sidewalk and saying, 'Lay down on the floor, searching you, give me your documentation.' If you didn't have it, they were taking you." [<a href="http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=29026">WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) 9/19/08</a>]<br /><br />Landaverde held a press conference on Sept. 19 to denounce the raid. "The agents showed up in the neighborhood starting at 9pm on Tuesday [Sept. 16], with helicopters and guns, and they have been terrorizing the community and taking away innocent people," said Landaverde. At the press conference, Landaverde introduced Josefina Pérez, a mother of six children who said her husband, Héctor Medina, was arrested in the street during the raids. "He was walking with his cousin and the agents arrested him, accusing him of being a false document seller when in fact he works all day doing auto body repair," said Pérez. [<a href="http://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/ElFinanciero/Portal/cfpages/contentmgr.cfm?docId=145008&docTipo=1&orderby=docid&sortby=ASC">El Financiero (Mexico) 9/19/08 with information from Notimex/JOT</a>]<br /><br />It was not clear how many people were arrested in the raid. An ICE news release said the operation was a followup to the April 2007 sweep at the Little Village mall--targeting a competing ring of false document producers who stepped in to pick up extra business after those arrests. The news release said that on Sept. 18 "ICE agents began arresting up to 21 new defendants," and that 21 people were charged on Sept. 19 in two federal court indictments with conspiring to produce false identification documents. The news release cites US Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Northern District of Illinois, and Gary J. Hartwig, special agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Chicago, as saying that 15 of the defendants named in the two indictments had been arrested in Chicago since the night of Sept. 16, while six are fugitives. [Note that both Landaverde and ICE say the arrests began on the night of Sept. 16, while ICE reports that the search warrants were not served until Sept. 18.] [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080919chicago.htm">ICE News Release 9/19/08</a>] ICE said it will continue searching Little Village indefinitely searching for more people implicated in the production and sale of false documents. [<a href="http://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/ElFinanciero/Portal/cfpages/contentmgr.cfm?docId=145008&docTipo=1&orderby=docid&sortby=ASC">El Financiero 9/19/08 with information from Notimex/JOT</a>]<br /><br />*4. "FUGITIVE" RAIDS IN CHICAGO AREA<br /><br />From Sept. 12 to 15, agents from four ICE Fugitive Operations Teams arrested 144 people in Chicago and nearby areas in an operation targeting people who have failed to comply with deportation orders. (ICE calls such people "fugitives" or "absconders.") Of those arrested, 110 had final orders of deportation; 34 were people without legal immigration status who were encountered by ICE officers during the raids. Those arrested during the four-day operation are from 26 countries: Albania, Belize, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lithuania, Malawi, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia and Yugoslavia. <br /><br />The arrests took place in Chicago; in the Illinois communities of Beach Park, Country Club Hills, Gurnee, Grayslake, Harwood Heights, Libertyville, North Chicago, Nottingham Park, Round Lake, Skokie, Waukegan, Willowbrook and Zion; and in the northern Indiana cities of Elkhart, Goshen, Mishawaka, Nappanee and South Bend. The US Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force assisted ICE with the operation. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080917chicago.htm">ICE News Release 9/17/08</a>]<br /><br />In Chicago, immigrant advocates called the raids an emblem of a broken system that has separated thousands of families through deportation. As part of Citizenship Day, activists protested on Sept. 17 in Grant Park against increased fees for US citizenship applications; the filing fee for such applications jumped from $400 to $675 on July 30, 2007. Advocates say the increased fees have reduced the number of legal residents applying for citizenship. In Chicago, applications for US citizenship dropped 39% during the first four months of the year compared with the same period last year, according to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. [<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-immigration-arrestssep18,0,7634859.story">Chicago Tribune 9/18/08</a>]<br /><br />*5. "FUGITIVE" RAIDS IN COLORADO<br /><br />From Sept. 12 to 16, agents from ICE Fugitive Operations Teams arrested 59 immigrants in 14 Colorado cities. Only 30 of the 59 people arrested had failed to comply with deportation orders; the other 29 were people without legal immigration status who were encountered by ICE during the raids. Of the total 59 people arrested, 20 had criminal convictions. The arrests took place in Aurora, Aspen, Basalt, Canyon City, Carbondale, Colorado Springs, Cortez, Craig, Denver, Durango, El Jebel, Glenwood Springs, Pueblo and Thornton. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080918denver.htm">ICE News Release 9/18/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-36625859397978865992008-09-07T12:58:00.001-07:002008-09-07T13:26:11.204-07:00INB 9/7/08: Al-Arian Released, Flower Grower RaidedImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 22 - September 7, 2008<br /> <br />1. Civil Rights Activist Al-Arian Released<br />2. Texas Town's Rental Ban Overturned<br />3. Marchers Oppose Border Fence<br />4. Raid at California Flower Grower<br />5. Poultry Workers Charged, Raid Feared<br />6. Immigrants March in Denver<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST AL-ARIAN RELEASED<br /><br />On Sept. 2 in Alexandria, Virginia, former Florida professor and civil rights activist Sami Al-Arian was finally released on bail after spending five-and-a-half years in jail. Al-Arian had been transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on Apr. 11 of this year, then transferred back to US Marshals custody on June 30 after being charged with criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury. After US District Judge Leonie Brinkema ordered Al-Arian's release on bail on July 10, the government transferred him back to ICE custody, claiming it was attempting to deport him. Brinkema reaffirmed the bail order on Aug. 8 as she postponed the criminal contempt trial, pending a Supreme Court ruling on Al-Arian's appeal challenging the government's right to compel him to testify [see INB <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/08/inb-81608-detainee-dies-in-rhode-island.html">8/16/08</a>, <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/07/inb-7508-raid-at-maryland-painting.html">7/5/08</a>, <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/04/inb-42708-detainees-transferred-after.html">4/27/08</a>, <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/03/inb-32908-h-2-workers-sue-march.html">3/29/08</a>, <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2007/03/inb-32407-nj-detainees-protest-raids-in.html">3/24/07</a>, <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/03/inb-61006-memphis-chemical-plants.html">6/10/06</a>]. On Aug. 25, Al-Arian's attorneys filed a habeas petition demanding his release; Brinkema gave ICE until Sept. 2 to respond. The agency's response came in the form of an order for Al-Arian's release on bail. Al-Arian's family met him as he was released from an ICE facility in Fairfax, Virginia. He remains under house arrest. [<a href="http://www.freesamialarian.com/sami_isout.htm">Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace 9/2/08</a>; <a href="http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/01/me-al-arian-arraigned-on-contempt-charges/">Tampa Tribune 7/1/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. TEXAS TOWN'S RENTAL BAN OVERTURNED<br /><br />On Aug. 29, US District Judge Sam A. Lindsay issued a final judgment permanently preventing the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch from enforcing an ordinance that would have required landlords to verify the immigration status of tenants. Lindsay ruled that Ordinance 2903 violated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment because it was too vague, and that it interfered with the federal government's exclusive jurisdiction over immigration. Farmers Branch voters had approved Ordinance 2903 by a ratio of more than 2-to-1 in May 2007, after an earlier attempt to restrict housing rentals by out-of-status immigrants was blocked by the courts.<br /><br />In January 2008 the Farmers Branch City Council adopted yet another replacement measure, Ordinance 2952, to take effect 15 days after Lindsay's final ruling on the earlier rule. The new ordinance would require all prospective tenants to get a rental license from the city. The city would use a federal database to verify the applicant's legal status before approving the license. [<a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/083008dnmetfarmersbranchrent.253f0f96.html">Dallas Morning News 8/31/08</a>, <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-fbordinance_04met.ART0.Central.Edition1.4d7ad65.html">9/4/08</a>; <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5974403.html">AP 8/29/08</a>]<br /><br />Opponents filed a lawsuit against the new ordinance on Sept. 3, asking Judge Lindsay to block its implementation, currently set for Sept. 13. The lawsuit says that the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database which the city plans to use is designed to verify eligibility for programs such as housing assistance, Medicaid and unemployment compensation; municipalities are not authorized to use the system to determine who is eligible for rental housing. Judge Lindsay had already criticized the new ordinance in May, calling it "yet another attempt to circumvent the court's prior rulings and further an agenda that runs afoul of the United States Constitution." [<a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-fbordinance_04met.ART0.Central.Edition1.4d7ad65.html">DMN 9/4/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. MARCHERS OPPOSE BORDER FENCE<br /><br />On Aug. 31, more than 100 activists from a coalition of organizations concluded a four-day march along the route of a new border fence which the US federal government claims will help stop immigrants crossing from Mexico. The march opposing the fence construction began at Fort Hancock, Texas, some 55 miles southeast of El Paso, and ended with a rally in Sunland Park, New Mexico, just northwest of El Paso. Marchers took part in the action on both sides of the border fence. Border Patrol agents in vehicles and on horses kept watch over the border and scanned the march from a distance. <br /><br />The new section of fencing is expected to be completed by the end of the year; it will be nearly 100 miles long, stretching across the El Paso area from Columbus, New Mexico, to Fort Hancock. The fence is expected to cost about four million dollars per mile, according to US Customs and Border Protection officials. [<a href="http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_10353133">El Paso Times 9/1/08</a>, <a href="http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_10371881">9/3/08</a>; <a href="http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=8933880&nav=AbC0">KVIA/ABC7 (El Paso, TX/Las Cruces, NM/Juarez, Mexico) 9/1/08</a>]<br /><br />El Paso County Attorney Jose Rodriguez announced on Sept. 3 that US District Judge Frank Montalvo had denied a request for a preliminary injunction against construction of any physical barriers along the US-Mexico border. In a 28-page ruling dated Aug. 29, Montalvo said the plaintiffs failed to prove that construction would irreparably harm the public. <br /><br />The request for the injunction was filed June 23 by the County of El Paso, City of El Paso, El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, Frontera Audubon Society, Friends of the Wildlife Corridor, Friends of Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge and South Texas property owner Mark Clark. The petition was part of a lawsuit challenging Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's statutory authority for issuing waivers of more than three dozen federal laws, as well as related state, local and tribal laws, to expedite the fence construction. The injunction request sought to halt construction until the Department of Homeland Security complies with the laws Chertoff waived on Apr. 3 [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/04/inb-4608-la-area-warehouses-raided.html">INB 4/6/08</a>]. [<a href="http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_10371881">EPT 9/3/08</a>, <a href="http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_10375395">9/4/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. RAID AT CALIFORNIA FLOWER GROWER<br /><br />On the morning of Sept. 2, ICE agents executed federal search warrants at the Arcata, California headquarters of the Sun Valley Group, a major wholesale flower grower. ICE arrested 19 workers at the job site and two others later in the day in McKinleyville and Eureka while executing related search warrants at the Humboldt County homes of nine company employees. Another two workers who were sought in the morning raid turned themselves in to ICE that same afternoon at the Coast Guard Station in McKinleyville where ICE was processing the detainees, according to ICE spokesperson Virginia Kice. An additional Sun Valley employee who was sought as part of the investigation was found to be in the custody of the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department on an unrelated state charge. ICE agents lodged an immigration detainer against that person to ensure they will gain custody of him once the local case is completed. The 24 workers identified in the raid are all citizens of Mexico; six of them are women. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080903arcata.htm">ICE News Release 9/3/08</a>; <a href="http://eurekareporter.com/article/080904-more-immigration-arrests-made-by-ice">Eureka Reporter 9/4/08</a>]<br /><br />As ICE was driving detained workers off the Sun Valley premises in white agency vans, three people who identified themselves as concerned members of the community linked hands across the road in an attempt to block one of the vehicles from leaving. The van made a U-turn and headed in the opposite direction. [<a href="http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_10378231">Times-Standard (Eureka) 9/4/08</a>]<br /><br />The <span style="font-style:italic;">Eureka Reporter</span> spoke to a man who witnessed one of the ICE raids on an apartment complex in Fortuna. Willie Bramlett said about 10 to 15 agents, some wielding machine guns, went up to the apartment, knocked on the door and then use a battering ram to open it up. "They knocked and then bashed it in," he said. [<a href="http://eurekareporter.com/article/080904-more-immigration-arrests-made-by-ice">Eureka Reporter 9/4/08</a>]<br /><br />By Sept. 3, ICE had released 21 of the arrested workers under supervision to await hearings in immigration court. One worker who had been previously deported will remain in ICE custody to await his hearing. A worker with a criminal record was turned over to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department on an outstanding warrant issued out of Southern California.<br /><br />The investigation at Sun Valley originated with a call to ICE's tip line; agents then uncovered evidence that some of the company’s employees used Social Security numbers and alien registration numbers that were either fraudulent, did not belong to them, or did not authorize employment. In addition, some of the company's workers are believed to have falsely claimed to be US citizens or lawful permanent residents, according to ICE. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080903arcata.htm">ICE News Release 9/3/08</a>]<br /><br />"While we have the utmost concern and compassion for all Sun Valley team members, we respect that the law is the law and we are cooperating fully with ICE," Sun Valley owner Lane DeVries said in a statement. "In light of this cooperation we are extremely disappointed that ICE has chosen to escalate their approach to working with us on their concerns, as they have today."<br /><br />According to the company's statement, ICE notified Sun Valley on Aug. 25 that 40 of its employees who were hired between November 2007 and May 2008 appeared to be ineligible to work in the US. On Sept. 2, Sun Valley told those employees they could no longer work at the company until they could document that they are authorized to do so. Since June, the company has used the federal government's E-Verify system to ensure that all new hires have valid identification, the company said. The notice to the 40 workers was not related to the search warrant used in the raid, which identified 52 people, said Sun Valley spokesperson John Armato. <br /><br />A worker interviewed outside the plant told the Times-Standard that employees had no warning of the raid. Another employee who asked to remain anonymous told the newspaper the raid was demoralizing. "I'm white, I'm legal, but I've worked with these people and they are good people and it was very disturbing to watch these people taken away," she said. [<a href="http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_10378231">Times-Standard 9/4/08</a>]<br /><br />On June 9, Sun Valley fired half of its workforce--283 employees--after a letter from ICE informed the company that the workers' Social Security numbers didn't match government records [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/06/inb-62208-indian-workers-suspend-hunger.html">INB 6/22/08</a>].<br /><br />*5. POULTRY WORKERS CHARGED, RAID FEARED<br /><br />On Aug. 13, three employees of the House of Raeford Farms poultry processing plant in Greenville, South Carolina, were indicted on charges of using counterfeit IDs to gain employment, identify theft, and making a false statement to a federal agency. The three men were arraigned on Aug. 28. They were arrested in July; two former supervisors at the plant were arrested the same month on similar charges. <br /><br />On Aug. 19, seven former supervisors at the plant, including the two arrested in July, pleaded guilty to using fake IDs to work at the Greenville plant. The plant's human resource manager, Elaine Crump, also arrested in July, has been indicted on 20 felony counts charging that she instructed employees to use fraudulent employment eligibility forms. Crump’s pre-trial hearing, originally scheduled for Aug. 19, was continued until later this year. The prosecution of the 11 House of Raeford employees is part of an ICE investigation that apparently began after the <span style="font-style:italic;">Charlotte Observer</span> published a series of reports in February about the plant’s hiring practices. [<a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/100/story/127937.html">Charolotte Observer 8/14/08</a>, <a href="http://legacy.charlotteobserver.com/739/story/767177.html">8/20/08</a>; <a href="http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/575/story/573238.html">AP 8/28/08</a>]<br /><br />At a House of Raeford Farms plant in West Columbia, South Carolina, an employee identified as Sergio said workers there fear that after immigration agents finish investigating the Greenville plant, less than 100 miles away, they will come to the West Columbia plant. "They say 'la migra' is coming on Monday, or Tuesday," said Joaquin Hernandez, whose wife is a supervisor at the West Columbia plant. "No one knows what to do." [<a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/331/story/173046.html">Charlotte Observer 9/5/08</a>]<br /><br />*6. IMMIGRANTS MARCH IN DENVER<br /><br />About 1,500 people marched through the streets of Denver, Colorado on Aug. 28, the final day of the four-day Democratic National Convention there, to press for immigrant justice. The march was organized by American Friends Service Committee and sponsored by local and national religious, human rights and labor organizations. Federico Peña, the former Denver mayor who co-chairs the presidential campaign of Democratic candidate Barack Obama, helped carry a banner stating: "Immigrant Rights Are Human Rights." [<a href="http://www.elporvenir.com.mx/notas.asp?nota_id=244752">Notimex 8/28/08</a>; <a href="http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2008/08/29/index.php?section=mundo&article=034n1mun">La Jornada (Mexico) 8/29/08 from AFP</a>; <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/dnc/ci_10329576">Denver Post 8/29/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-90456534815785880722008-08-30T19:57:00.000-07:002008-08-30T20:49:49.029-07:00INB 8/30/08: Mississippi Factory Raided, 595 ArrestedImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 21 - August 30, 2008<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Special Issue: Mississippi Factory Raided, 595 Arrested</span><br /> <br />On Aug. 25, dozens of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested approximately 595 workers in a raid on an electric transformer manufacturing facility owned by Howard Industries, Inc. in Laurel, Mississippi, a town of 20,000. The agents sealed off all the plant's exits, trapping workers inside, and executed a federal criminal search warrant for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, as well as a civil search warrant looking for unauthorized immigrants. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080826laurel.htm">ICE News Release 8/26/08</a>; <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION_RAID?SITE=MOCOD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">AP 8/27/08</a>; <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5679696">ABC News 8/29/08</a>; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/27/AR2008082703931.html">Washington Post 8/28/08</a>]<br /><br />The arrested workers were immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Peru, Brazil and Germany. Citing humanitarian reasons such as childcare, ICE released about 106 workers after fitting their ankles with electronic monitors to ensure their future appearance before a federal immigration judge. Nine other workers were transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) after they were determined to be unaccompanied minors. All nine were 17 years old; one was female. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080826laurel.htm">ICE 8/26/08</a>; <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5679696">ABC News 8/29/08</a>]<br /><br />ICE spokesperson Barbara Gonzalez said agents also executed search warrants at the company's headquarters in nearby Ellisville. She said no company executives had been detained, but that the investigation was ongoing. [<a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/ats-ap-immigration-raidaug27,1,3485283.story">AP 8/27/08</a>]<br /> <br />"Paula," a Mexican worker released with an ankle monitor, said that around 8am on Aug. 25, supervisors at the plant told workers that a "hurricane was coming," then ICE agents "surrounded us in front, all around." According to Paula, agents taunted and threatened the workers and kicked and pushed some of them as helicopters flew overhead. [<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5679696">ABC News 8/29/08</a>] Steve Dodd, an eyewitness who was at the plant during the raid, called the raid "very professional" and "a smooth operation"; he said US citizens were provided with blue armbands. [<a href="http://www.leadercall.com/local/local_story_239094452.html">Laurel Leader-Call 8/26/08</a>]<br /><br />The plant on Pendorf Road was shut down for the day. "Manufacturing operations were restarted at our Laurel Facility on regular shifts Tuesday morning [Aug. 26] with the remainder of our 3000-plus work force," said Howard Industries in a statement on Aug. 27. "We began an immediate testing and hiring program to replace transformer production employees who may not be returning to work. We anticipate being fully staffed within one week." [<a href="http://www.leadercall.com/local/local_story_242095510.html">LL-C 8/29/08</a>] On Aug. 26, hundreds of people lined up outside the plant to apply for jobs as news of the raid spread. [<a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION_RAID?SITE=MOCOD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">AP 8/27/08</a>; <a href="http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080827/NEWS/808270366/1001">Hattiesburg American (Mississippi) 8/27/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Eight Face Criminal Charges</span><br /><br />On Aug. 26, Michael A. Holt, ICE Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Investigations in New Orleans, and Stan Harris, First Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, announced that the US Attorney's Office had brought criminal charges against eight workers for aggravated identity theft and had transferred them to the custody of the US Marshals Service. The other workers face administrative immigration violations, although. Harris warned there could be more identity theft cases after ICE officials finish interviewing the detainees. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080826laurel.htm">ICE 8/26/08</a>; <a href="http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008808280323">HA 8/28/08</a>]<br /><br />At a preliminary and detention hearing on Aug. 27 at US District Court in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, federal prosecutors said the eight workers had used stolen identities, including one of a dead person, to gain employment. ICE agent Ben Taylor testified that some had received the fake identification information from friends. US Magistrate Mike Parker ordered all eight held without bond; he rejected public defender Abby Brumley's request to free Paula Gomez on bond to care for her five-year-old son, who had been sick and had no one else to care for him. "She has been charged with a serious crime," said Assistant US Attorney Gaines Cleveland. "We need to keep this defendant until the charges are resolved." Stan Harris would not say where the eight were being held. The Hattiesburg American reported that in court some had on Pearl River County Jail jumpsuits and others wore Mississippi Department of Corrections' clothing. [<a href="http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008808280323">HA 8/28/08</a>]<br /><br />On Mar. 17, Mississippi governor Haley Barbour signed SB 2988, the "Employment Protection Act," requiring employers in the state to use the federal "E-Verify" database to check the immigration status of new hires. The law took effect on July 1 for state and local government agencies, companies contracting with state and local governments, and employers with 250 or more employees. Businesses with more than 100 employees must have the system in place by July 1, 2009; smaller businesses must comply by July 1, 2011. [<a href="http://www.governorbarbour.com/news/2008/mar/SB2988.htm">Barbour Statement 3/17/08</a>; <a href="http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080630/NEWS01/806300314">HA 6/30/08</a>; <a href="http://www.paulhastings.com/publicationDetail.aspx?publicationId=906">Immigration Practice Group, Immigration News: Recent E-Verify Developments 5/20/08</a>]<br /><br />Mississippi lawmakers once used Howard Industries laptops, and in 2002 Mississippi lawmakers approved a $31.5 million, taxpayer-backed incentive plan for Howard Industries to expand. It is unclear whether the company has current state contracts, but the provisions of SB 2988 do not apply to contracts entered before January 2, 2008. [<a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/ats-ap-immigration-raidaug27,1,3485283.story">AP 8/27/08, 5:47pm</a> & <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION_RAID?SITE=MOCOD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">8:47pm</a>; <a href="http://www.paulhastings.com/publicationDetail.aspx?publicationId=906">Immigration Practice Group 5/20/08</a>]<br /><br />Under the law, a company found guilty of employing unauthorized immigrants could lose public contracts for three years and the right to do business in Mississippi for a year. The law also makes it a felony for an unauthorized immigrant to accept a job in Mississippi. [<a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/ats-ap-immigration-raidaug27,1,3485283.story">AP 8/27/08</a>] Howard Industries started using E-Verify last year. An ICE spokesperson said the agency began its investigation into the company two years ago. [<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/27/AR2008082703931.html">Washington Post 8/28/08</a>]<br /><br />In June, the US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed $123,500 in penalties for 36 violations at Howard’s Pendorf site and $41,000 for 15 violations at another Howard site in Laurel. [<a href="http://www.leadercall.com/local/local_story_239094452.html">LL-C 8/26/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Activists Issued Warnings</span><br /><br />Just as happened with the May 12 raid at the Agriprocessors kosher meat processing plant in Postville, Iowa [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/06/inb-6208-massive-raid-at-kosher-meat.html">INB 6/2/08</a>], local immigrant advocates had reported warning signs in advance of the Mississippi raid. On Aug. 22, the <a href="http://www.yourmira.org">Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance (MIRA)</a> issued a press release reporting a "series of preparations by [ICE] on the Gulf Coast" suggesting an impending major raid in the area. "ICE has reportedly booked dozens of rooms in hotels on the Gulf Coast," wrote MIRA. "They may be checking in as early as tonight." [<a href="http://yourmira.org/ICERaids_prelease.htm">MIRA Press Release 8/22/08</a>] The week before the raid, Howard Industries put up a billboard announcing it was hiring. [<a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION_RAID?SITE=MOCOD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">AP 8/27/08</a>]<br /><br />"Perhaps even more worrisome are the reports that the federal court in Hattiesburg is being readied for a response similar to the response to the raid in Postville," warned MIRA. The organization's "staff and local leaders are working quickly to identify possible targets, educate workers and assemble a team of attorneys..." the press release said. "What happened in Postville was an absolute travesty of justice that must never happen again," stated MIRA spokesperson and attorney Patricia Ice. "ICE must assure that any future enforcement actions are conducted in a humane manner and that detainees are permitted their constitutional rights to due process and to legal counsel." [<a href="http://yourmira.org/ICERaids_prelease.htm">MIRA 8/22/08</a>]<br /><br />By Aug. 29 it seemed clear that the federal government had not repeated in Mississippi the strategy it followed in Iowa, where prosecutors filed criminal identity-theft charges against 305 of the 389 workers arrested. "I think Postville was a huge embarrassment because of the criminalization of workers," said Erik Camayd-Freixas, a Florida International University professor who served as a federal courts interpreter during mass hearings for the Agriprocessors workers. After the proceedings were over, Camayd-Freixas published an <a href="http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=dd3d7679d6579a9a883d376a80142456§ion_id=1">essay</a> suggesting that most of the Postville workers were unfairly pressured into guilty pleas and weren’t even aware that they had used Social Security numbers belonging to other people.<br /><br />Drake University law professor Bob Rigg, who also criticized the Iowa court proceedings, said that processing most of the workers administratively for deportation instead of prosecuting them on criminal charges "used to be the norm until Postville." Complaints from Camayd-Freixas, the <a href="http://www.aclu.org/immigrants/workplace/36219prs20080731.html">American Civil Liberties Union</a>, the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/opinion/13sun2.html">New York Times</a> and others about the unjust treatment of the Postville workers have caused tremendous controversy; "It could be the U.S. attorney in Mississippi decided, 'I'm not going to go through that,'" said Rigg. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/NEWS/808280383/1002/NEWS01">Des Moines Register (Iowa) 8/28/08</a>]<br /><br />When asked if the government's policy had changed, ICE spokesperson Barbara Gonzalez responded in an email message: "Absolutely not." [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/us/27raid.html">New York Times 8/26/08</a>] Gonzalez would not specify why only eight of the Mississippi workers were charged with crimes. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/NEWS/808280383/1002/NEWS01">DMR 8/28/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Did Union Cheer Raid?</span><br /><br />Witnesses said that authorized workers at the factory cheered and applauded as immigrants were herded out in shackles. ICE said a tip from a union member triggered its investigation of Howard Industries. [<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5679696">ABC News 8/29/08</a>; <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/ats-ap-immigration-raidaug27,1,3485283.story">AP 8/27/08</a>]<br /><br />According to an AP report, union members speaking on condition of anonymity said they resented immigrant workers at the plant; they said the company allowed immigrants to work as much as 40 hours of overtime a week but discouraged other employees from doing so. [<a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION_RAID?SITE=MOCOD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">AP 8/27/08</a>]<br /><br />Veteran labor reporter David Bacon writes that International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1317 had brought in Spanish-speaking organizers to sign up immigrant members at the Laurel plant, and that many immigrants who were hired recently had begun to join the union. (Mississippi is a "right-to-work" state, where unions must work to recruit voluntary members at unionized plants.) [<a href="http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=fb0c72be1640d947e97f6107245a8905&from=rss">New America Media News Analysis by David Bacon, dated 8/31/08, accessed 8/30/08</a>] According to AP, about 2,600 of Howard Industries' workers belong to the union, although it was unclear how many of them worked at the raided plant, or whether any had been arrested. One immigrant worker from Mexico who did not join the union said that in order to recruit members, "the union uses the tactic of saying immigration was coming and the members of the union would not be taken." [<a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION_RAID?SITE=MOCOD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">AP 8/27/08</a>]<br /><br />Local 1317's collective bargaining agreement expired at the beginning of August, and the ICE raid took place as the union was negotiating a new contract seeking wage increases, better vacation benefits and health care improvements. Activists say the raid in Laurel will help the company resist such demands and could undermine progressive coalition-building. Jim Evans, a national AFL-CIO staff member in Mississippi and a member of the state legislature's Black Caucus, said he believed the raid "is an attempt to drive a wedge between immigrants, African Americans, white people and unions--all those who want political change here." [<a href="http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=fb0c72be1640d947e97f6107245a8905&from=rss">NAM News Analysis (Bacon), dated 8/31/08, accessed 8/30/08</a>]<br /><br />Immediately after the raid, MIRA began organizing meetings with the affected workers to provide legal advice, food and economic help. According to MIRA director Bill Chandler, Howard Industries representatives told workers who had been released and family members of detained workers that the company wouldn't release their paychecks. On Aug. 28 MIRA organizer Vicky Cintra led a group of workers to the raided plant to demand their pay. Managers called Laurel police and sheriffs, who threatened to arrest her. After workers began chanting, "Let her go!" and news reporters appeared on the scene, the company finally agreed to distribute checks to about 70 people. [<a href="http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=fb0c72be1640d947e97f6107245a8905&from=rss">NAM News Analysis (Bacon), dated 8/31/08, accessed 8/30/08</a>; <a href="http://www.leadercall.com/local/local_story_242095510.html">LL-C 8/29/08</a>]<br /><br />MIRA has established a special relief fund for those affected by the raid--for details see: <a href="http://yourmira.org/action.html">www.yourmira.org/action.html</a><br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-54806817903943308802008-08-23T18:02:00.000-07:002008-08-24T17:32:01.238-07:00INB 8/23/08: Deport Flight to Southeast Asia; Hawaii Construction RaidImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 20 - August 23, 2008<br /><br />1. Deport Flight to Southeast Asia<br />2. Construction Raid in Hawai'i<br />3. ICE Steps Up "Anti-Gang" Raids<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. DEPORT FLIGHT TO SOUTHEAST ASIA<br /><br />In a charter flight that left on Aug. 12 from Seattle, Washington, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 106 people--including eight women--to Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia. The 49 Filipinos, 44 Indonesians and 13 Cambodians were taken from different locations around the US to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington in preparation for the flight. The deportees included 46 people with criminal convictions. ICE officers and medical staff with the Division of Immigration Health Services accompanied the flight, along with consular officials from the countries involved.<br /><br />The flight was arranged by ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO). It was the US government's second deportation flight to Indonesia; the first left Yuma, Arizona on Apr. 8. That flight took 123 deportees to Pampanga, Philippines and Jakarta, Indonesia on Apr. 10 [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/04/inb-42008-over-300-arrested-in-poultry.html">INB 4/20/08</a>]. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080814seattle.htm">ICE News Release 8/14/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. CONSTRUCTION RAID IN HAWAI'I<br /><br />On Aug. 20, ICE agents arrested 22 unauthorized immigrant workers at the construction site of the Honua Kai Resort luxury condominium project on Kaanapali Beach on the island of Maui in Hawai'i. The site was shut down for a few hours as more than a dozen federal agents and Maui police officers barricaded and searched the area. <br />According to ICE spokesperson Lori Haley, those arrested included one woman and 21 men; Haley said 15 people, including the woman, are Mexican nationals, four are Brazilian, one is Guatemalan, one is Honduran and one is Peruvian. The workers were taken to the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu to be processed for removal. [<a href="http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/507456.html">Maui News 8/22/08</a>; <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2008/08/18/daily60.html">Pacific Business News 8/22/08</a>] The Honolulu Advertiser reported that the arrested Mexicans in the group numbered 16, including the woman, and that the total number of workers arrested was 23. [<a href="http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080823/NEWS01/808230330/1190/LOCALNEWSFRONT">Honolulu Advertiser 8/23/08</a>]<br /><br />Haley said the arrests were part of a continuing investigation targeting Global Stone Inc., a subcontractor at the site. The general contractor on the condominium project, Ledcor Construction, based in Honolulu, issued a written statement on Aug. 21 saying that none of the detained workers were employed by Ledcor, and that the company "received assurances from the subcontractors that they were in compliance with all federal, state and local laws."<br /><br />"Ledcor supports Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts to solve this national problem," Ledcore vice president Eric Tessem said in the statement. [<a href="http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/507456.html">Maui News 8/22/08</a>]<br /><br />More than 80 unauthorized immigrants have been arrested over the past month in Hawai'i, and the arrests will continue, announced Ed Kubo, US Attorney for the District of Hawaii, at an Aug. 22 press conference with representatives from the Department of Homeland Security, the state's Sheriff's Department, US Marshall's Office and the Coast Guard. "We are drawing a line in our sand," Kubo said. "Hawai'i has always been known for our aloha and acceptance of everyone, but there will be no aloha for those who lie, cheat and steal from us." [<a href="http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080823/NEWS01/808230330/1190/LOCALNEWSFRONT">Honolulu Advertiser 8/23/08</a>]<br /><br />"[W]ithin the last two weeks approximately 41 undocumented workers have been arrested by our agents on the island of Maui and near [the Honua Kai Resort] project, of which 28 of them were confirmed as actually working at Honua Kai," said Kubo. [<a href="http://www.khon2.com/home/ticker/27303354.html">KHON (Honolulu) 8/22/08</a>]<br /><br />Kubo said further investigations will target industries including agriculture, federal contractors, tourism, restaurants and construction. "Our investigators will be increasing the tempo of these investigations and are looking at all types of work sites to uncover these violations," said Kubo. "[I]f you are illegally working here in the state, or if you are knowingly hiring illegal aliens you better keep looking over your shoulders because we are coming," Kubo warned. [<a href="http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080823/NEWS01/808230330/1190/LOCALNEWSFRONT">HA 8/23/08</a>; <a href="http://www.kitv.com/mostpopular/17272150/detail.html">KITV (Honolulu) 8/22/08</a>; <a href="http://www.khon2.com/home/ticker/27303354.html">KHON 8/22/08</a>]<br /><br />Kubo said that 23 of the 43 Mexican workers arrested in a July 20 raid on an apartment building in Waipahu have been charged with knowingly using a fraudulent green card, using a fraudulent Social Security number and possessing a fraudulent green card. [<a href="http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080823/NEWS01/808230330/1190/LOCALNEWSFRONT">HA 8/23/08</a>] At the Honolulu federal courthouse on Aug. 21, several of the 23 were ordered held without bail. [<a href="http://www.kitv.com/news/17263158/detail.html">KITV 8/22/08</a>] The July 20 raid targeted agricultural workers employed by The Farms Inc., based in Kunia. [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/08/inb-81008-union-protests-arrests-in.html">INB 8/10/08</a>] Attorney Dax Deason, representing The Farms, said "there are no charges against the company, we feel that we haven't violated any federal laws, and have followed all rules and regulations." [<a href="http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080823/NEWS01/808230330/1190/LOCALNEWSFRONT">HA 8/23/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. ICE STEPS UP "ANTI-GANG" RAIDS<br /><br />From Aug. 11 to 16, agents arrested 42 foreign nationals in an ICE-led operation targeting street gangs in the metropolitan area of Salt Lake City, Utah. The sweep was carried out with the assistance of the US Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US Attorney's Office, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office and the Salt Lake City and Midvale police departments. One of the arrested immigrants was from Guatemala, one was from Honduras, three were from El Salvador and the rest were from Mexico. Of the total 42 people arrested, 10 face federal charges for reentry after deportation; one faces federal charges for illegal possession of a firearm; and 11 others are being prosecuted on state charges. The remaining 20 people were arrested on administrative immigration violations.<br /><br />According to ICE, another 73 foreign national gang members were arrested over the previous weeks in similar multi-agency operations in Provo (29 arrests), Ogden (28 arrests) and St. George (16 arrests). [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080818saltlakecity.htm">ICE News Release 8/18/08</a>]<br /><br />Between July 28 and Aug. 9, a total of 50 people were arrested in an ICE-led anti-gang operation through the metropolitan area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Most of the arrests were in the Twin Cities, but some were in Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Columbia Heights, Crystal, Maplewood, Richfield and West St. Paul. The sweep was conducted in partnership with the Metro Gang Strike Force with support from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the police departments of Brooklyn Park and Richfield.<br /><br />ICE said 35 of those arrested were gang members, seven were "gang associates" and the other eight were immigrants with no known gang affiliation who were in violation of immigration law. According to ICE, 29 Mexicans, six Hondurans, two Salvadorans and an Ecuadoran were placed in deportation proceedings, while 10 US citizens and two US permanent residents were arrested on various state and federal charges. Three people were referred to the US Attorney's Office in Minneapolis for criminal prosecution: two for reentering the US after having been deported; one for possessing a controlled substance. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080814bloomington.htm">ICE News Release 8/14/08</a>]<br /><br />On July 24, ICE agents and officers from the Yonkers Narcotics and Gang Unit raided six locations in Yonkers, New York, just north of New York City. Agents arrested five people accused of belonging to three Mexican gangs. New Rochelle police, ICE agents and Westchester County Probation officers arrested another two people in New Rochelle. All were taken into federal custody. [<a href="http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080726/NEWS02/807260368/-1/SPORTS/nr/0808/080813philadelphia.htm">Journal News (Westchester) 7/26/08</a>]<br /><br />From July 22 to 24, ICE agents arrested 17 out-of-status immigrants in an operation targeting foreign-born people with alleged gang ties in the area of Omaha, Nebraska. One arrest was made across the river in Council Bluffs, Iowa; the other 16 arrests were in Omaha. Those arrested were 15 Mexicans, one Salvadoran and one Honduran. According to ICE, eight of those arrested are gang members and four are "gang associates." The other five are immigrants with no known gang affiliations. Eleven of the people arrested had prior criminal convictions; three had reentered the US after having been deported. Six of the 17 were referred to the US Attorney's Office, District of Nebraska, for possible criminal prosecution. One was referred to the US Attorney's Office, Southern District of Iowa, for prosecution. ICE was assisted in the operation by the ATF, Nebraska State Patrol and the police departments of Omaha and Bellevue. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr//0807/080725omaha.htm">ICE News Release 7/25/08</a>] <br /><br />From July 14 to 20, a total of 81 people were arrested in an ICE-led enforcement operation targeting gang members in San Diego County, California. The sweep was carried out by more than 20 ICE agents, assisted by officers from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and the Escondido Police Department. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr//0807/080722sandiego.htm">ICE News Release 7/22/08</a>; <a href="http://www.northcountytimes.com/articles/2008/07/22/news/sandiego/zf2d78d13d1fe890a8825748e007fadc5.txt">North County Times 7/22/08</a>] Arrests were made in Fallbrook, San Marcos, Vista, Poway, Escondido and northern San Diego, said Miguel Unzueta, special agent in charge of ICE investigations in San Diego. According to Lt. Bob Benton, spokesperson for the Escondido Police Department, 13 people were arrested in Escondido. [<a href="http://www.northcountytimes.com/articles/2008/07/22/news/sandiego/zf2d78d13d1fe890a8825748e007fadc5.txt">NCT 7/22/08</a>] Some 60 officers took part in the operation in Fallbrook on July 19; 28 people were arrested. Nine were handed over to ICE for deportation, and ICE holds were placed on a few other arrestees. An additional 22 people were cited for local violations and released. [<a href="http://www.thevillagenews.com/story.php?story_id=31596">Fallbrook Village News 7/24/08</a>]<br /><br />According to ICE, the 81 people arrested in the San Diego County sweeps included 38 "gang members or gang associates" and 43 "criminal aliens" who were either present in the US without permission, or were legal residents whose criminal offenses made them eligible for deportation. The North County Times reported that the 43 "criminal aliens" included two US citizens who were arrested for non-immigration-related offenses. Six Mexican nationals, including one woman, have been charged in federal court for reentering the US after having been deported. Nine other people arrested during the operation are facing state prosecution. Most of those arrested were taken into custody on administrative immigration violations. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr//0807/080722sandiego.htm">ICE News Release 7/22/08</a>; <a href="http://www.northcountytimes.com/articles/2008/07/22/news/sandiego/zf2d78d13d1fe890a8825748e007fadc5.txt">North County Times 7/22/08</a>]<br /><br />From July 13 to 16, ICE agents working with local law enforcement officers arrested 49 people in an operation targeting foreign-born gang members in the northern and northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. According to ICE, 47 of the 49 were gang members or associates, while two had no known gang affiliations but were present in the US without permission; 42 had criminal histories. One of the 49 was Guatemalan; the others were Mexican. Among those arrested was one permanent resident whose criminal convictions make him eligible for deportation, said ICE. Nine of those arrested had reentered the US after having been deported. ICE was assisted in the operation by the ATF; the sheriffs' departments of Cook, Boone, DuPage and Winnebago Counties; and the police departments of Addison, Belvidere, Bensenville, Elgin, Franklin Park, Harvard, Mt. Prospect, West Chicago, Wheeling and Woodstock. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0807/080718chicago.htm">ICE News Release 7/18/08</a>]<br /><br />From July 11 to 16, ICE agents arrested 28 immigrants in an anti-gang operation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Those arrested included 15 "transnational gang members" and 13 people with no known gang affiliation but who were deportable, said ICE, either because they have criminal convictions or are present in the US without permission. One of the 28 was from Nigeria, one was from El Salvador and the others were from Mexico. In addition, 17 US citizen gang members were arrested on state warrants or criminal charges and turned over to local authorities. ICE was assisted in the operation by the FBI, the Oklahoma Alcohol Beverage Law Enforcement Commission (ABLE), the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office and the Tulsa Police Department. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0807/080717tulsa.htm">ICE News Release 7/17/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-62900209584444206902008-08-16T23:59:00.000-07:002008-08-16T21:23:58.562-07:00INB 8/16/08: Detainee Dies in Rhode Island; Boston Raids ProtestedImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 19 - August 16, 2008<br /><br />1. Detainee Dies in Rhode Island<br />2. Activists Protest Boston Area Raids<br />3. Workers Arrested at DC Airport<br />4. NC Parachute Company Raided<br />5. "Gang" Raids in Florida<br />6. "Fugitive" Raids in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Tennessee, Nevada<br />7. Al-Arian Trial Postponed<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. DETAINEE DIES IN RHODE ISLAND<br /><br />Hiu Lui Ng died in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a Rhode Island hospital on Aug. 6, two days after his 34th birthday, from terminal cancer which had gone untreated for months. <br /><br />Ng had come to the US from Hong Kong at age 17 and had overstayed a student visa. In 2001, a notice ordering him to appear in immigration court was mistakenly sent to a nonexistent address, records show. Because Ng did not show up at the hearing, an immigration judge ordered him deported. Ng remained in the US, married a US citizen and had two US-born sons. He was detained on July 19, 2007, when he and his wife showed up at the immigration office for his green card interview. Since then he had been detained at a number of jails and detention centers in three New England states.<br /><br />Ng had been complaining of excruciating back pain since April. In federal court affidavits, Ng's lawyers said officials had refused to allow an independent medical evaluation and had denied Ng use of a wheelchair after he was too weak to stand, preventing him from visiting with his attorneys and family. On July 30, just a week before his death, guards at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island dragged Ng from his bed, carried him in shackles to a car and drove him two hours to a federal facility in Hartford, Connecticut, where an immigration officer pressured him to withdraw all pending appeals of his case and accept deportation. <br /><br />Officials have given no explanation for the trip. But Ng's lawyers say it appeared to be an effort to prove that their client was faking illness, and possibly to thwart the habeas corpus petition they had filed in Rhode Island the day before, seeking his release for medical treatment. US District Judge William E. Smith, who heard that petition on July 31, did not make a ruling on the request but insisted that Ng get the care he needed. On Aug. 1, Ng was taken to a hospital, where doctors diagnosed the terminal cancer and fractured spine. He died five days later. [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/nyregion/13detain.html">New York Times 8/13/08</a>; <a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/IMMIGRANT_DEATH_08-14-08_MAB7EJ1_v24.43a7e63.html#">Providence Journal 8/14/08</a>]<br /><br />In a phone interview on Aug. 13, Judge Smith said he was "frankly shocked and disturbed" about the circumstances surrounding Ng's death as reported in an Aug. 13 New York Times article, which he said conflicted with what government officials told him during the hearing. Referring to a statement released on Aug. 13 by the warden at Wyatt Detention Facility--citing a preliminary autopsy that determined Ng died of "previously undiagnosed advanced stage cancer"--Smith said "that raises some really serious issues about the treatment and care of this person while he was detained, and I want to know more about that." [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/IMMIGRANT_DEATH_08-14-08_MAB7EJ1_v24.43a7e63.html#">PJ 8/14/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. ACTIVISTS PROTEST BOSTON AREA RAIDS<br /><br />On Aug. 8, ICE announced the arrests of "52 gang members and associates and 28 other criminals" in a four-day operation targeting "violent street gangs" across Massachusetts. Of the total 80 people arrested, 55 are legal permanent residents "who may be removable from the US based upon their criminal history," according to ICE; the others included 14 people who were residing in the US without permission from the federal government, two who had failed to comply with deportation orders, and three who had reentered the US after having been deported. "ICE agents also assisted in the arrest of six other individuals on state criminal violations who were encountered during the gang operation," according to the agency's news release. The arrested immigrants were nationals of Barbados, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Portugal, Trinidad and Vietnam. All had criminal records. <br /><br />The raids, part of ICE's "Operation Community Shield" anti-gang initiative, were conducted in partnership with the police departments of Attleboro, Berkley, Boston, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Dartmouth, Everett, Fall River, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Methuen, New Bedford, Peabody, Randolph, Revere, Rockland, Salem, Somerville, Stoughton, Taunton and Worcester; the sheriff's departments of Bristol, Essex, Middlesex and Suffolk counties; the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance; the Office of the Massachusetts State Auditor; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the US Attorney's Office; and the Department of State Office of Diplomatic Security. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080808boston.htm">ICE News Release 8/8/08</a>]<br /><br />On Aug. 4 and 5 in Lowell, about 30 miles northwest of Boston, ICE arrested 12 Southeast Asian immigrants between the ages of 25 and 36. [<a href="http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_10113212">Lowell Sun 8/6/08</a>] They were picked up on federal warrants for administrative immigration violations, ICE spokesperson Paula Grenier said. From Lowell's Cambodian community, one of the largest in the US, 187 people have been deported since 2002; 15 more were expected to be deported on Aug. 14.<br /><br />Relatives of those detained in Lowell joined community members in protesting the arrests at an Aug. 8 rally sponsored by Deported Diaspora and other community groups at Clemente Park in the Lower Highlands neighborhood of Lowell. More than 160 people attended the rally in the rain and signed a petition calling for elected officials and local authorities to investigate the sweeps, which they say have been heavy-handed and overly broad. Activists handed out fliers to inform people of their rights.<br /><br />Linda Pream spoke at the rally about her boyfriend, Sokon Cheurem, who was among those arrested. Pream described Cheurem as a wonderful father to his 6-year-old daughter, Josselin, who is dependent on him for support, including health and dental care. "His entire life, actually his entire being is revolved around his little girl," said Pream.<br /><br />Families are having trouble getting in touch with those arrested, said Gregg Croteau of the <a href="http://www.utec-lowell.org/">United Teen Equality Center</a>. In a press release, the group Deported Diaspora said most of the detainees seem to have been transferred out of state within 24 hours of their arrests. Croteau said his group is upset about the way ICE picked up people without considering their individual circumstances. He spoke in support of Song Sao, who was arrested seven years ago on an assault and battery charge but was given probation and never served time in jail. Croteau said Sao has been working with community groups. "According to his many friends and family members, he has completely turned his life around in a very positive and uplifting way," said Croteau. <br /><br />Croteau also expressed concern that the arrests will fuel distrust of law enforcement in the Cambodian community. The Lowell Police Department emphasized that the arrests were an ICE initiative and that its officers took part only as a safety precaution. "The Lowell Police Department has been committed to strong community partnerships, particularly with the Southeast Asian community," said acting Deputy Police Superintendent Arthur Ryan. [<a href="http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_10149290">Lowell Sun 8/9/08</a>; <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/08/09/activists_protest_federal_gang_raids/">Boston Globe 8/9/08</a>; <a href="http://www.searac.org/pr-lowellvigil-08-08-08.pdf">Deported Diaspora Press Release 8/8/08</a>]<br /><br />On Aug. 8 at Vida Real Church in Somerville, just northwest of Boston, several dozen residents took part in a rally and press conference against the raids. On Aug. 5 in Somerville, ICE agents stopped people at the Sullivan Square transit station and at a donut shop on Broadway, sowing terror in the community. Somerville police chief Anthony Holloway said ICE agents arrested one Somerville resident. At the Aug. 8 event, organized by the Somerville-based group <a href="http://www.cpresente.org/">Centro Presente</a>, pastor Luis Morales said city officials are not giving the community adequate information about ICE activities. [<a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/08/09/activists_protest_federal_gang_raids/">BG 8/9/08</a>; <a href="http://somervillenews.typepad.com/the_somerville_news/2008/08/somerville-immi.html">Somerville News 8/15/08</a>]<br /><br />On Aug. 13, more than 150 people from immigrant rights organizations, labor unions, religious congregations and other groups rallied at Boston's City Hall Plaza to protest the raids and the collaboration between local police and ICE, and to demand fair immigration policies. The rally was sponsored by groups including <a href="http://www.jwj.org/">Jobs with Justice</a> and <a href="http://www.cpresente.org/">Centro Presente</a>. [<a href="http://www.openmediaboston.org/node/285">Open Media Boston 8/15/08</a>; <a href="http://boston.indymedia.org/feature/display/205433/index.php">Boston Indymedia 8/14/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. WORKERS ARRESTED AT DC AIRPORT<br /><br />On Aug. 13, ICE agents set up a checkpoint at a service gate at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, and questioned more than 200 people who attempted to enter the airport grounds. Most of those questioned were working on construction projects at the airport. ICE arrested 42 Latin American construction workers who were found to be ineligible to work in the US. The workers were detained administratively on immigration violations, said Mark X. McGraw, Special Agent in Charge of ICE's Office of Investigations at the Washington field office. Federal officials were trying to determine whether criminal charges were warranted against the workers and their employers. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080813washington.htm">ICE News Release 8/13/08</a>; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/13/AR2008081303649.html">Washington Post 8/14/08</a>]<br /><br />McGraw said the operation "illustrates ICE's ongoing efforts in partnership with federal and local agencies to secure the critical infrastructure within the National Capital Region." The operation was carried out with the support of the Transportation Security Administration and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080813washington.htm">ICE News Release 8/13/08</a>] A similar operation at the airport in June 2006 resulted in the arrest of 55 workers at the airport. [<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/13/AR2008081303649.html">WP 8/14/08</a>]<br /><br />The National Capital Immigrant Coalition (NCIC) responded to the raid with a press conference and vigil on the evening of Aug. 13 at the ICE detention office in Fairfax, Virginia. The coalition said that seven hours after the arrests, ICE was refusing to disclose the whereabouts of those detained--even to their family members--and was denying them access to their attorneys. "Our understanding is that [ICE] has been interrogating the workers without legal counsel, despite the fact that an attorney has been literally knocking on the door to get in to help them," said Kimberly Propeack, advocacy director for <a href="http://www.casademaryland.org/">CASA de Maryland</a>, a member of the coalition. Propeack said a lawyer connected to the coalition reached the ICE office in Fairfax City in the afternoon, after the men were detained, but was told that because they had not been fully processed, they could not be informed that he was willing to represent them. <br /><br />Advocates were also concerned that officials might decide to move the men quickly to detention facilities in a distant state, as often happens to immigrants picked up by ICE. "Some of these workers are likely to have viable legal claims to stay in the United States," Propeack said. "They may qualify for asylum; they may have pending immigration applications. But if they are moved away from their families, who are the only ones likely to find them legal help, the likelihood that they will find legal representation is very slim." McGraw said that it was not clear where the men would be detained but that if they are moved from Virginia, it would be because of a lack of bed space. [<a href="http://www.casademaryland.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=448">NCIC Press Release 7/13/08</a>; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/13/AR2008081303649.html">WP 8/14/08</a>] <br /><br />*4. NC PARACHUTE COMPANY RAIDED<br /><br />On Aug. 12, ICE agents arrested 57 immigrant workers at Mills Manufacturing Corporation in Asheville, North Carolina. The company manufactures parachutes for the US military; ICE implied that the raid was intended to protect "the integrity of our nation's critical infrastructure." ICE said no criminal charges have been presented against the workers, but the agency said its investigation is continuing. Mills Manufacturing is not the target of the investigation and has been cooperative, said ICE. The workers used fraudulent documents to get jobs at Mills, said ICE special agent Del Richburg; company officials did not know the workers were unauthorized. The raid was the largest ICE operation yet in western North Carolina, according to Richburg. <br /><br />Just before the raid, workers were told to gather in a warehouse, said Jessica Arrendondo, an employee who was not detained in the operation. Agents then entered the warehouse from two separate doors, Arrendondo said.<br /><br />The arrested workers were transferred to the Henderson County Sheriff's Office for immigration processing, and were placed into removal proceedings for being in violation of US immigration law. A majority of the workers arrested are from Mexico; others are from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Ecuador, said ICE spokesperson Ivan Ortiz-Delgado. ICE released 29 of the arrested workers based on medical, caregiver, or other humanitarian issues. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080812asheville.htm">ICE News Release 8/12/08</a>; <a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880812109">Asheville Citizen-Times 8/13/08</a>] The others were taken to the Mecklenburg County Detention Center near Charlotte. [<a href="http://www.wyff4.com/news/17168113/detail.html#-">WYFF4.com 8/13/08</a>]<br /><br />The 57 workers arrested in the raid represented nearly a third of the company's workforce of 175. Some of the arrested workers had been with the company for years, said John Oswald, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Mills Manufacturing. [<a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880812109">AC-T 8/13/08</a>] Oswald said that the company shut down its operations on the day of the raid. "The whole thing is pretty traumatic," Oswald said. "We can't expect people to go about business as usual after what has just happened." The company plans to continue operations but will adjust its delivery schedule, according to Oswald. [<a href="http://www.wyff4.com/news/17168113/detail.html#-">WYFF4.com 8/13/08</a>]<br /><br />In a press release issued the morning of the raid, Asheville City Council member and congressional candidate Carl Mumpower took some credit for the action at Mills, saying an employee there contacted him several weeks ago and "we developed a connection with ICE in Charlotte on Mills Manufacturing. I am grateful for their follow-through and will continue to press this issue." [<a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880812109">AC-T 8/13/08</a>] Mumpower is known in Council meetings for his vocal stance against undocumented workers. <br /><br />Though an ICE news release announcing the raid was circulated by the city of Asheville's communication department, the city was not involved in the operation, according to an e-mail from Lauren Bradley, assistant to the city manager. [<a href="http://www.mountainx.com/news/2008/immigration_raid_at_parachute_plant_nets_57">Mountain Xpress 8/12/08</a>]<br /><br />*5. "GANG" RAIDS IN FLORIDA<br /><br />Between June 18 and July 25, ICE arrested 321 people in South Florida in what it called "an operation targeting trans-national and violent criminal street gangs," part of a national ICE initiative known as "Operation Community Shield." By ICE's own count, only 59 of the 321 people arrested in the sweeps were "transnational gang members and associates." According to ICE, 19 people were arrested on immigration charges--at least some of them legal permanent residents whose criminal convictions allegedly make them deportable--and 308 people "face multiple criminal charges including state racketeering influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO) conspiracy; drug possession, purchase and trafficking; firearms possession; outstanding bench warrants; and probation and parole violations." Those arrested are from Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Jamaica, El Salvador, Colombia, Chile, and the US. One individual was identified as having reentered the US after having been deported.<br /><br />ICE was assisted in the operation by the Air and Marine branch of US Customs and Border Protection; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Florida Department of Probation; and the gang investigation units of the sheriff's offices of Broward and Palm Beach counties and the police departments of Miami Dade, City of Miami, North Miami Beach, Miami Beach, Hialeah, Lake Worth and Boynton Beach. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080807miami.htm">ICE News Release 8/7/08</a>]<br /><br />In an operation that began during the week of July 28 and ended on Aug. 7, ICE arrested 54 more immigrants in the Miami area. According to ICE, 29 of those arrested were legal permanent residents whose "criminal backgrounds" make them eligible for deportation. The others were present in the US in violation of immigration rules. ICE identified 10 of those arrested as "sexual predators." Those arrested were from countries including Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, Cuba, Peru, Bahamas, Mexico, El Salvador, France, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Chile, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Guyana. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080808miami2.htm">ICE News Release 8/8/08</a>]<br /><br />In a five-day operation ending Aug. 1, ICE Florida Fugitive operations teams arrested 62 immigrants in Lee County, in the Fort Myers area of southwestern Florida. The operation was carried out jointly with the sheriff's office of Lee and Collier counties. According to ICE, 55 of those arrested were "fugitives" who had failed to comply with deportation orders; the other seven were present in the US in violation of immigration rules. ICE said those arrested included 15 people with criminal histories and six gang members. The arrested immigrants were from Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela, El Salvador, Peru, Mexico, Jamaica, Argentina, Bahamas and Russia. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080804ftmyers.htm">ICE News Release 8/4/08</a>]<br /><br />*6. "FUGITIVE" RAIDS IN PENNSYLVANIA, DELAWARE, TENNESSEE, NEVADA<br /><br />The ICE office in Philadelphia announced on Aug. 11 that its local fugitive operations teams had arrested a total of 119 people in 10-day operation in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Of the total 119 people arrested, 75 had failed to comply with deportation orders; 26 of these 75 had criminal records. Another 44 people were arrested for being present in the US without permission; 12 of these 44 people had criminal histories, according to ICE. The operation was carried out by ICE’s Detention and Removal Operations and Office of Investigations in conjunction with the US Border Patrol in Erie, Pennsylvania; the Philadelphia Warrant Squad; and the police departments of Philadelphia, Hatfield, Horsham, Norristown and Altoona. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0808/080813philadelphia.htm">ICE News Release 8/13/08</a>]<br /><br />In a five-day operation ending July 1, ICE deportation officers assigned to the New Orleans and Memphis fugitive operations teams arrested 24 immigrants in the Nashville, Tennessee area. All but two of those arrested were "immigration fugitives" who had failed to comply with deportation orders. Of the other two people arrested, one had reentered the US after having been deported and another was an alleged member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang who was found to be present in the US without permission. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0807/080709nashville.htm">ICE News Release 7/9/08</a>]<br /><br />On June 30 and July 1, ICE agents arrested 42 people in an operation targeting immigration "fugitives" in the Lake Tahoe area of Nevada. Only 21 of those detained had failed to comply with prior deportation orders, according to ICE spokesperson Virginia Kice. Six of those arrested had previous criminal convictions. "The majority of those encountered during the operation have already been repatriated to their native countries," Kice said. [<a href="http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8683721&nav=8faO">AP 7/15/08</a>]<br /><br />*7. AL-ARIAN TRIAL POSTPONED<br /><br />On Aug. 8 in Alexandria, Virginia, US District Judge Leonie Brinkema postponed the trial of Florida professor Sami Al-Arian indefinitely. Al-Arian was charged on June 26 with two counts of criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury which is investigating whether Islamic charities in Northern Virginia were financing terrorists [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/07/inb-7508-raid-at-maryland-painting.html">INB 7/5/08</a>]. The trial, originally scheduled for Aug. 13, will now be delayed until the Supreme Court addresses an appeal submitted by Al-Arian's attorneys, challenging the legality of the federal subpoena which led to the contempt charges. [<a href="http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs025/1102168938563/archive/1102202424259.html">Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace 8/9/08</a>; <a href="http://www.newser.com/article/d92eap000/former-fla-professor-al-arians-trial-postponed-as-judge-questions-prosecution-tactics.html">AP 8/8/0</a>8]<br /><br />At a bond hearing on July 10, Brinkema ordered Al-Arian released on bail; the judge expressed concern about the government's maneuvers to keep him in custody despite a 2006 plea agreement with prosecutors that requires his speedy deportation. "There's some strange signals coming out of this case," Brinkema said. "I expect the Department of Justice to live up to its agreements." [<a href="http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080711/NEWS/807110332/-1/newssitemap">AP 7/10/08</a>]<br /><br />Instead of releasing Al-Arian on bond, the federal government transferred him into immigration custody, claiming he would be held pending deportation. Al-Arian was then transferred from Alexandria to the Pamunkey Regional Jail in Hanover, Virginia, where he was subjected to punitive conditions including solitary confinement. From there, Al-Arian was taken to the ICE office in Fairfax. When ICE agents tried to return him to Pamunkey, jail officials there refused to accept him because the facility had received so many telephone calls from Al-Arian supporters protesting his treatment. ICE agents then took Al-Arian to the Hampton Roads Regional Jail, 100 miles from his family and attorneys in Washington. Following further protests, Al-Arian was finally returned to the Alexandria Detention Center in advance of the Aug. 8 hearing. [<a href="http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs025/1102168938563/archive/1102199476464.html">Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace 8/6/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-36270545585542511002008-08-10T23:59:00.000-07:002008-08-11T05:03:44.061-07:00INB 8/10/08: Union Protests Arrests in PennsylvaniaImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 18 - August 10, 2008<br /><br />1. Pennsylvania: Union Protests Arrests<br />2. March Protests Postville Raid<br />3. Farmworkers Arrested in Hawaii<br />4. Ohio Restaurants Raided <br />5. Raid at Arkansas Boat Manufacturer<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. PENNSYLVANIA: UNION PROTESTS ARRESTS<br /><br />On July 31, ABM Janitorial Services Inc. lured 42 of its employees to its office in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, in the suburbs just northwest of Philadelphia, where US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were waiting to arrest them for immigration violations. The company had sent the workers a memo telling them to attend a 4:30pm meeting at the offices for training and discussion on new policy procedure, according to Kate Ferranti, a spokesperson for Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represented most of the workers. The employees that attended the meeting were promised one hour of overtime, and were told that they could pick up their weekly paychecks at the beginning of the training; they were warned that if they did not attend, their paychecks would be withheld and they could face disciplinary actions, including termination. <br /><br />According to union shop steward Rob Houston, once all the workers had gathered in a large room, ABM personnel left the room and ICE officers walked in. Houston, who is white, and several others were allowed to leave. Outside the room, Houston said, he heard an ICE agent telling someone that Houston and others who were allowed to leave were "not it."<br /><br />ICE agents released 22 of the 42 workers the same day for 'humanitarian' reasons, such as health conditions and child care, ICE spokesperson Mike Gilhooly said. Those 22 workers, mostly mothers with young children, were strapped with tracking devices and placed under house arrest. At least five other female workers were taken to a detention facility in Clinton, Pennsylvania, while at least 13 male workers were taken to York County Prison. All 42 workers face deportation proceedings. ICE reportedly confiscated workers' documents issued by the Mexican government, including passports. A woman who had her Mexican passport confiscated said she wants to process her children's documents for her family's imminent departure from this country and now has no legal documentation to prove her identity.<br /><br />According to Gilhooly, the arrests were planned after federal agents audited ABM's records and found that the workers had gained employment through fraudulent documents. Gilhooly said ABM was not at fault and has fully cooperated. Sources claim ICE gave ABM two options: gather the employees at one location or agents would arrest them at their work sites. <br /><br />Nine of the detained worked as janitors in the county courthouse and at One Montgomery Plaza, a building of office suites acquired by the county in 2006, said County Communications Director John Corcoran. The county accepted ABM Janitorial Services's low bid of $242,016 for cleaning services in March 2007, and extended its contract for one year in February. Corcoran said that if the county commissioners' office "were to find out later that" ABM wasn't cooperating with authorities in the investigation, "then we would terminate the contract."<br /><br />Local 32BJ organized a rally on Aug. 5 in front of St. Patrick's Church on DeKalb Street in Norristown to protest the arrests and show solidarity with the workers. On Aug. 7 a crowd of 150 people, including members of Local 32BJ and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, attended a second rally on the Montgomery County courthouse steps in Norristown. "We find that ABM's decision to lead their workers to that room under false pretenses to be deplorable," Wayne MacManiman, Mid-Atlantic director of Local 32BJ, said at the Aug. 7 rally. [<a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080808_Union_members_rally_for_deatined_immigrant_workers.html">Philadelphia Inquirer 8/8/08</a>; <a href="http://www.timesherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19894879&BRD=1672&PAG=461&dept_id=33380&rfi=6">Norristown Times Herald 8/6/08</a>, <a href="http://www.timesherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19900014&BRD=1672&PAG=461&dept_id=33380&rfi=6">8/8/08</a>] <br /><br />*2. MARCH PROTESTS POSTVILLE RAID<br /><br />More than 1,000 people, including Latin American immigrants, Catholic clergy members, rabbis and activists, marched through Postville, Iowa on July 27 and rallied at the entrance to the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant, where ICE arrested 389 workers on May 12 [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/06/inb-6208-massive-raid-at-kosher-meat.html">INB 6/2/08</a>]. The march was called to protest working conditions in the plant and to call on Congress to pass legislation granting legal status to unauthorized immigrants. Hundreds of demonstrators came by bus from Chicago and Minneapolis. Four rabbis from Minnesota and Wisconsin attended the march to publicize proposals to revise kosher food certification to include standards of corporate ethics and treatment of workers. The march drew an anti-immigrant counterprotest by about 100 people, organized by the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Police reported no incidents. [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/28/us/28immig.html">New York Times 7/28/08</a>; <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080728/NEWS/807280314/1001">Des Moines Register 7/28/08</a>]<br /><br />On July 24, the House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law held a hearing in Washington to consider whether the 389 workers prosecuted on criminal charges during the Agriprocessors raid had been denied due process. Committee members grilled representatives of ICE and the Department of Justice and heard from experts including Erik Camayd-Freixas, who worked as a certified translator during the legal proceedings that followed the Agriprocessors raid, and David Leopold, national vice president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, who called the way the workers were forced into plea bargains "a national disgrace." A standing room-only crowd was on hand when the hearing opened. It was followed by a news conference that included Postville priest Paul Ouderkirk and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) president Joe Hansen. [<a href="http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/109642.html">Jewish Telegraphic Agency 7/25/08</a>; <a href="http://judiciary.house.gov/news/080723.html">Committee on the Judiciary Press Release 7/23/08</a>]<br /><br />On July 26, three members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus visited Postville and heard three hours of testimony from dozens of workers and community members affected by the raid. Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Albio Sires (D-NJ), and Joe Baca (D-CA) listened as 17-year-old Gilda Yolanda Ordonez Lopez described being forced to work 12-hour shifts at Agriprocessors with no overtime pay, and as Adolpho Wilson explained how his hand was crushed in an accident involving a meat grinding machine at the plant. [<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-immigrationraidme,0,5036201.story">AP 7/26/08</a>]<br /><br />On July 31, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that Justice Department officials had assembled a manual in advance of the Agriprocessors raid which appeared designed to speed up the process of obtaining guilty pleas from the arrested Agriprocessors workers on identity theft and related charges. The manual lays out the suggested pleas for the workers, specifies how they should waive their legal rights, and includes detailed scripts for judges and lawyers. Of the 306 workers who were criminally charged, 297 took the plea bargains in order to avoid more serious aggravated identity theft charges which carry a minimum two-year sentence. Refusing the guilty plea would have meant more time in jail awaiting trial. "The government's tactics really undermined the constitutional protections of due process and presumption of innocence," ACLU staff attorney Monica Ramirez noted. [<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-immig1-2008aug01,0,2416991.story">Los Angeles Times 8/1/08</a>] In a widely circulated essay, Camayd-Freixas, the court translator, wrote: "'Knowingly' and 'intent' are necessary elements of the charges, but most of the clients we interviewed did not even know what a Social Security number was or what purpose it served." [<a href="http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=dd3d7679d6579a9a883d376a80142456§ion_id=2">New America Media 7/11/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. FARMWORKERS ARRESTED IN HAWAII<br /><br />On July 20, ICE agents entered an apartment building in Waipahu, Hawaii, with nine federal search warrants. The agents arrested 43 men from Mexico who were allegedly working in Hawaii without legal status. The workers were employed by an agricultural business in Kunia called "The Farms." ICE agents were assisted in the operation by the US Marshals Service, Sheriff's Department-State of Hawaii and the US Coast Guard Investigative Service. Fifteen of the 43 arrested men were subsequently charged with federal felonies for having used fraudulent documents to gain employment. Assistant US Attorney Tracy Hino said the investigation was continuing to determine if any of the other 28 workers might be charged. All are being held at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu. [<a href="http://www.khon2.com/home/ticker/25742914.html">KHON 2 News (Honolulu) 7/22/08</a>; <a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600ap_hi_immigrant_raid.html">AP 7/22/08</a>; <a href="http://starbulletin.com/2008/08/04/news/story01.html">Honolulu Star Bulletin 8/4/08</a>]<br /><br />Gary Singh, an attorney for one of the arrested men, said his client was recruited in California to work in Hawaii. Singh said the employer paid the airfare and arranged for housing at the Waipahu apartment complex, where eight men shared a two-bedroom apartment. Singh said his client worked 45 to 50 hours a week with no overtime, earning $9 an hour, with $98 deducted for rent from each two-week paycheck.<br /><br />According to Hino, the investigation was triggered by the arrest of Miguel Gonzalez, another employee of The Farms, at Honolulu Airport on Mar. 3 as he sought to board a Hawaiian Airlines flight to San Jose, California. A Transportation Security Administration agent noticed that his boarding pass had a different name from his green card, according to court documents. Investigators also found two pay stubs from The Farms Inc., court papers said. Gonzalez later pleaded guilty to using false documents to obtain work and was sentenced to time served. In April, agents asked The Farms to provide the I-9 forms for its employees, according to court papers. The company provided the documents in May. [<a href="http://starbulletin.com/2008/08/04/news/story01.html">HSB 8/4/08</a>]<br /><br />Dean Okimoto of the Hawaii Farm Bureau said many local farmers have trouble finding workers to do hard farm labor at a price they can afford. [<a href="http://www.khon2.com/home/ticker/25742914.html">KHON 2 News 7/22/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. OHIO RESTAURANTS RAIDED<br /><br />On July 23, ICE agents arrested 58 Mexican workers on administrative immigration violations after executing federal search warrants at eight Casa Fiesta restaurants in Ashland, Fremont, Norwalk, Oberlin, Oregon, Sandusky, Vermillion, and Youngstown, Ohio. The operation culminated a yearlong investigation. Those arrested included four women, three of whom were released on humanitarian grounds to await deportation hearings. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr//0807/080723cleveland.htm">ICE News Release 7/23/08</a>] <br /><br />By Aug. 6, 23 of the arrested immigrants had been deported, according to ICE spokesperson Greg Palmore. Palmore gave the total number of immigrants arrested in the operation as 54. [<a href="http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080806/NEWS01/808060303/1002">Fremont News Messenger 8/6/08</a>]<br /><br />Students and community members in Oberlin planned to march on July 31 to the closed Casa Fiesta restaurant and hold a vigil there to protest the raids and express solidarity with the detained workers. Organizers of the protest included the Catholic Action Committee of Lorain County. [<a href="http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/robert_smith/index.ssf?/base/opinion/121749308653150.xml&coll=2">Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 7/31/08</a>]<br /><br />*5. RAID AT ARKANSAS BOAT MANUFACTURER<br /><br />On July 23, ICE agents arrested 13 men from Guatemala and Mexico in a raid at Waco Manufacturing, a company in North Little Rock, Arkansas that makes pontoon boats for Aloha Pontoons. US Attorney Jane Duke said the investigation was sparked when ICE agents received a tip that the business employed unauthorized workers. Duke said Aloha Pontoons cooperated with the investigation. Duke said if the men pleaded guilty to criminal charges, they would likely be sentenced to time served and deported. [<a href="http://www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080725/NEWS01/807250328/-1/NEWSFRONT2">AP 7/25/08</a>] <br /><br />In a news release dated July 28, ICE reported that on July 25, all 13 of the arrested workers "were convicted for document fraud and misuse of Social Security cards" and handed over to the custody of the US Marshals Service. On July 28, the workers were to be transferred to the ICE Office of Detention and Removal and placed in removal proceedings. The raid was conducted with the assistance of special agents from the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr//0807/080728littlerock.htm">ICE News Release 7/28/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-87561160277908744912008-07-20T23:59:00.000-07:002008-07-21T06:54:13.887-07:00INB 7/20/08: Raids Protested in Rhode Island, ColoradoImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 17 - July 20, 2008<br /><br />1. Rhode Island Court Raids Protested<br />2. Colorado Concrete Company Raided<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. RHODE ISLAND COURT RAIDS PROTESTED<br /><br />On July 15 at 5pm, 50 agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and 12 detectives from the Rhode Island state police simultaneously raided all six of the state's courthouses, arresting 31 immigrants employed as maintenance workers by two contractors hired by the state. Those arrested were 16 women and 15 men, immigrants from Honduras, Guatemala, Brazil and Mexico. [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/raids_doherty_07-17-08_BSAT1PB_v19.40392ee.html">Providence Journal 7/17/08</a>]<br /><br />Two of the raided courthouses are in Providence; the others are in Wakefield, Newport, Warwick and Cranston. The raids were timed to coincide with maintenance schedules: in the two Providence courthouses, workers were just starting their shifts at 5pm and would have normally stayed until 9pm or 10pm; in the other courthouses, the workers come in earlier and are normally done by 6pm. [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/ICE_RAID_16_07-16-08_LJASKP5_v29.42cad22.html">PJ 7/16/08</a>]<br /><br />News of the raids spread rapidly as courthouse workers phoned relatives, friends and community leaders, who in turn called other supporters through a phone tree. By 8pm, activists and community members--including relatives of those arrested in the raids--had begun an emergency demonstration outside the ICE office in Providence. Young people ages six to 16 led the chanting, according to an email from activist Shannah Kurland. The protest quickly swelled to more than 200 people at its peak. Participants included clergy and at least one state representative, Grace Diaz. <br /><br />Police officers arrived and the situation become tense; the crowd divided and protesters rushed to doors at the front and rear of the building. Witnesses said demonstrators sought to block ICE vans from taking the workers to detention centers. The police pushed a line of protesters across the parking lot. [<a href="http://www.abc6.com/news/25490039.html">ABC 6 News 7/15/08</a>, <a href="http://www.abc6.com/news/rhodeisland/25506079.html">7/16/08</a>; <a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/ICE_RAID_16_07-16-08_LJASKP5_v29.42cad22.html">PJ 7/16/08</a>, <a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/raids_doherty_07-17-08_BSAT1PB_v19.40392ee.html">7/17/08</a>; Kurland email 7/15/08; <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/16/1559/02251/921/552337">Patrick Crowley report on Daily Kos 7/15/08</a>]<br /><br />Speaking to the press at the demonstration, Leonardo Tornes said his sister, Francesca Tornes, an undocumented worker from Mexico, was arrested at the Kent County Courthouse in Warwick. "She has two children--one and five years old," he said through an interpreter. [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/ICE_RAID_16_07-16-08_LJASKP5_v29.42cad22.html">PJ 7/16/08</a>] <br /><br />By the morning of July 16, 12 of the arrested workers had been released for humanitarian reasons to await immigration proceedings, either because of medical conditions or because they were the primary caregivers of young children. At least some of those released were fitted with electronic monitoring devices on their ankles. At a July 16 news conference at the US attorney's office in Providence, Bruce Foucart, special agent from ICE's Boston office, said the 19 workers still detained were being held at various facilities in the region; he refused to give details.<br /><br />Some of the workers had used fraudulent identification to obtain their jobs, said US Attorney Robert Clark Corrente. None has been charged criminally, said Corrente, but all face immigration charges. The raid culminated a month-long investigation which began on June 6, when a court clerk at the J. Joseph Garrahy Judicial Complex in Providence noticed a paper reproduction of an identification card on the office floor beside a photocopy machine. The clerk called the Capitol Police, who in turn notified state police.<br /><br />No charges have been filed against the two cleaning companies that supplied the workers: TriState Enterprises of North Providence and Falcon Maintenance LLC of Johnston. [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/immigration_raids_17_07-17-08_BSAT0VV_v36.42cbd11.html ">PJ 7/17/08</a>] However, the state Department of Administration has launched a review of both contractors to make sure that TriState and Falcon are complying with state and federal employment and immigration laws, according to a statement from Governor Don Carcieri's office. [<a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2008/07/17/immigration_raid_companies_have_other_contracts/ ">AP 7/17/08</a>] According to activist Shannah Kurland, one of the contractors has been in a battle with members of Fuerza Laboral, a local labor group, for refusing to pay wages. [Kurland email 7/15/08]<br /><br />The two companies have at least 45 contracts to clean state buildings, including the offices of Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, the state Department of Administration and the Board of Elections. [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/immigration_raid_18_07-18-08_K3ATGON_v31.40389fd.html">PJ 7/18/08</a>] As a result of the raids, the University of Rhode Island and the Community College of Rhode Island have also begun reviewing their maintenance contracts with TriState and Falcon. [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/immigration_raids_17_07-17-08_BSAT0VV_v36.42cbd11.html">PJ 7/17/08</a>] The University of Rhode Island says none of the cleaning crews it hired through TriState has showed up for work since the raids took place. At Community College of Rhode Island's Warwick campus, only 10 of 32 janitors showed up for the 6 pm shift on July 16. [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/immigration_raid_18_07-18-08_K3ATGON_v31.40389fd.html">PJ 7/18/08</a>] <br /><br />The raids occurred during the first meeting of a governor's advisory panel, charged with monitoring any "unintended consequences" of Governor Carcieri's executive order cracking down on immigrants. The order, issued in March [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/05/inb-51408-may-day-roundup-raids.html">INB 5/14/08</a>], requires that state police be deputized with certain immigration enforcement powers. [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/ICE_RAID_16_07-16-08_LJASKP5_v29.42cad22.html">PJ 7/16/08</a>] Corrente said the date of the operation had been set for a while, and the timing of the raids had nothing to do with the meeting. [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/immigration_raids_17_07-17-08_BSAT0VV_v36.42cbd11.html">PJ 7/17/08</a>]<br /><br />Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said that at the advisory panel meeting, "representatives from community organizations were explicitly told by the state police that the agency would not be in the business of conducting immigration raids. We now know that at almost the very same moment, they were doing just that in coordination with federal authorities," said Brown. <br /><br />State police superintendent Col. Brendan Doherty denied the claim in a morning news conference on July 16. "I stated it's not a state police initiative to conduct raids and sweeps. This was not a raid," Doherty explained. "This was a police action. These were arrests. We do not initiate raids of any buildings, businesses or homes regarding ICE matters."<br /><br />Brown called Doherty's words an "Orwellian twist of language." [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/raids_doherty_07-17-08_BSAT1PB_v19.40392ee.html">PJ 7/17/08</a>]<br /><br />A growing coalition from across southern New England met on July 17 at St. Patrick Church in Providence to plan legal, social, and financial aid for the detainees and their families. They included representatives of Rhode Island Jobs with Justice, Fuerza Laboral (Power of Workers) and the Immigrants in Action Committee of St. Teresa Church; lawyers from Greater Boston Legal Services, the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild of Connecticut; and clergy. [<a href="http://www.projo.com/news/content/immigration_raid_18_07-18-08_K3ATGON_v31.40389fd.html">PJ 7/18/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. COLORADO CONCRETE COMPANY RAIDED<br /><br />On July 16, ICE agents arrested 18 immigrant workers at Colorado Precast Concrete Inc. in Loveland, Colorado, after executing an administrative search warrant at the plant. The workers were arrested on administrative immigration charges. One is from El Salvador; the others are from Mexico. All were taken to Park County Jail to await removal or a hearing before a federal immigration judge. The Larimer County Sheriff's Office assisted with the operation; the Air Branch of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provided air support. <br /><br />Colorado Precast Concrete fully cooperated with ICE during the operation and is not expected to face any charges. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0807/080716loveland.htm">ICE News Release 7/16/08</a>] The raid was triggered by a tip. About 100 people work at the company, which manufactures a variety of concrete and iron products such as highway barriers, manholes and storm-drain inlets. [<a href="http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080717/NEWS01/807170379/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02">Loveland Connection 7/17/08</a>]<br /><br />The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) issued a press statement on July 16 denouncing the raid as a "quasi-military operation" that "separated dozens of families and workers, and produced images and horrific accounts reminiscent of previous ICE raids in Greeley, Westminster, Monte Vista, and Pueblo," Colorado. [<a href="http://coloradoimmigrant.org/article.php?id=193">CIRC Press Statement 7/16/08</a>]<br /><br />ICE spokesperson Carl Rusnok said no sole caregivers were arrested in the raid. But CIRC director Julien Ross pointed out: "Right now there's most likely a mother and a child waiting for their father to come home, and so while they're not sole care provider, we're talking families being separated." [<a href="http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/16/18-illegal-immigrants-arrested-concrete-plant/">Rocky Mountain News (Denver) 7/16/08</a>] <br /><br />"Raids are not the solution to the outdated and dysfunctional U.S. immigration system," said Kim Medina of Fuerza Latina, a social justice organization in Fort Collins and Loveland which set up a help line for people affected by the raids. "We need a complete reform of our immigration laws. The criminalization of immigrants is a mean-spirited publicity stunt that only causes more pain and suffering for everyone," Medina said in the statement. [<a href="http://coloradoimmigrant.org/article.php?id=193">CIRC Press Statement 7/16/08</a>]<br /><br />Ross said he is encouraged that both presidential candidates agree that comprehensive immigration reform is needed. He said CIRC plans to march in Denver as the city hosts the Aug. 25-28 Democratic National Convention. [<a href="http://cbs4denver.com/local/ICE.illegal.Immigrants.2.772830.html">AP 7/16/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," (2007, Monthly Review Press) by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas--for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-35119377230575772762008-07-13T06:07:00.000-07:002008-07-13T06:18:53.394-07:00INB 7/13/08: 23-Year-Old Dies in Detention; ICE Agent SentencedImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 16 - July 13, 2008<br /><br />1. 23-Year-Old Dies in Detention<br />2. ICE Agent Sentenced for Sexual Assault<br />3. Texas Port Company Raided<br /> <br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. 23-YEAR-OLD DIES IN DETENTION<br /><br />On June 20, West Palm Beach resident Valery Joseph died while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida. The 23-year-old Haitian immigrant had been living in the US since he was eight, said his mother, Jacqueline Fleury. At a news conference in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood on July 8, the day Joseph would have turned 24, US Rep. Kendrick Meek joined Joseph's family members and immigrant rights advocates in calling for an independent investigation into what Meek called Joseph's "untimely death."<br /><br />According to ICE documents obtained by the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC), Glades County Jail staff were delivering medication to Joseph on the morning of June 20 when he was found unresponsive in his bunk. Joseph could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at 10:54 am. An autopsy was performed on June 22. [<a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/596988.html">Miami Herald 7/8/08</a>; <a href="http://www.bradenton.com/331/story/726145.html">Bradenton Herald 7/8/08 from AP</a>; <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flrnddetention0709sbjul09,0,4250969.story">South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale) 7/9/08</a>]<br /><br />On July 3, Rep. Meek wrote to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general to request a formal investigation into Joseph's death and the manner in which ICE handled it. "What's even more disturbing is the manner in which ICE officials ordered an autopsy of Mr. Joseph's body even before notifying the family of his death," Meek said in the letter. [<a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flrnddetention0709sbjul09,0,4250969.story">SF Sun-Sentinel 7/9/08</a>]<br /><br />Fleury did not learn of her son's death until several days later. [<a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/596988.html">MH 7/8/08</a>] "No one from immigration or jail called me when my son died," said Fleury in a statement read by Joseph's sister, Sandy Jules. Fleury said the family found out because a chaplain called Joseph's girlfriend, who then called his family. A letter from ICE stating that Joseph had suffered a seizure came a week later. [<a href="http://www.bradenton.com/331/story/726145.html">BH 7/8/08 from AP</a>]<br /><br />The funeral home told Fleury that Joseph's body was not suitable for viewing, and as of July 8--18 days after Joseph's death--Fleury had yet to see his body, Little said. Preliminary results of the autopsy indicate that Joseph died from a seizure, according to Little. [<a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/596988.html">MH 7/8/08</a>] Joseph's death remains under investigation and autopsy results are pending, according to Robert DeMann, chief deputy of corrections for the Glades County Sheriff's Office. "We do know there's no indication of any foul play, no trauma," DeMann said.<br /><br />Little said that Joseph "suffered from seizures," and that the extent of his medical care in detention was not immediately clear. Joseph had not complained of any illness when he last called his mother in West Palm Beach a few days before he died, said Jules. <br /><br />FIAC and Joseph's family have filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking his medical records from ICE. [<a href="http://www.bradenton.com/331/story/726145.html">BH 7/8/08 from AP</a>] Details about the death will become clearer once the agency hands over Joseph's medical records, Little said. "We're hoping we're not getting the run around and these records are provided to the family," she said. "Lack of access to adequate medical care is among one of the chief complaints we hear from detainees in South Florida and elsewhere," Little noted.<br /><br />Little said an immigration judge had indicated Joseph might have been eligible for release; a hearing had been scheduled on his case for July 3. [<a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/596988.html">MH 7/8/08</a>] West Palm Beach police had arrested Joseph for felony robbery in May 2007, and ICE spokesperson Nicole Navas said Joseph was identified the following month through an ICE program that checks for undocumented immigrants held in jails. Joseph was transferred from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to ICE custody on Dec. 28, 2007. [<a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flrnddetention0709sbjul09,0,4250969.story">SF Sun-Sentinel 7/9/08</a>]<br /><br />Navas responded to complaints about Joseph's death by attacking FIAC, a well-respected immigration legal services and advocacy organization. "This [is] another attempt by advocacy groups such as FIAC to tout emotion over fact from their bully pulpit," Navas said in a written statement. "There is no lack of medical care for those held in detention. In fact, quite the opposite." [<a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/596988.html">MH 7/8/08</a>]<br /><br />The $32 million, 440-bed Glades County Detention Center, where Joseph died, opened in mid-2007 to house ICE detainees along with local inmates. The facility has a medical staff of 20. [<a href="http://www.floridatrend.com/print_article.asp?aID=47602">FloridaTrend.com 10/1/07</a>]<br /><br />*2. ICE AGENT SENTENCED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT<br /><br />On July 10, US District Judge William Dimitrouleas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, sentenced former ICE agent Wilfredo Vazquez to 87 months in prison for sexually assaulting a female immigration detainee in his custody. Vazquez pleaded guilty in April to two counts of sexual abuse; he admitted that in September 2007, while transporting the Jamaican detainee to a Broward County holding facility, he first took her to his home and forced her to submit to sex [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2007/11/inb-112607-ice-agent-rapes-detainee.html">INB 11/26/07</a>]. The woman's identity has not been revealed; she is identified in court papers as "M.C." <br /><br />The prison term had been agreed to by both sides as part of the plea agreement. Dimitrouleas called the incident a "horrific crime" that sent a terrible message to other people in US government custody; the judge noted that if the case had gone to trial, Vazquez would almost certainly have been convicted based on "overwhelming" evidence and would have faced a far more severe punishment. According to prosecutor Daniel Rashbaum, M.C. had agreed to the plea terms--knowing the likely sentence her assailant would face--because it meant she would not have to testify at trial. M.C. did not attend the hearing, but in a letter to Dimitrouleaus, she said Vazquez had "single-handedly destroyed" her life and asked the judge to impose the "maximum sentence," which would have been life in prison. [<a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbicerape0711sbjul11,0,2510206.story">South Florida Sun Sentinel 7/11/08</a>] <br /><br />*3. TEXAS PORT COMPANY RAIDED<br /><br />On July 9, ICE agents joined Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in raiding two marine companies in Port Arthur in southeastern Texas, near the Louisiana border. The operations took place at the R & R Marine Fabrication and Drydock facility on Procter Street and at a Cal Dive International facility on Yacht Club Road. The agents arrested 37 immigrant workers at R & R and took them to the ICE holding facility at a private jail in nearby Beaumont; from there the workers were to be transferred to the Houston Detention and Removal Facility. It was not clear whether any workers were arrested at Cal Dive. <br /><br />Robert Keller, assistant director of field operations for CBP's Houston office, said the operation was part of a national effort to make sure that workers in secure marine areas such ports and terminals are in the country legally. Personnel from the US Coast Guard, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Port Arthur Police and Jefferson County Constables assisted with the raid by blocking off the area while federal agents took the workers into custody. A number of workers were arrested as they tried to escape by running into nearby neighborhoods. <br /><br />"We can confirm some employees were detained by ICE," Will Wilson of R & R Marine told KFDM News. "At this time, R & R is cooperating with ICE as it assesses the situation, and the company looks forward to resolving the matter very soon." Port Arthur Police said R & R Marine and Fabrication has been collaborating with law enforcement for the past year in an effort to avoid hiring undocumented workers. [<a href="http://www.kfdm.com/news/business_26865___article.html/immigration_marine.html">KFDM.com 7/9/08</a>; <a href="http://www.panews.com/local/local_story_191164141.html">Port Arthur News 7/9/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," a new book by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas, out now on Monthly Review Press: for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-1893618669713666332008-07-05T23:59:00.000-07:002008-07-06T07:35:54.823-07:00INB 7/5/08: Raid at Maryland Painting Company Immigration News Briefs<br /> Vol. 11, No. 15 - July 5, 2008<br /><br />1. Raid at Maryland Painting Company<br />2. Supervisors Arrested in Postville, Houston<br />3. Nearly 500 Arrested in Anti-Gang Raids<br />4. Al-Arian Indicted for Non-Cooperation<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. RAID AT MARYLAND PAINTING COMPANY<br /><br />On June 30 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, about 75 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents joined 50 county police officers in raiding the offices of Annapolis Painting Services Inc. and 15 single-family homes that authorities said were owned by the company and rented to employees. Agents arrested 50 or 51 workers from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nigeria and Panama on administrative immigration violations. Five women, including one who is pregnant, were allowed to remain free on humanitarian release pending removal proceedings because they are sole caregivers. The other 10 women and 35 or 36 men were detained. The company has more than 100 employees, county police said. [<a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-md.ar.immigrants01jul01,0,153007.story">Baltimore Sun 7/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/30/AR2008063000604.html">Washington Post 7/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/07_02-11/REG">Hometownannapolis.com (Capital Gazette Newspapers) 7/2/08 from AP</a>] <br /><br />Agents also seized five bank accounts, 11 vehicles and the raided homes as part of a criminal investigation into hiring and harboring unauthorized immigrants. The company's owners were not arrested, but authorities said the investigation was continuing. [<a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-md.ar.immigrants01jul01,0,153007.story">Baltimore Sun 7/1/08</a>]<br /><br />Scot Rittenberg, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for ICE in Baltimore, said the agency received a tip about Annapolis Painting Services and has been investigating for 18 months. [<a href="http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/07_01-30/TOP">Hometownannapolis.com 7/1/08</a>] Rittenberg said the operation included "the execution of 11 search warrants, 5 seizure warrants for bank accounts, 11 seizure warrants for vehicles and 15 forfeitable properties, along with the administrative arrest of 45 undocumented aliens." In addition to the Anne Arundel County Police Department, ICE was assisted in the operation by the US Attorney's Office in Baltimore, the Annapolis City Police Department, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Baltimore City Police Department. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080630baltimore.htm">ICE News Release 6/30/08</a>] The Anne Arundel police force has an officer permanently posted at ICE's Baltimore City office. [<a href="http://www.examiner.com/a-1466946~ICE_agents_make_46_arrests_in_Anne_Arundel_illegal_immigration_raids.html?cid=temp-popular">Baltimore Examiner 7/1/08</a>]<br /><br />Four immigrants showed reporters from the Baltimore Sun damage they said was caused during the raid in a sparsely furnished, middle-class residence in the Hillsmere Shores community. A door frame had been splintered and paperwork was strewn about a room. A woman, who said she was five months pregnant, said she had been handcuffed and shoved as her boyfriend was arrested. His family said he had a work permit that had recently expired. [<a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-md.ar.immigrants01jul01,0,153007.story">Baltimore Sun 7/1/08</a>] Another report said doors at a raided home on Harbor Drive showed evidence of being kicked in during the raid; it was not clear whether this was the same home in Hillsmere Shores or a different raided residence. [<a href="http://www.examiner.com/a-1466946~ICE_agents_make_46_arrests_in_Anne_Arundel_illegal_immigration_raids.html?cid=temp-popular">Baltimore Examiner 7/1/08</a>]<br /><br />About 100 people rallied in front of the ICE office in Baltimore on July 1 to protest the raid. Demonstrators included members of the National Capital Immigrant Coalition, the Silver Spring-based CASA de Maryland and local churches. Some carried signs critical of Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold, who has taken a hard stance against unauthorized immigrants. Many relatives of those arrested were afraid to attend the rally, according to CASA de Maryland. [<a href="http://www.examiner.com/a-1468831~Supporters_rally_in_Anne_Arundel_against_illegal_immigration_arrests.html">Baltimore Examiner 7/2/08</a>] <br /><br />Nicolas Ramos, a legal immigrant who owns the Baltimore restaurant Arcos and is a member of the Governor's Commission on Hispanic Affairs, spoke out at the rally about his family's experience during the raid. He said his cousin Veronica Ramos called him at 6am sobbing, telling him that armed immigration agents had broken down her apartment door and hauled away her husband, Eduardo Delgado, as their three children hid under their beds. "She's scared, the kids are scared," said Ramos. "They don't know what they are going to do." Delgado "is a good man, hardworking and a wonderful dad," Ramos said. "This is devastating."<br /><br />"Every person affected yesterday has a family," said Jessica Alvarez, vice president of the National Capital Immigrant Coalition. "Today we are here to show that every person has a voice and has a community behind them. This is unjust, and our voices need to be heard."<br /><br />Jonathan Greene, a Towson immigration attorney who has offered to represent the arrested workers for free, said he has not been able to obtain the search warrants authorities used in the raid. "No one said they received any kind of warrant," he said. "We are very concerned about what happened here."<br /><br />ICE agent Rittenberg insisted that warrants were issued, and denied claims by Liza Zamd, a staff attorney with CASA of Maryland, that agents had placed an arrested worker's 18-month-old child in the custody of a neighbor without parental consent. The father was later released, according to Zamd. [<a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-md.immigrants02jul02,0,6482685.story">Baltimore Sun 7/2/08</a>] Zamd also said a four-year-old girl saw ICE agents handcuff her father and force him to kneel in their home while they searched for two workers from the painting company who live there. Zamd said the girl's father is a US citizen and wasn't charged. [<a href="http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/07_02-11/REG">Hometownannapolis.com 7/2/08 from AP</a>]<br /><br />*2. SUPERVISORS ARRESTED IN POSTVILLE, HOUSTON<br /><br />On July 3, ICE arrested supervisors Juan Carlos Guerrero Espinoza and Martin De la Rosa Loera at the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant owned by Aaron Rubashkin in Postville, Iowa. Federal prosecutors said they had also issued an arrest warrant for Hosam Amara, described by workers as a plant manager. In interviews following the May 12 raid, several workers had said Amara was a floor manager with more authority than line supervisors. The arrests came some six weeks after a May 12 raid in which ICE arrested 389 rank-and-file workers at the plant--a majority of them Guatemalans--and forced most of them to accept five-month prison sentences in plea bargains on criminal charges for presenting false identification to get hired [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/06/inb-6208-massive-raid-at-kosher-meat.html">INB 6/2/08</a>].<br /><br />In a federal criminal complaint unsealed on July 3, workers cited anonymously said Guerrero was running a business obtaining fraudulent immigration documents. According to the complaint, the workers said that in the days before the raid, Guerrero told them in a meeting that "they needed new IDs and Social Security numbers to continue working at the company." Guerrero collected $200 and a photograph from each worker, promising to provide new documents, the complaint says. <br /><br />"The arrest of two low-level supervisors, while a start, barely scratches the surface of this company's bad behavior," said Scott Frotman, a spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), which has tried to organize the plant. "What about the allegations of worker abuse? Does anyone really believe that these low-level supervisors acted alone without the knowledge, or even the direction, of the Rubashkins and other senior management?" [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/04/us/04immig.html">New York Times 7/4/08</a>]<br /><br />Residents of Postville, still shell-shocked from the May 12 raid, were frightened by the June 23 appearance in Postville of two plainclothes ICE agents who arrested a single undocumented immigrant, Eduardo Ixen. ICE spokesperson Tim Counts confirmed that Ixen, a handyman who worked with real-estate firm GAL Investments, was detained based on a tip. Counts said Ixen was likely not among the Agriprocessors workers named in the affidavit associated with the case. [<a href="http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=12175fef75483ab07c65eedbcdc256f4">New America Media News Report 6/26/08</a>; <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080623/NEWS/80623026/-1/ENT05">Des Moines Register 6/23/08</a>]<br /><br />On July 2, ICE agents arrested the owner and four supervisors at Action Rags USA, a Houston, Texas used clothing and rag company where the agency had arrested 166 workers on June 25 [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/06/inb-62908-raids-at-houston-rag-company.html">INB 6/29/08</a>]. Following the arrests, federal charges were unsealed against the five for conspiracy to harbor unauthorized immigrants, inducing unauthorized immigrants to come into the US, and illegal hiring practices including knowingly accepting false work documents. The five people arrested are Action Rags USA owner Mabarik Kahlon; his partner and uncle, Rasheed Ahmed; manager Cirila Barron; resource manager Valerie Rodriguez; and warehouse supervisor Mayra Herrera-Gutierrez. Ahmed, who has health problems, was freed on his own recognizance; the others were held in federal custody until their initial hearing the next day in Houston federal court. [<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5868590.html">Houston Chronicle 7/2/08</a>; <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6242912">ABC 13 KTRK 7/3/08 from AP</a>]<br /><br />On July 3, Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley ordered the release of Kahlon, Ahmed and Rodriguez after they each posted $50,000 bond. ICE filed immigration detainers against Barron and Herrera-Gutierrez, making them ineligible for bail; both are Mexican nationals who are allegedly present in the US without permission. [<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5870369.html">Houston Chronicle 7/3/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. NEARLY 500 ARRESTED IN ANTI-GANG RAIDS<br /><br />ICE agents arrested or helped arrest 489 people in "Operation Community Shield" raids announced between June 2 and July 2, targeting foreign-born alleged gang members in Kansas, Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Georgia and Texas. <br /><br />On July 2, ICE and the Wichita Police Department announced the arrest of 22 "transnational gang members and their associates" in Wichita, Kansas. Thirteen of the total were arrested on July 1–presumably for administrative immigration violations--and are being held in ICE custody pending removal to their countries of origin. These include three brothers, all minors with "serious juvenile criminal histories," who were arrested with their mother and will be voluntarily returned to Mexico, according to ICE. Nine of the gang members were arrested "during the planning phase of the operation" based on outstanding state arrest warrants and are being held in state custody on criminal charges including burglary, theft, assault, drive-by shootings, weapons violations and various misdemeanor charges. All nine are under immigration detainers so that if they're released from state custody, they'll be detained by ICE. All 22 people arrested are from Mexico, and allegedly are associated with the Vato Loco Boys, Sureno 13, Players for Life, and North Side Gangsters. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0807/080702wichita.htm">ICE News Release 7/2/08</a>]<br /><br />In a three-day operation ending June 27 in the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area, ICE Gang Investigation Unit special agents arrested 20 people the agency described as "known gang members" and 21 it referred to as "identified gang associates" from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. [In past sweeps, the agency has implied that "gang associates" may include family members cohabiting with the alleged gang members--see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2007/10/inb-102807-judge-halts-ssa-crackdown.html">INB 10/28/07</a>.] According to ICE, those arrested were affiliated with the MS-13, Sur-13, Latin Kings, and Vatos Locos street gangs. ICE said five search warrants were served and "numerous cases are being presented for federal and/or state prosecution."<br /><br />The operation involved collaboration with agencies including the Virginia State Police, Virginia Office of the Attorney General, US Attorney of the Eastern District of Virginia, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Chesterfield County Police Department, Chesterfield County Probation and Parole, United States Secret Service, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General and the US Postal Inspection Service. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080627richmond.htm">ICE News Release 6/27/08</a>]<br /><br />In a statewide New Jersey operation carried out from June 15 through June 21, led by the ICE Office of Investigation in Newark, agents arrested 76 "gang members" and 20 "gang associates" from El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. The gang members allegedly belong to the MS-13, La Mugre, LA-13, DDP, Trinitarios, Mexican Mafia, Los Pitufos, Vatos Locos, Bloods and Crips street gangs. According to ICE, only three cases are to be presented for federal prosecution, while seven people were arrested on state charges and 30 of those arrested were merely "unlawfully present" in the US. Three weapons were seized along with what ICE described as "gang paraphernalia." Agencies collaborating in the sweep included the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, West New York Police Department, Newark Police Department, New Brunswick Police Department, Passaic Police Department, Union City Police Department, Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, and Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080623newark.htm">ICE News Release 6/23/08</a>; <a href="http://www.northjersey.com/news/aroundnj/100_held_as_gang_members_statewide.html">The Record (Hackensack, NJ) 6/24/08</a>]<br /><br />In a two-day operation announced June 12, ICE agents arrested, or in some cases assisted in arresting, 22 people in the area of Brockton, Massachusetts. Those arrested included 11 "gang members and associates" and 11 other people accused of federal and/or state criminal violations, including administrative immigration violations, who were encountered during the operation. Of the 22 people arrested, 16 are US permanent residents whose criminal convictions may render them eligible for deportation, according to ICE, while five are living in the US without permission and one had a prior deportation order. The arrested immigrants are from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Haiti. The operation was carried out in partnership with the Brockton Police Department, the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office, the US Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, ATF, the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance, and the police departments of the Massachusetts cities of Boston, Fall River, Stoughton and Taunton. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080612boston.htm">ICE News Release 6/12/08</a>]<br /><br />In a statewide Georgia operation culminating on June 7, ICE agents arrested or helped to arrest 127 nationals of Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala who were living in Dalton, Savannah, Albany and the Atlanta metropolitan area. Those arrested included 122 people the agency identified as gang members, and five it identified as gang associates. Seven people were to be prosecuted on federal charges of illegal re-entry after deportation, and 19 were arrested for state charges or had outstanding arrest warrants. Two weapons were seized during the operation.<br /><br />Cooperating agencies included the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, the ATF, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI); the city police departments of Atlanta, Canton, Cartersville, Chamblee, Dalton, Forest Park, Gainesville, Kennesaw, Marietta, Powder Spring, Roswell, and Sandy Springs; the county police departments of Clayton County, Cobb County, Dekalb County, Gwinnett County and Henry County; and the sheriff's offices of Atkinson County, Bartow County, Cherokee County, Coffee County, Douglas County, Forsyth County, Gwinnett County, Hall County, Rockdale County, Tift County and Whitfield County. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/081009atlanta.htm">ICE News Release 6/10/08</a>]<br /><br />In a six-day ICE-led operation announced on June 8, 149 people were arrested in the Texas cities of Houston, Conroe, Galveston, Sugar Land, Bryan, Richmond, Beaumont and Corpus Christi. According to ICE, 67 of those arrested were "gang members and their associates," allegedly affiliated with 22 different street gangs. Of the total 149 people arrested, 32 were US citizens arrested on outstanding warrants. The 117 non-citizens arrested in the sweep were from Belize, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Pakistan. Seven of those arrested were females. Of the 67 people who were identified as "gang members and associates," 20 were arrested on outstanding state arrest warrants and turned over to local authorities; one was arrested on an outstanding federal drug arrest warrant. The other 46 people arrested were present in the US without permission; 28 of them are facing federal criminal charges for illegal entry or illegal re-entry after deportation.<br /><br />The Air and Marine branch of US Customs and Border Protection provided air support for the operation. Other agencies assisting the operation included the Houston Police Department's Gang Task Force and the police forces of the cities of Beaumont, Conroe, Corpus Christi, La Porte, Orange, Port Arthur and South Houston; the sheriffs' offices of Brazos, Fort Bend, Harris, Jefferson and Montgomery counties; and US Postal Inspectors, FBI, ATF, and the US Attorney's Offices for the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080608houston.htm">ICE News Release 6/8/08</a>]<br /><br />From June 2 to 5, agents operating out of ICE's office in San Antonio, Texas arrested 32 "gang members and associates," including 23 in San Antonio and a total of nine in Austin, Laredo and Harlingen. Of the 23 detained in San Antonio, 18 were arrested on state criminal charges while seven were arrested on federal charges. Agencies participating in the operation included: San Antonio Police Department, ATF, US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, US Marshals Service's Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, Bexar County Sheriff's Department and Bexar County District Attorney's Office. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080606sanantonio.htm">ICE News Release 6/6/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. AL-ARIAN INDICTED FOR NON-COOPERATION<br /><br />On June 26, Palestinian professor Sami Al-Arian was charged in US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia with two counts of criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury which is investigating whether Islamic charities in Northern Virginia were financing terrorists. Al-Arian has already been jailed for a year on civil contempt charges for refusing to testify. If convicted of the new charge he could face additional jail time; there is no maximum or minimum penalty for criminal contempt. Al-Arian has been jailed by the federal government since Feb. 20, 2003, and in ICE custody since Apr. 11 of this year; he suspended a 52-day hunger strike on Apr. 23 in the hopes of being deported soon [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/04/inb-42708-detainees-transferred-after.html">INB 4/27/08</a>, <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/03/inb-32908-h-2-workers-sue-march.html">3/29/08</a>, <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2007/03/inb-32407-nj-detainees-protest-raids-in.html">3/24/07</a>, <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/03/inb-61006-memphis-chemical-plants.html">6/10/06</a>]. <br /><br />Lawrence Barcella, a former federal prosecutor who is now a Washington lawyer, said civil contempt is generally used to compel people to testify in investigations, and criminal contempt is designed to punish them if they have refused. He said it is "not unheard of but very unique" to seek criminal charges when a defendant has already served time for civil contempt. <br /><br />Al-Arian's attorney, Jonathan Turley, said his client has given prosecutors two detailed affidavits saying that he knows of no criminal activity involving the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)--one of the agencies under investigation in northern Virginia, which prosecutors apparently believe Al-Arian has ties to--and that the government has acknowledged he is a "minor witness." Turley said the latest indictment "is a continuation of a long campaign of abuse that has drawn international criticism." [<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/26/AR2008062603664.html">Washington Post 6/27/08</a>]<br /><br />On June 30, Al-Arian was arraigned before the federal court of Judge Leonie Brinkema. Brinkema set a deadline of Aug. 8 for all pretrial motions, and a trial date of Aug. 13, although defense attorneys had requested it be set for September. Al-Arian was also ordered moved to the Alexandria Detention Center while awaiting trial. The June 30 hearing was delayed for four hours because Al-Arian had to be transported from Portsmouth, Virginia, over 200 miles away. Turley requested that his client be released on bond. Brinkema said she would consider releasing Al-Arian on bond, pending his interview with pre-trial services and a bond hearing that has yet to be scheduled. [Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace News Release 7/2/08]<br /><br />For background information, updates and action alerts about Sami Al-Arian's case, see http://freesamialarian.com.<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," a new book by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas, out now on Monthly Review Press: for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-76850759206283425692008-06-29T12:20:00.000-07:002008-06-29T12:46:06.948-07:00INB 6/29/08: Raids at Houston Rag Company, Washington Aerospace PlantImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 14 - June 29, 2008<br /><br />1. Houston Clothing Company Raided<br />2. Washington Aerospace Plant Raided<br />3. Tennessee Restaurants Raided<br />4. "Fugitive" Raids in Midwest<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. HOUSTON CLOTHING COMPANY RAIDED<br /><br />Early on June 25, some 200 agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided Action Rags USA, an international supplier of used clothing and rags in Houston, Texas. The ICE agents executed a federal search warrant at the plant and arrested 166 workers for administrative immigration violations. According to ICE, 135 of the arrested workers are from Mexico, 12 are from Honduras, 10 from Guatemala, eight from El Salvador, and the nationality of one is unknown. <br /><br />Late on June 25, ICE officials confirmed that 130 of the 166 workers detained were female. ICE released 66 workers, including 10 who are pregnant, for humanitarian reasons such as medical and child care issues. The number of detainees released for humanitarian reasons was later revised to 73. ICE officials said four workers were taken to area hospitals after suffering from anxiety attacks and heat-related illness (the Action Rags plant is not air-conditioned); another woman was transported by helicopter to a local hospital after she fell 20 feet off a stack of wooden pallets in which she was hiding. "Right now, we're still trying to secure the interior because we found several individuals trying to locate hiding spaces inside," said Greg Palmore, spokesperson for ICE in Houston, on June 25.<br /><br />ICE let 16 Action Rags workers go free after realizing that "[o]ne was a U.S. citizen and another 15 were here in status and are legally authorized to work," explained Bob Rutt, ICE special agent in charge in Houston. Rutt later revised those numbers, telling the New York Times that two US citizens and 13 to 19 legal residents were among those initially questioned during the raid. (These individuals were not counted among the 166 arrested workers.)<br /><br />ICE began investigating Action Rags USA a year ago after learning about hiring practices from a former employee. Rutt said no member of the company's management has been arrested, but he confirmed that "the [ICE] office of investigation is looking at allegations of the hiring of illegal aliens, which is a crime." Arresting unauthorized workers was "a collateral part" of the investigation, said Rutt. "Our focus, ICE's overall focus, is targeting the employer." During the 2007 fiscal year, ICE made 863 criminal arrests and 4,077 administrative arrests nationally as a result of worksite enforcement, according to the agency’s statistics. [<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5855264.html">Houston Chronicle 6/25/08</a>, <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5857042.html">6/26/08</a>; <a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080625houston.htm">ICE News Release 6/25/08</a>; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/us/26raid.html">New York Times 6/26/08</a>; <a href="http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou080626_jj_iceraidprotest.40a16d72.html">KHOU-TV (Houston) 6/26/08</a>]<br /><br />Action Rags lost its corporate status in July 2007 due to a tax forfeiture, according to Texas Secretary of State records. The records listed Mubarik Kahlon as the company's registered agent and director. Secretary of State spokesperson Scott Haywood confirmed that Action Rags is no longer a registered LLC in Texas. [<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5857042.html">HC 6/26/08</a>]<br /><br />On June 26, dozens of people protested the previous day's raid with a demonstration outside the Mickey Leland Federal Building in downtown Houston. "Our question to the federal government is very simple," said Mike Espinosa with Houston Justice for Janitors. "How does putting a working woman in jail keep this country safer?" Protesters also said ICE should be held responsible for the injuries the workers suffered during the raid. [<a href="http://www.click2houston.com/news/16718540/detail.html">KPRC Local 2 (Houston) 6/26/08</a>; <a href="http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou080626_jj_iceraidprotest.40a16d72.html">KHOU-TV 6/26/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. WASHINGTON AEROSPACE PLANT RAIDED<br /><br />On June 26, ICE agents executed a federal civil search warrant at an aircraft manufacturing plant in Arlington, Washington, arresting 32 of the company's workers–16 women and 16 men--on administrative immigration violations. Two of the workers are from El Salvador; the others are from Mexico. The raid took place at Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies, Inc. (AMT), a leading supplier of frame and interior parts for commercial and military aircraft. AMT provides many of the parts used in airplanes such as the Boeing 737 and Boeing 777. About 360 workers were at the job site when ICE agents showed up.<br /><br />The probe into AMT began months earlier after ICE received a tip that the business was using undocumented workers, said ICE spokesperson Lorie Dankers. ICE then audited AMT's employment records, which revealed discrepancies leading agents to believe that a small percentage of the company's employees used counterfeit documents to secure their jobs. According to ICE, there is no evidence AMT was aware that the workers had used false credentials. The investigation is ongoing and the company is cooperating, said Dankers. "We'll go where the evidence leads us," she said.<br /><br />Four female workers were released on humanitarian grounds because they are primary caregivers to children. The other 28 workers were taken to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080626arlington.htm">ICE News Release 6/26/08</a>; <a href="http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20080627/NEWS01/807661105/0/ETPZoneLT">Lynnwood Enterprise 6/27/08</a>; <a href="http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=68571">710 KIRO Radio 6/26/08</a>]<br /><br />A day earlier, on June 25, the Northwest Detention Center ended a six-day quarantine and lockdown that affected more than 900 of the 1,000 detainees held at the facility. The quarantine was imposed after one detainee fell ill with chickenpox; a second detainee showed signs of the infection on June 20. Doctors determined that all but 80 of the approximately 760 male detainees were immune from the disease after blood tests showed evidence of either the vaccine or a previous exposure. The 240 female detainees didn't require testing because they're segregated from the male population. <br /><br />Court cases for detainees who are immune to chickenpox resumed on June 24, and deportations were to start again as early as June 25, said ICE spokesperson Lorie Dankers. Visits from friends, family members and attorneys were to resume on June 26. Detainees who aren't immune to chickenpox will be quarantined through July 7. During that time, they can't be deported or receive visitors. Detainees who arrived after June 24 were being placed into the same residence pods as immune detainees. [<a href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/396962.html">News Tribune (Tacoma) 6/25/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. TENNESSEE RESTAURANTS RAIDED<br /><br />On June 17, ICE agents raided three Chinese restaurants in central Tennessee owned by restaurant entrepreneur Stanley Wang, arresting a total of about 50 workers from Mexico, the People's Republic of China, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia and Indonesia. The raids took place at the New Famous Chinese Restaurant in Nashville, Chef Wang's in Murfreesboro and the Famous Chinese Restaurant in Smyrna. [<a href="http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080619/NEWS03/806190371/1017/NEWS01">The Tennessean 6/19/08</a>; <a href="http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=11556">Murfreesboro Post 6/19/08</a>]<br /><br />According to employees at Chef Wang's, agents entered the restaurant around 11am. "It was pretty weird. They took all the Hispanics from the back and were, like, frisking them, and they put them all in cuffs, set them down in the dining room and were talking to them in Spanish," said Brigitte Barbeau. At least 12 people were taken away, the employees said. "It was pretty dramatic. These are people that we work with every day. You know, we're like family here," said Stacy Cox. [<a href="http://www.wsmv.com/news/16636212/detail.html">WSMV.com 6/18/08</a>]<br /><br />Federal agents, along with the Murfreesboro Police Department, also conducted an investigation at a Murfreesboro home in relation to the raids. Milissa Reierson, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, said her department participated in the enforcement effort. The Metro Nashville Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol also assisted. [<a href="http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080619/NEWS03/806190371/1017/NEWS01">The Tennessean 6/19/08</a>; <a href="http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=11556">Murfreesboro Post 6/19/08</a>]<br /><br />It was not clear whether the Tennessee raids were connected to grand jury indictments handed down Apr. 15 in US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/04/inb-42708-detainees-transferred-after.html">INB 4/27/08</a>]. The indictments charged 15 people from Georgia employment agencies with conspiring to supply undocumented workers to Chinese restaurants in a number of eastern states, including Tennessee. [<a href="http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=11556">Murfreesboro Post 6/19/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. "FUGITIVE" RAIDS IN MIDWEST<br /><br />Over a five-day period ending June 24, ICE Fugitive Operations Teams carried out a series of coordinated sweeps through southeast Wisconsin, the Chicago metropolitan area, southwestern Kansas and central Nebraska, arresting a total of 158 people, of whom fewer than 90 were "fugitives" who have failed to comply with deportation orders.<br /><br />In Wisconsin, ICE arrested 38 people in Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine counties, describing 16 of them as "fugitives" and 22 as "immigration violators encountered by ICE officers during their targeted arrests." Those arrested are from Albania, China, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080625milwaukee.htm">ICE News Release 6/25/08</a>] In its Chicago press release, ICE gave the total number arrested in the Wisconsin sweeps as 32.<br /><br />In Chicago, Highland Park, Waukegan, Highwood, and elsewhere in the Chicago metropolitan area, ICE arrested 43 immigrants from Albania, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Jordan, Mexico, Poland and Yugoslavia. ICE described 25 of those arrested as fugitives and 18 as immigration violators; 20 reportedly had prior criminal convictions. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080625chicago.htm">ICE News Release 6/25/08</a>]<br /><br />In southwestern Kansas, ICE arrested 33 people in Garden City and 15 in Dodge City. Those arrested included five women and came from El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Vietnam. ICE reported that 33 of the 48 people arrested had criminal convictions, but did not say how many were considered "fugitives." (Calculations based on conflicting figures in ICE’s Garden City and Chicago press releases suggest that somewhere between 14 and 20 of the 48 people arrested in Kansas were considered "fugitives" while 28 to 34 of the total were immigration violators.) ICE spokesperson Carl Rusnok said most of the immigrants were arrested at their homes, but a few were arrested at work. He did not know whether any of the arrests occurred at the area's beef-packing plants. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080626gardencity.htm">ICE News Release 6/25/08</a>; <a href="http://www.dodgeglobe.com/news/x2113786947/Immigration-roundup-yields-48-arrests">Dodge Globe 6/27/08</a>]<br /><br />[Garden City and Dodge City both have major meatpacking plants which employ large numbers of immigrants. During nationwide mobilizations for immigrant rights on Apr. 10, 2006, some 3,000-4,000 people marched in Garden City, a town with an estimated population of 28,000, while 2,000 marched in Dodge City, population 26,000. See <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2006/04/inb-41606-protests-sweep-nation.html">INB 6/16/06</a>.]<br /><br />The raids were supervised out of the ICE office in Chicago, which oversees operations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Kentucky. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080625milwaukee.htm">ICE News Release 6/25/08</a>]<br /><br />In central Nebraska, ICE arrested 44 immigrants from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador. Most were arrested in Lexington (25 arrests) and Grand Island (12 arrests); two people were arrested in Broken Bow and one person was arrested in each of the following towns: Cozad, Gibbon, Hastings, Kearney and North Platte. Of the total, 28 were considered "fugitives" and 16 were described as immigration violators; 10 had criminal convictions. The Nebraska raids were coordinated out of the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations in Bloomington, Minnesota, which oversees operations in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080625omaha.htm">ICE News Release 6/25/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," a new book by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas, out now on Monthly Review Press: for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-63866297989464004162008-06-22T23:59:00.000-07:002008-06-23T06:54:03.015-07:00INB 6/22/08: Indian Workers Suspend Hunger StrikeImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 13 - June 22, 2008<br /><br />1. Indian Workers Suspend Hunger Strike<br />2. Deport Flight to Albania, Nigeria<br />3. California Farmworkers Arrested<br />4. No-Match Firings at California Farm<br />5. Arizona Water Parks Raided<br />6. Rhode Island: 42 Arrested in Fugitive Raid<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. INDIAN WORKERS SUSPEND HUNGER STRIKE<br /><br />On June 11, Indian workers who say they were forced into involuntary servitude under the H-2B visa program rallied in front of the Department of Justice (DOJ) headquarters in Washington to demand that they be allowed to remain in the US to participate in a DOJ investigation into labor trafficking. A group of the workers had been carrying out a hunger strike in Washington since May 14, demanding congressional hearings into abuses of guest workers, talks between the US and Indian governments to protect future guest workers, and "continued presence" status under the Trafficking and Victims Protection Act so they can remain in the US and pursue their case. <br /><br />The workers were employed by Signal International in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Orange, Texas, to work at Gulf Coast oil rig repair shipyards in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. On Mar. 7 a federal class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of about 550 of the H-2B workers against Signal and several recruiters and labor brokers, charging that they engineered a scheme to defraud the workers; on Mar. 18, over 100 of the workers launched a 10-day "journey for justice" from New Orleans to Washington [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/03/inb-32908-h-2-workers-sue-march.html">INB 3/29/08</a>]. <br /><br />The June 11 rally marked the suspension of the hunger strike. "With our hunger strike, we have won concrete actions that will help protect future workers from the nightmare of forced labor we suffered," said Sabulal Vijayan, a former Signal worker and member of the Indian Workers' Congress, a group formed by the H-2B workers with help from the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice. "Because of the power of our hunger strike, 18 members of the U.S. Congress have written to the Department of Justice to demand continued presence on our behalf."<br /><br />DOJ has "remained cold while these workers have taken extraordinary risks to open the world's eyes to the reality of guestworker programs," said Saket Soni, director of the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice. "This suspension of the hunger strike gives the DOJ one last chance to fulfill its responsibility to combat the brutal reality of human trafficking," Soni said. <br /><br />As the workers rallied in Washington on June 11, the labor rights network Jobs With Justice held solidarity actions in 10 cities across the US: Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Portland, OR; Knoxville, TN; Richmond, VA; Chicago, IL; Salt Lake City, UT; New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; and San Francisco, CA. The previous week, Jobs With Justice members wrote over 9,000 letters to the US Congress in support of the workers. [<a href="http://subscript.bna.com/SAMPLES/wil.nsf/254a9c7e5ee0351e85256b57006270c6/20aef77070ab80b7852574670080f1b4?OpenDocument">Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. Workplace Immigration Report Vol. 2, #12, 6/16/08</a>; <a href="http://nolaworkerscenter.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/day-29-hunger-strike-suspended-after-huge-political-gains/">New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice Press Release 6/11/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. DEPORT FLIGHT TO ALBANIA, NIGERIA<br /><br />US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 77 Nigerians and six Albanians on a flight that left Niagara Falls International Airport in upstate New York on June 4 headed for Albania and Nigeria. The immigrants removed on the flight had been held at various detention facilities around the US; they were brought to the Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, New York, shortly before the flight. ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) Flight Operations Unit arranged the contract flight. ICE reported that "the majority of those removed had criminal histories and convictions" in the US. <br /><br />ICE claims that in fiscal year 2007 it removed a record number of people--more than 284,000--from the US, "including over 41,000 who returned voluntarily to their country of nationality." ICE said "more than 93,000" of the deportees (less than a third of the total) had criminal histories. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080606buffalo.htm">ICE News Release 6/6/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. CALIFORNIA FARMWORKERS ARRESTED<br /><br />On June 4, ICE agents executed a federal search warrant at the business office of Boss 4 Packing in Heber, California, a locally-owned company that provides contract workers to farms in southern California's Imperial Valley. The search warrant remains under seal. Agents arrested two of the company's foremen on federal criminal charges for misusing Social Security numbers to employ unauthorized workers. One was arrested at his home near Brawley, California, while the other was arrested working in a nearby field. ICE also arrested 32 Boss 4 Packing employees--seven women and 25 men--on administrative immigration violations. Most of the workers were arrested in the Brawley area. One woman was released the same day on humanitarian grounds with orders to report for a removal processing interview, and one underage worker was turned over to relatives. Of the other 30 workers, 18 workers had already been returned to Mexico as of June 5, while 12 were being held as material witnesses in the ongoing investigation. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080605elcentro.htm">ICE News Release 6/5/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. NO-MATCH FIRINGS AT CALIFORNIA FARM<br /><br />On June 9, Sun Valley Floral Farms in northern California's Humboldt County fired 283 employees after a letter from ICE informed the company that the workers are not eligible to work in the US because their Social Security numbers do not match government records. More than half of the company's workforce was laid off, according to Sun Valley Group CEO Lane DeVries. "It's like a neutron bomb hitting our company," DeVries said. "Some of these people worked with us for 17 years. Some were team leaders for 10 or 12 years. This is very devastating to the people involved." The latest ICE action against the company likely stems from investigations and raids that took place in the area nearly a year ago.<br /><br />DeVries said Sun Valley's employment records were searched at that time, and approximately seven months ago, the company was asked to submit I-9 tax forms. [<a href="http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_9537836">Times Standard (Eureka, CA) 6/10/08</a>]<br /><br />On June 16, a week after the firings at Sun Valley Floral, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that 33 custodians who were fired from their jobs at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in 2003 for having mismatched Social Security numbers were wrongfully terminated. The court ruled that discrepancies found in "no-match" letters the Social Security Administration sent to their employer, Aramark, did "not automatically mean that an employee is undocumented or lacks proper work authorization." The ruling requires the Los Angeles janitors to be rehired with back pay. It was the first federal appeals court in the nation to rule on no-match letters. [<a href="http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0619biz-sanctions0619">Arizona Republic (Phoenix) 6/19/08</a>; <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/17/BA1811A56D.DTL&tsp=1">San Francisco Chronicle 6/17/08</a>]<br /><br />*5. ARIZONA WATER PARKS RAIDED<br /><br />On June 10, sheriff's deputies in Maricopa County, Arizona, raided two water parks in the Phoenix area and arrested nine workers on charges of suspicion of identity theft and using forged documents to obtain employment. The raid followed a four-month investigation of hiring practices at the sites.<br /><br />The operation is being seen as a test case for a law that went into effect in Arizona in January 2008 which allows the state to suspend or revoke business licenses of employers who "knowingly" hire unauthorized workers. Authorities also used search warrants to seize personnel records, which they will use to investigate whether a violation of the state employer sanctions law occurred, said Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is known nationally for his aggressive targeting of immigrants. <br /><br />The raids took place at Golfland Sunsplash in Mesa and Waterworld Safari in Phoenix, both of which are owned by Phoenix-based Golfland Entertainment Centers; the company operates three parks in Arizona and six in California. A former employee at Waterworld Safari provided the tip that led to the investigation, said Arpaio. According to Arpaio, investigators believe as many as 104 additional employees at the parks might have used fraudulent documents or Social Security numbers to get their jobs.<br /><br />Dave Johnson, director of marketing for the parks, said that since January Golfland executives have used a federal database to check the immigration status of newly hired workers as required by the state law. "Those who could not be confirmed as legal, they were terminated," Johnson said. Golfland Sunsplash, Waterworld Safari and a third water park in the area employ a total of 1,100 people, Johnson said. [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/us/12immig.html">New York Times 6/12/08</a>]<br /><br />*6. RHODE ISLAND: 42 ARRESTED IN FUGITIVE RAID<br /><br />On June 11 and 12, ICE agents from the Rhode Island Fugitive Operations Team arrested 42 immigrants from Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico in the areas of Newport and Middletown, Rhode Island. Half of those arrested--21 people–were identified by ICE as immigration "fugitives" (people who had failed to comply with prior deportation orders). Another 12 were described as people who had reentered the US after being previously removed, while nine merely lacked authorization to be in the US. <br /><br />According to an ICE news release, those who had reentered after being removed or had failed to comply with removal orders are "subject to immediate removal," while those who had not previously been ordered removed have been charged with immigration violations and placed into removal proceedings. They will be detained at various state and county facilities where ICE has contracts for immigration detention. ICE was assisted in the operation by Rhode Island State Police, Middletown Police Department, US Marshals Service, Bristol County (Massachusetts) Sheriff's Office, and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080612providence.htm">ICE News Release 6/12/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," a new book by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas, out now on Monthly Review Press: for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-55398758655778645032008-06-06T05:14:00.000-07:002008-06-06T06:01:18.170-07:00INB 6/6/08: ICE Raids Bakery; 1,800 Arrested in "Fugitive" SweepsImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 12 - June 6, 2008<br /><br />1. San Diego: ICE Raids Bakery, Campus<br />2. Florida: Raid at Jail Construction Site<br />3. 1,800 Arrested in "Fugitive" Sweeps<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /> <br />*1. SAN DIEGO: ICE RAIDS BAKERY, CAMPUS<br /><br />On May 15, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 18 workers on immigration violations in a raid on the French Gourmet, a popular bistro, bakery and catering company in San Diego's oceanfront Pacific Beach neighborhood. Agents executed a criminal search warrant at the restaurant and remained there for about six hours collecting company documents, said ICE spokesperson Lauren Mack. Agents took files and computers from the site. No one from company management was arrested. ICE said the search warrant is under seal because the investigation is ongoing. [<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/12/national/a130001D63.DTL&tsp=1">AP 5/15/08</a>; <a href="http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=90301fe2-deb2-4f64-af19-217f973b14b1">XETV FOX6 News (San Diego) 5/16/08</a>] <br /><br />"They closed the streets. There were cops and guns and badges and everything all over the place," said Rod Coon, vice president of the French Gourmet. According to French Gourmet officials, the agents turned around security cameras, presumably so their actions wouldn't be filmed. [<a href="http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=90301fe2-deb2-4f64-af19-217f973b14b1">XETV FOX6 News 5/16/08</a>]<br /><br />ICE agents searched workers in a delivery area behind the restaurant before taking them to a different location for questioning. ICE released three women on "humanitarian grounds" to care for their children, and detained 15 men at an immigration detention facility in San Diego. ICE said all 18 arrested workers are Mexican nationals suspected of being in the US without legal status. The raid was the first at the 29-year-old company, according to French Gourmet marketing manager Jodi Breslow. She said she believed the company may have come under scrutiny because it caters events on military bases in San Diego. Breslow said the company had collected federal employment eligibility verification forms and photo identification with each worker's job application. Those documents were provided to immigration officials, she said. [<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/12/national/a130001D63.DTL&tsp=1">AP 5/15/08</a>]<br /><br />Among the 18 workers arrested were several who had been employed at the French Gourmet for 16 years. [<a href="http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=90301fe2-deb2-4f64-af19-217f973b14b1">XETV FOX6 News 5/16/08</a>]<br /><br />ICE apparently followed up the raid at the French Gourmet that same morning with visits to the homes of employees who were not present at the restaurant at the time and whose addresses ICE had obtained. In one such incident, ICE agents invaded the home of French Gourmet employee Jorge Narvaez, a pre-law student who lives with his wife and young child at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) Mesa Graduate Housing complex. Narvaez, a US legal permanent resident born in Mexico whose mother was deported within the last year, said he was at home around 10am when half a dozen ICE agents sporting firearms and bullet-proof vests showed up asking about another French Gourmet employee whom they believed had fled there. After he told the agents that the other person was not there, "They asked me what's my legal status," said Narvaez. "I don't know if they had a warrant or not, but I let them in because I didn't have anything to hide," Narvaez said. "I went outside and they looked through all my stuff." [<a href="http://socialistworker.org/2008/05/26/san-diego-protest-against-ice">Socialist Worker 5/26/08</a>; <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080523-9999-1m23ucsd.html">San Diego Union-Tribune 5/23/08</a>; <a href="http://ucsdguardian.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10146&Itemid=2">UCSD Guardian 5/27/08</a>]<br /><br />ICE later said its agents had made a mistake by entering UCSD student housing to search an apartment without first notifying campus police in accordance with agency policy. Mack, the ICE spokesperson, claimed the agents didn't realize they were in student housing until after the raid. "Had they been aware that morning, we would have provided a courtesy notification by contacting the campus police," Mack said. "We are conducting an internal review of the situation to clear up any confusion as to how that happened, and to make sure it doesn't happen again." Narvaez said the agents should have been aware of where they were; "There are signs in front that say this is university housing," he said.<br /><br />UCSD officials learned of the incident as news spread from student to student and eventually to faculty, said Grecia Lima, a senior who helped organize a May 22 forum on campus to discuss stepped-up immigration enforcement. Earlier that week, UCSD campus police spoke with ICE officials about the incident and to "revisit the importance of advising campus police when agents become involved in contacting students on campus," Stacie Spector, associate vice chancellor for university communications, said in a written statement. [<a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080523-9999-1m23ucsd.html">San Diego Union-Tribune 5/23/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. FLORIDA: RAID AT JAIL CONSTRUCTION SITE<br /><br />On May 15, ICE special agents arrested 25 immigrants from Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala and Peru who were working on a construction project expanding the county jail for the Lee County Sheriff's Office in Fort Myers, Florida. The ICE agents raided the site in response to a tip from the sheriff's office. The workers, 22 men and three women, were all placed into removal proceedings; 17 of them had already been deported as of June 5. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080515ftmyers.htm">ICE News Release 5/15/08</a>; <a href="http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/05/naples-company-linked-illegal-workers-cleared-lee-/">Naples Daily News 6/5/08</a>]<br /><br />Deputy county attorney Andrea Fraser said on June 5 that she believes the contractor, Kraft Construction, complied with all federal requirements and with all contract requirements. Lee County officials say Kraft has adequately explained the situation and will be allowed to finish the jail. Kraft officials said immediately after the arrests that only one of the workers was a company employee, and that person was authorized to work. Kraft and subcontractor Spectrum Contracting both hired a public relations firm right after the raid and have said little else. ICE investigators are still looking into whether Kraft or Spectrum knowingly hired unauthorized workers. Fraser said Kraft CEO Farahd "Fred" Pezeshkan owns part of Spectrum; in the future any construction manager hired by the county will have to disclose such relationships up front. [<a href="http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/jun/05/naples-company-linked-illegal-workers-cleared-lee-/">Naples Daily News 6/5/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. 1,800 ARRESTED IN "FUGITIVE" SWEEPS<br /><br />On June 2, ICE announced that its eight fugitive operations teams in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area had arrested a total of 491 immigrants during a month-long operation in May. Out of the total 491 people arrested, 347 were what the agency calls fugitive aliens--people who have failed to comply with (and sometimes are unaware of) prior deportation orders, or who have been reentered the US after having been deported. ICE said 207 of these 347 "fugitives" also had criminal records. ICE officers arrested 76 other immigrants with criminal records and 68 other people the agency described as "immigration violators" (people present in the US without permission from the federal government).<br /><br />In the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area, ICE worked closely with federal, state and local agencies including the US Marshals Eastern District Regional Fugitive Task Force, New York State Police, Suffolk County Sheriff's Office and Suffolk County Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the US Secret Service. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080602newark.htm">ICE News Release 6/2/08</a>]<br /><br />A similar sweep began on May 5 in California, involving ICE fugitive operations teams based in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. In that three-week operation, ICE arrested 905 people, including 495 people who were on a target list of just over 1,500 "fugitives" ICE was seeking to arrest. The other 410 people arrested included some who had reentered the US after being deported, and others who were simply living in the US without permission. [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/24/us/24deport.html">New York Times 5/24/08</a>]<br /><br />In northern California, the ICE fugitive teams arrested 17 immigrants in the Canal area of San Rafael, in Marin County, in raids that began early on May 22. ICE spokesperson Virginia Kice said enforcement teams removed 16 men and one woman. The San Rafael Police Department did not participate in any of the arrests, said police spokesperson Margo Rohrbacher. She said the department was notified at 5 am that ICE agents would be attempting to serve federal deportation warrants in several areas of the city. <br /><br />The raids in San Rafael began just two days after San Pedro Elementary School principal Kathryn Gibney testified at a congressional hearing on the continuing emotional and social trauma among her students caused by ICE raids carried out in the same area in March 2007, when 65 Canal residents were arrested over three days [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2007/03/inb-31807-california-county-responds-to.html">INB 3/18/07</a>]. Gibney told the Workforce Protections Subcommittee that she is still seeing rising absenteeism and falling test scores as a result of last year's raids. [<a href="http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_9347931">Marin Independent-Journal 5/22/08</a>]<br /><br />In a four-day operation in Texas beginning May 18, agents from five ICE fugitive operations teams based in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio arrested 84 immigrants in the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio and Austin. Those arrested were from El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Kenya, Guatemala and Honduras; 56 of them had been issued final orders of deportation, while 28 were simply present in the US without permission. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080523sanantonio.htm">ICE News Release 5/23/08</a>]<br /><br />In a four-day operation May 6-9, ICE agents arrested 89 immigrants in a sweep targeting people who had failed to comply with deportation orders in the Houston Field Office's area of responsibility, which extends across over 52 counties from Louisiana to Corpus Christi, Texas. A dozen "fugitive operations" teams with 60 agents from Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso, carried out the operation. Of the 89 people arrested, 28 had criminal convictions. It was not clear how many of those arrested had prior deportation orders, and how many were picked up for simply lacking immigration status. ICE had hoped to arrest "hundreds" of people with prior deportation orders, whom the agency refers to as fugitives. "Well, we always hope for more, but we don't always get everybody we're looking for," said Kenneth Landgrebe, the ICE Field Office director for Detention and Removal in Houston. [<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5770244.html">Houston Chronicle 5/11/08</a>]<br /><br />In eastern Tennessee, ICE arrested 48 of the 280 "fugitives" it was seeking in sweeps over the weekend of May 17-18. Agents from fugitive operation teams based in New Orleans (Louisiana), Memphis (Tennessee), Atlanta (Georgia) and Charlotte (North Carolina) arrested 22 people in Chattanooga; the others were arrested in Knoxville and surrounding rural counties. [<a href="http://tfponline.com/news/2008/may/22/immigration-arrests-continue-chattanooga-area/?local">Chattanooga Times Free Press 5/22/08</a>]<br /><br />The sweeps were part of a six-state enforcement effort in which ICE fugitive operations teams arrested 1,808 immigrants--1,069 of them "fugitives"--in California, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Texas and Tennessee. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080602washington.htm">ICE News Release 6/2/08</a>]<br /><br />Over the week ending May 16, agents from ICE's fugitive operations team in Phoenix, Arizona, worked with partners from the US Marshal's Service and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to arrest 39 immigrants in the Phoenix area. Of the total, 21 were "fugitives"; seven had "criminal histories." [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080516phoenix.htm">ICE News Release 5/16/08</a>]<br /><br />ICE also carried out home raids looking for "fugitives" in Reno and Sparks, Nevada, May 28-30. Agents arrested at least two people, both of whom had prior removal orders. [<a href="http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805310343">Reno Gazette-Journal 5/31/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," a new book by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas, out now on Monthly Review Press: for details see publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-59610548601153497652008-06-02T07:07:00.000-07:002008-06-02T07:40:55.682-07:00INB 6/2/08: Massive Raid at Kosher Meat Plant in IowaImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 11 - June 2, 2008<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />Special Issue: Massive Raid at Kosher Meat Plant in Iowa<br /><br />On May 12, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out its largest ever mass arrest at a single worksite, seizing 389 of the 970 employees at the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. ICE took the workers, most of them Guatemalan, to the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo, Iowa for processing. [<a href="http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/506249.html?nav=5005">AP 5/16/08</a>]<br /><br />A Raid Forewarned<br /><br />Activists and residents in the Waterloo area had begun to fear an imminent immigration raid as early as May 4, when the Waterloo Courier quoted National Cattle Congress (NCC) general manager Doug Miller as confirming that the federal government was leasing the privately-owned fairgrounds through May 25 under an agreement approved by the NCC board. The Courier noted that contractors had installed massive generators adjacent to many buildings on the fairgrounds; that windows of many of the buildings were covered up; and that a number of large mobile home-size trailers had been transported to the grounds. [<a href="http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2008/05/04/news/metro/10318480.txt">Waterloo Courier 5/4/08</a>]<br /><br />The Des Moines Register picked up the story on May 6, reporting that Miller wouldn't let the Register see a copy of NCC's rental contract with the US General Services Administration, and that he said he didn't know what the government planned to do with the fairgrounds. "ICE never talks about our investigative activity or possible future enforcement actions," the paper quoted ICE spokesperson Tim Counts as saying. "Regarding the exercise in Waterloo, there is currently no publicly releasable information about that, so we aren't releasing any," Counts told the Register. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/NEWS10/805060374/1001/">Des Moines Register 5/6/08</a>]<br /><br />Anticipating that the fairgrounds were being prepared for use as a detention center following a mass raid, activists organized a "know your rights" meeting at the Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Waterloo on May 11, following the church's Spanish-language noon mass. The activists handed out information about what people should do when confronted by law enforcement agents, and provided contact information for immigration attorneys in Iowa. Activists also held a strategy session to talk about how to respond in case of a raid. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080511/NEWS/80511008">DMR 5/11/08</a>]<br /><br />The Arrests<br /><br />The raid took place the next day, not in Waterloo but a 77-mile drive northeast in the tiny community of Postville, which has a population of about 2,300. The operation, the result of a 16-month investigation, began with helicopters, buses and vans encircling the western edge of Postville at 10 am. Witnesses said hundreds of agents surrounded the Agriprocessors plant in 10 minutes, began interviewing workers and seized company records. After an announcement over the plant's loudspeaker said ICE agents were in the plant, many of the workers tried to hide or run. Some workers who were in the plant at the time of the raid managed to evade authorities. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/NEWS/805140353/1001/NEWS&theme=vacation">DMR 5/14/08</a>; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702474.html">Washington Post 5/18/08</a>]<br /><br />According to an ICE press release, the agency executed a criminal search warrant at the factory for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, as well as a civil search warrant for people present in the US without permission. The operation was led by US Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa Matt Dummermuth and ICE Special Agent in Charge Claude Arnold, and carried out with assistance from the US Marshals Service, US Postal Inspections Service, Iowa Department of Public Safety, Iowa Department of Transportation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Protective Service, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, US Department of Labor, Public Health Service, US Department of Agriculture, US Environmental Protection Agency, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Drug Enforcement Administration, Waterloo Police Department and Postville Police Department. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080512cedarrapids.htm">ICE News Release 5/12/08</a>]<br /><br />Those arrested included 290 Guatemalans, 93 Mexicans, four Ukrainians and two Israelis, according to the US attorney's office for the Northern District of Iowa. Of the total 389 people arrested, 76 were adult women and 18 were children ranging in age from 13 to 17. The children were turned over to adult guardians or to the US Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is responsible for the care of unaccompanied minors found to be present in the US without valid immigration status. Of the adults, 306 were charged with aggravated identity theft and other crimes related to the use of false documents. [<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702474.html">WP 5/18/08</a>; <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080517/NEWS/805170337/-1/SPORTS09">DMR 5/17/08</a>]<br /><br />As of May 14, 56 of the workers--mostly women with young children--had been released under ICE supervision for humanitarian reasons. Most of them were required to wear an electronic monitoring device around one ankle. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/NEWS/805140371/1001/NEWS">DMR 5/14/08</a>] One worker who was detained with the others on May 12 but was released the same day for medical reasons said that three weeks before the raid a supervisor at the plant told her to "change her papers" to make them look more realistic. The woman asked not to be identified because she feared retaliation from ICE. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/NEWS/805140353/1001/NEWS&theme=vacation">DMR 5/14/08 (separate article from above)</a>] <br /><br />A Community in Fear<br /><br />Bob Teig, spokesperson for the US attorney's office in Iowa's northern district, noted on May 15 that the raid included 697 arrest warrants and said the investigation was "ongoing." [<a href="http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/506249.html?nav=5005">AP 5/16/08</a>; <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-iowa-plant-raidmay19,0,3571577.story">Chicago Tribune 5/18/08</a>] Worry of more raids on homes led as many as 200 Postville residents, including entire families, to seek shelter at St. Bridget's Catholic Church in the days following the operation at Agriprocessors. The church provided food, a place to sleep, and a way for parents and their children to continue a daily routine. Sister Mary McCauley said, "I heard today that even some of the children, the small children at the Postville school, made a petition, and it said 'Do not take our families away.' And that's how we feel." [<a href="http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/18959339.html">KCRG News (Cedar Rapids) 5/15/08</a>]<br /><br />Half of the Postville school system's 600 students were absent on May 13, including 90% of the Latino children, because their parents were arrested or in hiding. Postville Community Schools superintendent David Strudthoff said the sudden incarceration of more than 10% of the town's population "is like a natural disaster--only this one is manmade." [<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702474.html">WP 5/18/08</a>]<br /><br />Gustavo Lopez, Guatemala's consul general in Chicago, arrived at St. Bridget's late on May 15 after spending two days in Waterloo meeting with Guatemalan detainees to make sure they were being treated humanely. Lopez said ICE field director Scott Baniecke in Minneapolis assured him there would be no more raids in Postville in the immediate future. [<a href="http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080515/NEWS/878476546/1006/news">The Gazette (Cedar Rapids) 5/15/08</a>]<br /><br />"In several instances children went as long as 72 hours without seeing their mother or father, not knowing where they were," said Bishop Steven Ullestad of the Northeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "Families have been torn, some have been taken to Waterloo while the remaining spouse is left behind with an electronic monitoring device on their ankle." Ullestad said religious leaders will work with Postville residents to help them recover spiritually from the raid's impact. "The recovery of an entire town being violated in this way will take years. Even if they find another 390 workers tomorrow, the town will be in a process of recovery not unlike post-traumatic stress syndrome." [<a href="http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080517/NEWS/930919173/1001/NEWS">The Gazette 5/17/08</a>]<br /><br />Criminal Convictions<br /><br />After meeting with defense lawyers appointed by the court, 297 of the 389 arrested Agriprocessors workers quickly accepted guilty pleas on criminal charges including use of false identification documents to obtain employment, false use of a Social Security number or cards and unlawful re-entry into the US. Over four days from May 20 through 23, in an emergency court setup approved by chief judge Linda R. Reade, the workers were brought in groups of 10, their hands and feet shackled, to makeshift courtrooms set up in trailers and in a modified dance hall at the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds. <br /><br />In what US attorney Matt Dummermuth called an "astonishing success," 270 of the workers were sentenced to five months in prison each; another 27 received probation. It appeared that those receiving prison time were mainly charged with using real Social Security numbers that belonged to other people, while those receiving probation had primarily used invented Social Security numbers that did not belong to anyone. Most of the workers agreed to immediate deportation following completion of their sentences. The workers are also required to cooperate with any ongoing federal investigation of Agriprocessors. <br /><br />The workers accepted the five-month sentences because prosecutors threatened to try anyone who didn't accept the plea deals on felony identity theft charges that carry a mandatory two-year minimum jail sentence. In an interview, Judge Reade said prosecutors "have tried to be fair in their charging" and had organized the immigrants' detention to make it easy for their lawyers to meet with them. [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/24/us/24immig.html">New York Times 5/24/08</a>; <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080519/NEWS/80519015">DMR 5/19/08</a>; <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5812441.html">AP 6/1/08</a>]<br /><br />Five workers did not enter pleas to criminal charges; their cases are pending in US District Court in Cedar Rapids. About 60 workers were released for humanitarian reasons and do not face criminal charges, while 20 others are detained on civil immigration violations and face deportation proceedings, said Teig, the US attorney's office spokesperson. [<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5812441.html">AP 6/1/08</a>]<br /><br />Defense lawyer David Nadler said the plea agreements were the best deal available for his clients. But Nadler was dismayed that prosecutors had denied probation and had insisted that the workers serve jail time and that they agree to a rarely used judicial order for immediate deportation upon their release, signing away their rights to go to immigration court. "That's not the defense of justice," Nadler said. "That's just politics." [<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/24/us/24immig.html">NYT 5/24/08</a>]<br /><br />Company Implicated<br /><br />As of June 1, not one company official faced any charges. [<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5812441.html">AP 6/1/08</a>] Officials with ICE and the US attorney's office have declined to comment on whether a grand jury has been convened. Ron Wahls, a guidance counselor in the Postville school district who has connections to the plant, told the Des Moines Register he had been summoned to appear before a grand jury. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805310338">DMR 5/31/08</a>]<br /><br />According to a 57-page federal affidavit filed by ICE senior special agent David M. Hoagland in support of the criminal search warrant issued for the May 12 raid on Agriprocessors, 76% of the 968 employees on the company's payroll over the last three months of 2007 used false or suspect Social Security numbers. According to the affidavit, undercover sources who were wearing recording devices said supervisors instructed employees to "fix" their Social Security numbers. The affidavit cited unnamed sources who alleged that some company supervisors employed 15-year-olds, helped cash checks for workers with fake documents, and pressured workers without documents to purchase vehicles and register them in other names. In addition, the affidavit alleged that company supervisors ignored a report of a methamphetamine drug lab operating in the plant. It also cited a case in which a supervisor blindfolded a Guatemalan worker and allegedly struck him with a meat hook, without serious injury. [<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702474.html">WP 5/18/08</a>; <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-iowa-plant-raidmay19,0,3571577.story">Chicago Tribune 5/18/08</a>; <a href="http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080515/NEWS/949618896/1006/news">The Gazette 5/15/08</a>]<br /><br />On May 15, a class-action lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, charging federal authorities with violating the Agriprocessors workers' Fifth Amendment rights to due process by exposing them to "prolonged and indefinite detention," hindering their access to attorneys. The Peck Law Firm and Dornan & Lustgarten firm in Omaha, Nebraska filed the lawsuit on behalf of an estimated 147 detained immigrant workers. The suit alleged that the detained workers hadn't had adequate time for legal services and that moving them out of Iowa to various detention centers, as ICE had planned to do, would effectively destroy the ongoing relationship between detainees and their attorneys. The three named petitioners in the suit--Antonin Trinidad Candido, Roman Trinidad Candido and Maria del Refugio Masias, all Agriprocessors employees who were detained in the raid--were subsequently released. <br /><br />According to the suit, Polk County attorney Sonia Parras Konrad interviewed over 50 detainees who told her that Agriprocessors procured false identification for its immigrant employees; withheld money from their paychecks for "immigration fees"; didn't allow employees to use the restroom during 10-hour shifts; didn't compensate employees for overtime; and were physically abused by supervisors. The lawsuit argues that the workers, as victims of these alleged crimes, would be eligible for special visas, and that if they are transferred from Iowa they would be deprived of their rights under the Crime Victims' Rights Act. "As victims they would need to participate in the investigations of the alleged crimes and may be needed to testify as to personal experiences," the lawsuit said. It also claimed that some of the detained workers could be eligible for immigration relief because they have spouses and children who are US citizens.<br /><br />The suit named as defendants ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, along with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for ICE Julie Myers, ICE Special Agent in Charge Claude Arnold and US Attorney General Michael Mukasey. [<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-iowa-plant-raidmay19,0,3571577.story">Chicago Tribune 5/18/08</a>; <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NetworkAztlan_News/message/32023">AP 5/16/08</a>, <a href="http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2008/05/18/news/breaking_news/doc4830c5007aa7e538043937.txt">5/17/08</a>; <a href="http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080515/NEWS/949618896/1006/news">The Gazette 5/15/08</a>]<br /><br />Late on May 16, the day after the suit was filed, an agreement was reached between the two sides to allow the 83 arrested workers who were not criminally charged to remain in Iowa at least until their administrative bond hearings are held. That could take six months or more, the attorneys said. [<a href="http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2008/05/18/news/breaking_news/doc4830c5007aa7e538043937.txt">AP 5/17/08</a>]<br /><br />Tim Junker, a US marshal for Iowa's northern judicial district, said on May 21 that the immigrants who pleaded guilty to criminal charges will serve most of their five-month prison sentences outside of Iowa. The workers will be held in Iowa jails for anywhere from two weeks to two months before the federal penal system assigns them to other locations. There are no federal prisons in Iowa. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080522/NEWS/805220377">DMR 5/22/08</a>] <br /><br />Union Drive, Investigations Thwarted?<br /><br />The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) has been trying to organize the Postville plant and had sought to prevent a raid there. In a May 2 letter to ICE officials, UFCW international vice president Mark Lauritsen notified the agency of an ongoing labor dispute at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, and said he was concerned that any potential ICE action could have a "chilling effect" on the existing work force, which had reported workplace violations in the past. In addition, ICE action could result in employees leaving the plant, thus interfering with a government investigation that would "ultimately uncover unscrupulous employer acts," he said. "With these labor disputes in progress, we urge you to suspend any potentially existing enforcement efforts and refuse to be involved in this labor dispute in accordance with the internal guidance, 'Questioning Persons During Labor Disputes,'" Lauritsen wrote. <br /><br />Union leaders had earlier alerted state and federal labor officials to allegations Agriprocessors was exploiting underage workers and paying them off the books, UFCW spokesperson Jill Cashen said on May 12 in Washington DC. Now that hundreds of Agriprocessors employees have been detained, "how can justice ever be served on these exploitation issues?" Cashen asked.<br /><br />Iowa Labor Commissioner Dave Neil confirmed that a state investigation of possible labor law violations at the Agriprocessors plant was under way. The probe involved alleged violations of wage and child labor laws, he said. "I can't really get into the specifics," he said. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080513/NEWS/805130406">DMR 5/13/08</a>]<br /><br />ICE may be "deporting 390 witnesses" to the labor investigation, said Lauritsen, the UFCW official. "This employer has a long history of violating every law that's out there--labor laws, environmental laws, now immigration laws," Lauritsen added. In April, the company lost a federal appellate court battle over whether it could ignore a unionization vote by workers at its distribution center in Brooklyn, New York, on grounds that those who favored the union were out-of-status immigrants not entitled to federal labor protections. <br /><br />In 2006, the Jewish newspaper Forward revealed allegations that Agriprocessors workers were underpaid and exploited. That same year, Agriprocessors paid a $600,000 settlement to the Environmental Protection Agency to resolve wastewater pollution problems. In 2004, the US Agriculture Department's inspector general accused the company of "acts of inhumane slaughter" after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an animals rights group, publicized an unauthorized video of a stumbling, dying cow. [<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702474.html">WP 5/18/08</a>; <a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1210668655306&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull">Jerusalem Post 5/16/08</a>]<br /><br />In March of this year, following inspections of the Postville plant in October 2007 and February 2008, the Iowa Division of Labor Services announced that Agriprocessors would be subject to a fine of $182,000 for 39 violations of workplace safety rules. Many of the alleged violations related to hazardous chemicals, blood-borne pathogens and what the state called "serious health violations." Yet eight days after the fines were announced, state labor officials signed an agreement with company officials to reduce the fines stemming from 26 of the violations found during the October 2007 inspection. A week later, in April, state officials and the company agreed to reduce the fines tied to 13 violations found during the February 2008 inspection. The agreements, in which the company agreed to correct some of the violations, reduced the total amount of the fines from $182,000 to $42,750. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805310338">DMR 5/31/08</a>; <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5812441.html">AP 6/1/08</a>]<br /><br />Safety Problems Persist<br /><br />Agriprocessors is the largest employer in northeast Iowa and the Postville plant is the nation's largest kosher meatpacking facility. The company, established in 1987 by Brooklyn, New York butcher Aaron Rubashkin, produces about 60% of the kosher meat and 40% of the kosher poultry in the US market. It produces kosher and non-kosher meat and poultry products under brands such as Iowa Best Beef, Aaron's Best and Rubashkin's. The company said in a May 23 statement that it was seeking a new chief executive for the Postville operation to replace the owner's son, Sholom Rubashkin. [<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702474.html">WP 5/18/08</a>; <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5812441.html">AP 6/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1210668655306&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull">Jerusalem Post 5/16/08</a>, <a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1211872840140&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull">5/28/08</a>] <br /><br />The company lost nearly half of the Postville plant's workforce in the May 12 ICE raid. The plant was closed on the day of the raid but resumed operation the next day at a reduced level. [<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5812441.html">AP 6/1/08</a>] As of May 16, company spokesperson Chaim Abrahams said Agriprocessors has been hiring more workers but was not at full capacity. He also said the company is improving its hiring procedures to ensure that workers are legal residents. "We have signed up for a government electronic verification program, and are working with our consultants," he said. [<a href="http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/506249.html?nav=5005">AP 5/16/08</a>]<br /><br />Agriprocessors also brought in Labor Ready, a Waterloo company that provides nonskilled workers on contract. But 10 days into a contract, in the middle of the week that started May 26, Labor Ready pulled its estimated 150 workers out of the Postville plant because of safety concerns, according to Stacey Burke of Labor Ready's parent company, TrueBlue. "There was a concern on the part of my field operators about the safety and care afforded to our workers," Burke said. "We felt as if there was a violation on our core principles." Burke declined to specify what safety violations the field operators observed but said that Labor Ready does not have a "one strike and you're out" violation policy for worksites. [<a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805310338">DMR 5/31/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," a new book by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas, out now on Monthly Review Press: for details see<br />publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-57273543937888256422008-05-14T15:09:00.001-07:002008-05-14T18:17:30.101-07:00INB 5/14/08: May Day Roundup; Raids ContinueImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 10 - May 14, 2008<br /> <br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />May Day Roundup; Raids Continue<br /> <br />May Day demonstrations for immigrant and worker rights took place in at least 220 cities in 32 states on May 1, 2008. [<a href="http://www.criterios.com/modules.php?name=Noticias&file=article&sid=13886">CIMAC (Comunicación e Información de la Mujer, A.C.) 5/5/08 published in Criterios.com</a>] The largest action appeared to be in Milwaukee, where some 30,000 marched, although crowd estimates at Chicago's march ranged from 15,000 to 50,000. In Los Angeles, the reported turnout was anywhere between 10,000 and 30,000.<br /><br />The mainstream media ran fairly favorable coverage of the marches, noting their energetic spirit despite lower turnout. Compared to previous years, the media also paid more attention to the way in which the immigrant marches have become an annual tradition and are bringing the May Day labor holiday--International Workers' Day--back to the US, where the tradition started in the 1880s.<br /><br />Many of this year's protests were focused on stopping the immigration raids, especially workplace raids, which have increased steadily since 2006. Yet the raids continued, both before and after May Day, with at least 170 workers arrested in workplace raids in Texas, Arkansas, California, Hawai'i and Virginia between Apr. 25 and May 5.<br /><br />"[W]hen there is so much repression against immigrants and their families, the real story is how so many people overcame their fear and marched in 200 cities," noted Gladys Vega of the Chelsea Collaborative, which organized a May Day march in Chelsea, Massachusetts. [<a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/84296/">Article by Roberto Lovato, Of América, posted on Alternet 5/2/08</a>]<br /><br />NOTE: Information published here about May 1 demonstrations was based on available media reports. If you have additional information, please email it to immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com.<br /><br />In this issue:<br /><br />Mobilizations:<br />1. Northeast: NY, NJ, CT, RI, MA, NH, PA<br />2. DC and Southeast: DC, VA, NC, GA, FL<br />3. Midwest: IL, WI, IN, MI, MN<br />4. Texas, Southwest & Rockies: TX, NM, AZ, CO, NV <br />5. Pacific Coast: Port Strike, CA, OR, WA<br /><br />Raids:<br />6. Raid at Texas Landscaping Business<br />7. Raid at Arkansas Airport<br />8. Raids at Bay Area Restaurants, Homes<br />9. Restaurants Raided in Hawai'i<br />10. Virginia Construction Site Raided<br /> <br />MOBILIZATIONS<br /><br />*1. NORTHEAST: NY, NJ, CT, RI, MA, NH, PA<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">New York:</span> Mexican daily La Jornada reported that between 5,000 and 10,000 people took part in a rally in Union Square in Manhattan, followed by a march down Broadway to Foley Square near the federal building. A report from French news agency AFP said police estimated the turnout at 10,000. A feeder march of at least a few hundred people, organized by the Break the Chains Alliance, went from Chinatown to Union Square, where it joined the rally already under way. Another march of several hundred people, organized by Make the Road NY and focusing on the right of immigrant youth to higher education, came from Brooklyn into Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge. [<a href="http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2008/05/02/index.php?section=mundo&article=026n1mun">La Jornada 5/2/08</a>; <a href="http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2008/05/96943.shtml">Filipino Immigrant Network for Empowerment (FINE) Media Advisory (Los Angeles) 5/5/08</a>; <a href="http://www.terra.com/noticias/articulo/html/act1235548.htm">EFE 5/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.lahora.com.gt/notas.php?key=29922&fch=2008-05-02">La Hora (Guatemala) 5/3/08 from AFP</a>]<br /><br />Elsewhere in New York state, more than 200 people participated in a rally in Hempstead, on Long Island, led by the Workplace Project. [<a href="http://www.longislandwins.com/blog/in_the_news/two_hundred_rally_in_hempstead.php">Long Island WINS Blog 5/1/08</a>] Some 225 people, including students from Cornell University and Ithaca College, took part in a rally in Ithaca organized by a broad coalition of 31 immigrant, community, labor, religious and student groups. [<a href="http://tcswarm.net/content/home/news/225peoplec/default_html">Tompkins County Swarm 5/1/08</a>] About 50 people rallied in Rochester. [<a href="http://rochester.indymedia.org/feature/display/19797/index.php">Rochester Indymedia 5/6/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">New Jersey:</span> According to The Militant newspaper, actions took place in at least three cities in New Jersey: Bridgeton, with 80 participants; Elizabeth, with 40, and Morristown with 40. [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Connecticut:</span> In New Haven, hundreds participated in a Workers' Day fair on the Green, followed by an immigrant rights march. The fair has been an annual event for the past 22 years; the immigrant rights march began in 2006. [<a href="http://www.nhregister.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/BigDaily;jsessionid=YTWvLnqD4zMrBfhzpQv">New Haven Register 5/2/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rhode Island:</span> In Providence, about 250 people ralled near the steps of the state capitol, calling on governor Don Carcieri to rescind the executive order he signed in March which requires state police to act as immigration enforcers and employers to check all new hires against a government database. [<a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2008/05/01/groups_holding_rally_to_decry_carcieris_immigration_order/">AP 5/1/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Massachusetts:</span> Hundreds gathered at Central Square in East Boston and in front of City Hall in Everett; the two marches then converged on City Hall in Chelsea, where thousands participated in a spirited rally. In East Boston, City Councilor Chuck Turner gave a keynote talk connecting immigrant rights to the fight against foreclosures, workers' rights and against racism. The march from Everett was led by Bishop Filipe Teixeira; Tony Hernandez of District Council 35, Painters and Allied Trades; and Chelsea Collaborative organizers. [<a href="http://www.workers.org/2008/us/may_day_0515/">Workers World 5/8/08</a>] At least 150 people gathered in a separate action on the Boston Common, where some of the pro-immigrant demonstrators got into verbal confrontations with about 20 counter-protesters. Police kept the two sides apart. [<a href="http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/state/x2103875444">MetroWest Daily News 5/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/us/02march.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1209820138-DL72OJj66H55/0no17KS6A">New York Times 5/2/08</a>] According to The Militant, 150 people also demonstrated in Amherst, and 15 people took part in a May Day action in Pittsfield. [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">New Hampshire:</span> About 50 people marched in Manchester. [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>] <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Pennsylvania:</span> In Kennett Square, nearly 100 people marched through downtown, calling for justice and amnesty. [<a href="http://delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080502/NEWS02/805020338">News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware) 5/2/08</a>] In Pittsburgh, a vigil against detention was planned at Allegheny County Jail in the city's downtown area, to be followed by a march and rally through to Mellon Square Park. [Email announcement from Pittsburgh Friends of Immigrants 4/28/08]<br /><br />*2. DC AND SOUTHEAST: DC, VA, NC, GA, FL<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Washington, DC:</span> Several hundred people (350 according to The Militant) took part in May Day activities in the nation's capital, including marches on the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic National Committees; a rally at Malcolm X Park that began with a Native American drum ceremony; and a march through the Mount Pleasant and Colombia Heights neighborhoods. [<a href="http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/143134/index.php">DC Indymedia 5/1/08</a>; <a href="http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=88325">Medill Reports (Northwestern University) 5/7/08</a>; <a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">North Carolina:</span> In Charlotte, a group of 35 students from Garinger High School walked off campus about 7am and marched seven miles to the Mecklenburg Board of Education, ending with a rally at Marshall Park. The march was held without school permission; all 35 students received an unexcused absence for the day. [<a href="http://www.charlotte.com/112/story/605828.html">Charlotte Observer 5/2/08</a>]<br /><br />In Raleigh, the organization El Pueblo had reportedly called a peaceful gathering at the Legislative House. However, an article from the Spanish news agency EFE reported that El Pueblo called on supporters to call or email their legislators instead of participating in a demonstration. According to the anti-immigrant "Save our State" website, about 15-20 people held an anti-immigrant rally at the Capitol in Raleigh, organized by the "NC Fire Coalition." [<a href="http://proinmigrant.blogspot.com/2008/04/hoy-marchamos-manana-votamos.html">List of May 1 Events - National Day of Action in Defense of Immigrant Families, posted 4/15/08 on ProInmigrant Blog</a>; <a href="http://www.terra.com/noticias/articulo/html/act1233739.htm">EFE 4/30/08</a>; <a href="http://www.saveourstate.org/vforums/showthread.php?t=41999">Save Our State Forums Post 4/24/08, 5/1/08</a>] <br /><br />EFE reports that pro-immigrant vigils and a prayer day were planned in Greensboro, but no activities were planned in Durham, Burlington or Siler City, where marches were held last year. [<a href="http://www.terra.com/noticias/articulo/html/act1233739.htm">EFE 4/30/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Georgia:</span> About 200-400 people gathered on the steps of the state capitol in Atlanta for a rally organized by the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights. [<a href="http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/stories/2008/05/01/protest_0502.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13">Atlanta Journal-Constitution 5/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.workers.org/2008/us/may_day_0515/">Workers World 5/8/08</a>; <a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>] Another 70 people marched in Carrollton, Georgia, a town of about 20,000 people located 50 miles west of Atlanta. [<a href="http://www.workers.org/2008/us/may_day_0515/">Workers World 5/8/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Florida:</span> In Miami, there were three events on May 1. A group of 75 people marched to the regional immigration offices from the Little Haiti neighborhood. [<a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g-yeeu4NtQOy4zpPnNXvBCIgZuVQD90D9PDG0">AP 5/1/08</a>] About 100 people, mainly Central Americans, took part in a May 1 rally at José Martí park in Little Havana, near the city center, organized by the United Coalition for a Just Legalization (Coalición Unida por una Legalización Justa). The group planned another demonstration at the same site for May 3. Groups including Fraternidad Americana, Unidad Hondureña and the Peruvian-American Coalition organized a May 1 vigil in front of the offices of the Fraternidad on West Flagler Street, featuring US citizen children whose parents have been detained or deported. Another activity was planned for May 3 in Homestead. [<a href="http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=359744">Notimex 5/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml;jsessionid=XEYODVD1KOLDCCWIAA3SFFQKZ">Univision Online 4/28/08</a>; <a href="http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/sur-de-la-florida/story/199486.html">El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 5/2/08</a>]<br /><br />The Militant reported that 120 people demonstrated in Fort Pierce and 250 rallied in Orlando on May 1. [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>] In Florida City, nearly 350 people took part in a pro-immigrant demonstration on May 3. [<a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/520299.html">Miami Herald 5/4/08</a>] A May 1 action in Sarasota, organized by Reclaim the Streets, protested the US war in Iraq; reports mentioned no demands around immigrant rights. Two people were arrested. [<a href="http://sarasota.indymedia.org/local/anti-war-protestor-arrested-climbing-lightpole#comment-3014">Sarasota Indymedia 5/4/08, 5/5/08</a>; <a href="http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080501/BREAKING01/7092440/1661ring">Sarasota Herald-Tribune 5/1/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Louisiana:</span> About 100 people demonstrated in New Orleans, according to The Militant. [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>] <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Kentucky:</span> A march was scheduled to take place on May 1 in Louisville, leading from the Courthouse to Jefferson Park. [<a href="http://proinmigrant.blogspot.com/2008/04/hoy-marchamos-manana-votamos.html">List of May 1 Events - National Day of Action in Defense of Immigrant Families, posted 4/15/08 on ProInmigrant Blog</a>] <br /><br />*3. MIDWEST:: IL, WI, IN, MI, MN<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Illinois:</span> Nearly 15,000 demonstrators marched through downtown Chicago to an afternoon rally in Federal Plaza. The crowd included many high school and college students who skipped classes to join the march from Union Park. [<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-immigration-march-02may02,0,1186855.story">Chicago Tribune 5/2/08</a>] A report from the Filipino Network for Empowerment said 50,000 people marched in Chicago. [<a href="http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2008/05/96943.shtml">Filipino Immigrant Network for Empowerment (FINE) Media Advisory (Los Angeles) 5/5/08</a>] About 50 people marched in Bloomington, Illinois. [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Wisconsin:</span> In Milwaukee, more than 30,000 people took part in a May 1 mobilization organized by Voces de la Frontera. [<a href="http://uwmpost.com/article/52/30/3532-UW-Milwaukee-Students-Participate-in-Immigrant-Rights-March">University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Post 5/4/08</a>; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/us/02march.html">New York Times 5/2/08</a>; <a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/84296/">Article by Roberto Lovato, Of América, posted on Alternet 5/2/08</a>] Last year about 65,000 people took part in Milwaukee's May Day march [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2007/05/inb-5607-coverage-of-may-day-2007.html">INB 5/6/07</a>]. <br /><br />In Madison, about 700 people marched from Brittingham Park to the Dane County Building near the Capitol. The march was organized by the Immigrant Workers Union; among other demands, marchers were calling on Sheriff Dave Mahoney to halt his policy of checking the immigration status of people held at Dane County Jail. [<a href="http://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2977">Daily Cardinal 5/2/08</a>; <a href="http://www.workers.org/2008/us/may_day_0515/">Workers World 5/8/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Indiana:</span> A march was scheduled to take place in Indianapolis at 5pm on May 1; no details were available. [<a href="http://proinmigrant.blogspot.com/2008/04/hoy-marchamos-manana-votamos.html">List of May 1 Events - National Day of Action in Defense of Immigrant Families, posted 4/15/08 on ProInmigrant Blog</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Michigan:</span> About 2,000 people marched along the main street of Detroit's Latino community, demanding an end to the raids and deportations that separate families. Many businesses and schools closed. Speakers included Baldemar Velázquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee. The event was organized by Latinos Unidos. [<a href="http://www.workers.org/2008/us/may_day_0515/">Workers World 5/8/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Minnesota:</span> Some 500 people marched through St. Paul to the state capitol from a park overlooking the Mississippi River, chanting in Spanish and English. [<a href="http://www.wmur.com/family/16115414/detail.html">AP 5/1/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. TEXAS, SOUTHWEST & ROCKIES: TX, NM, AZ, CO, NV<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Texas:</span> In Austin, about 400 people rallied at the steps of the state capitol before marching through downtown to Austin City Hall. As they marched past the Travis County Jail, demonstrators protested the facility's recently increased collaboration with immigration agents. The rally included speeches and music and a short play that depicted immigrants trying to cross the Rio Grande when they are arrested and deported back to Mexico. [<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5747775.html">AP 5/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/02/0502march.html">Austin-American Statesman 5/2/08</a>] An estimated 300 to 400 people marched through intermittent rain in downtown Houston. In San Antonio, about 300 to 400 people marched through the streets of downtown, many wearing pins reading "Todos Somos Inmigrantes" ("we are all immigrants") and chanting "No wall between amigos!" to protest the border fence. In Dallas, about 150 people marched through downtown chanting "today we march, tomorrow we vote." [<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5747775.html">AP 5/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>] Fewer than 300 people marched in El Paso from Chamizal Park to Plaza San Jacinto. [<a href="http://www.diario.com.mx/nota.php?notaid=c14c6f225b75e7203df5e23e97c8eb1d">El Diario (Ciudad Juarez) 5/2/08</a>] More than a hundred people gathered in a local park in McAllen for a rally organized by La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE). [<a href="http://www.themonitor.com/news/immigration_11557___article.html/reform_mcallen.html">The Monitor (McAllen) 5/1/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">New Mexico:</span> In Albuquerque, community members braved the chilly winds to attend a "family day" celebration convened by the Center for Equality and Rights. In Santa Fe, a group of nine women held a creative protest in front of the Santa Fe Hilton, where they were formerly employed as housekeepers. Taping their mouths shut with messages like "Fired" and "No rights," the women charged that they were unfairly dismissed because of worker complaints over hazardous and abusive labor conditions last March. The action by Latina and immigrant workers was supported the group Somos Un Pueblo Unido and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Marcela Diaz, executive director for Somos Un Pueblo Unido, said the women chose May 1 for their public protest to express "solidarity with workers around the world." [<a href="http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com/2008/05/frontera-nortesur-news-political-winds.html">Frontera NorteSur (FNS) 5/2/08</a>] <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Arizona:</span> In Tucson, the indigenous dance group Danza Mexica Cuauhtémoc de Arizona led a march of 1,000-2,000 people to downtown Armory Park. A coalition led by the group Derechos Humanos organized the demonstration. [<a href="http://www.workers.org/2008/us/may_day_0515/">Workers World 5/8/08</a>; <a href="http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=8259322&nav=HMO6">KVOA.com 5/1/08</a>] In Phoenix, a handful of pro-immigrant labor activists faced off against anti-immigrant demonstrators in front of the state capitol. [<a href="http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=824697">KTAR.com 5/1/08</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Colorado:</span> About 50 people gathered at Fletcher Plaza in Aurora. "We want the government to move quicker on processing documents for the workers. And we're against the expansion of the immigrant detention center in Aurora, which now holds about 400 people and will be expanded to hold 1,100 people," said protest organizer Horace Kerr. [<a href="http://origin.denverpost.com/news/ci_9125806">Denver Post 5/2/08</a>; <a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Nevada:</span> About 150 people marched in downtown Reno for what was called a "Day Without Immigrants," chanting "Sí se puede" ("It can be done") and waving US flags. Last year, about 1,000 people attended a similar rally in Reno. [<a href="http://www.wmur.com/family/16115414/detail.html">AP 5/1/08</a>]<br /><br />*5. PACIFIC COAST: PORT STRIKE, CA, OR, WA<br /><br />On May 1, thousands of West Coast dock workers staged an eight-hour work stoppage at 29 ports from San Diego to Seattle to protest the US war in Iraq. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) sponsored the strike in defiance of an arbitrator's ruling saying the job action violated the contract. "The ILWU struck West Coast ports and brought cargo operations to a virtual standstill," said Steve Getzug, spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents companies that move cargo through the ports. Union officials estimated that 25,000 workers took part in the actions, while maritime officials placed the number closer to 10,000. <br /><br />The striking port workers joined other activists at rallies protesting the war in several cities. Workers at the Iraqi ports of Umm Qasr and Khor Al Zubair also stopped work on May 1 to protest the war. The ILWU's "No Peace, No Work" campaign is part of the US Labor Against the War coalition, which has about 200 union locals and affiliates and a detailed platform that calls for ending war funding and boosting workers' rights--including those of immigrants. [<a href="http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com/2008/05/frontera-nortesur-news-political-winds.html">Frontera NorteSur 5/2/08</a>; <a href="http://www.transportworkers.org/node/789">San Francisco Bay Guardian 5/7/08</a>; San Francisco Chronicle 5/2/08--articles on p. <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/02/BA4K10F7K3.DTL">B-1</a> & <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/01/BUTM10FDD1.DTL">C-1</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">California:</span> The Filipino Immigrant Network for Empowerment (FINE) said 30,000 people participated in May Day mobilizations in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times reported that about 8,500 people took part in three separate marches in Los Angeles, merging into a single rally at 1st Street and Broadway in the city's downtown area. The Chinese news agency Xinhua said the crowd in LA was about 10,000 people; French news agency AFP said "more than 10,000" participated. One march organized by the Multiethnic Immigrant Workers Organizing Network (MIWON) left from MacArthur Park, merging into another of about 1,500 people which departed from Olympic Boulevard and Broadway, led by the March 25th Coalition.<br /><br />Last year on May 1, Los Angeles Police Department officers attacked marchers and journalists at MacArthur Park; the abuses caused an uproar, and this year the police appeared to be on their best behavior. A number of people who were injured by police at last year's demonstration marched in a group this year. Los Angeles Unified School District officials reported that 743 students walked out of classes on May 1. [<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mayday2-2008may02,0,205738.story">LAT 5/2/08</a>; Xinhua 5/1/08; <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/02/content_8091333.htm">AFP 5/2/08</a>; <a href="http://www.workers.org/2008/us/may_day_0515/">Workers World 5/8/08</a>; <a href="http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2008/05/96943.shtml">Filipino Immigrant Network for Empowerment (FINE) Media Advisory (Los Angeles) 5/5/08</a>]<br /><br />About 200 people marched through downtown Santa Ana on the afternoon of May 1. Earlier in the day, a small group of anti-immigrant protesters briefly demonstrated outside the Mexican consulate, getting into shouting matches with passersby. Police reported no violence or arrests. [<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ocmayday2-2008may02,0,216159.story">LAT 5/2/08</a>] Some 500 people marched through downtown San Diego, starting at San Diego City College and going down Broadway to Pantoja Park. The march was organized by a broad local coalition called Sí Se Puede. [<a href="http://www.workers.org/2008/us/may_day_0515/">Workers World 5/8/08</a>] In Oxnard 300 people demonstrated. [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>] Another 300 people demonstrated in Modesto at a parking lot on Crows Landing Road. [<a href="http://www.modbee.com/local/story/286645.html">Modesto Bee 5/2/08</a>] About 1,500 people marched through downtown Fresno. [<a href="http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=6116757">KFSN (ABC30.com) 5/2/08</a>] <br /><br />In San Jose, the May Day march began with fewer than a thousand people in the parking lot of the Mi Pueblo supermarket in East San Jose. The march was organized by Voluntarios de la Comunidad, labor unions such as SEIU Local 1877, and community service organizations active among Latino immigrants. It was supported by a wide array of community, labor, and religious organizations. As the march proceeded along Santa Clara Street, it swelled to a peak of some 5,000 people before reaching San Jose City Hall for a closing rally in front of the First Christian Church. (The San Jose Mercury News reported the crowd count as 1,500 to 2,000.) [<a href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/05/07/18497594.php">Article by Sharat G. Lin posted on Bay Area Indymedia 5/7/08</a>; <a href="http://origin.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_9129318">San Jose Mercury News 5/2/08</a>] In Santa Cruz, about 150 people gathered for a rally at Quarry Plaza. [<a href="http://www.cityonahillpress.com/article.php?id=1223">City on a Hill Press (student-run weekly paper at UC Santa Cruz) 5/8/08</a>] Another 300 or so people, including many families with kids, took part in a May Day rally and festival at a plaza in nearby Watsonville. [<a href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/05/03/18496745.php">Santa Cruz Indymedia 5/3/08</a>]<br /><br />More than 10,000 people gathered in San Francisco at a 2pm rally in Dolores Park, a 3:30pm march to Civic Center, and a 5pm rally and musical performance, all under the slogan "Workers Uniting Without Borders--Amnesty for All." [FINE Media Advisory 5/5/08] Other reports put attendance much lower: The Militant said 2,000 people participated [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>]; AP said about 400 people marched. [<a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g-yeeu4NtQOy4zpPnNXvBCIgZuVQD90D9PDG0">AP 5/1/08</a>]<br /><br />Across the bay, some 5,000 to 6,000 immigrants and supporters marched from the Fruitvale BART train station to a rally at Oakland City Hall. [<a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_/ai_n19048004">Oakland Tribune 5/2/08</a>; <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/02/BA4K10F7K3.DTL">SF Chronicle 5/2/08, p. B-1</a>] About 200 students and workers rallied on Upper Sproul Plaza on the University California Berkeley campus before marching to Chancellor Robert Birgeneau's office to protest the erosion of rights for immigrant students and to demand fair wages and working conditions for some 1,100 workers on the UC Berkeley campus who are members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. The demonstration was organized by campus groups including Xinaxtli, By Any Means Necessary and Students Organizing for Justice in the Americas. [<a href="http://www.dailycal.org/article/101551/student_groups_workers_rally_for_immigrant_union_r">Daily Californian (UC Berkeley) 5/2/08</a>] A vigil was also scheduled to take place in San Rafael, just north of San Francisco in Marin County. [<a href="http://proinmigrant.blogspot.com/2008/04/hoy-marchamos-manana-votamos.html">List of May 1 Events - National Day of Action in Defense of Immigrant Families, posted 4/15/08 on ProInmigrant Blog</a>]<br /><br />An estimated 2,500 people marched and rallied in Santa Rosa to urge, among other demands, that Sonoma County be designated a "county of refuge" for undocumented immigrants. Demonstrators gathered in the city's Roseland neighborhood and marched to a rally at Juilliard Park. At least a few hundred high school students skipped school to attend the march. The march was disrupted near the park by several clashes between members of the Sureño and Norteño gangs. Santa Rosa Police Capt. Gary Negri said no injuries were reported and no one was arrested. As marchers approached Santa Rosa City Hall, they were confronted verbally by a group of nearly 70 counter-demonstrators organized by the local chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. [<a href="http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080501/news/737154034&tc=yahoo ">Press-Democrat (Santa Rosa) 5/1/08</a>, <a href="http://www.pressdemocrat.com/EarlyEdition/article_view.cfm?recordID=9221&publishdate=05/02/2008">5/2/08</a>]<br /><br />Several hundred immigrant workers and supporters marched around the state capitol in Sacramento. Some marchers carried banners with the slogan "The Right Not to Immigrate." The banners declared that Mexico's minimum $5-a-day wage is so low that many Mexicans have been forced to migrate to survive. The march was organized by a group called Primero de Mayo (May First) which assists undocumented workers when employers cheat them. Latino and non-Latino members of the carpenter's union marched with the group, as well as Sacramento janitors who belong to the SEIU. [<a href="http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/906365.html">Sacramento Bee 5/1/08</a>] About 100 people demonstrated in the town of Davis, 15 miles west of Sacramento. [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Oregon:</span> About 1,000 people gathered on the steps of the state capitol in Salem to call for changes in immigration and workplace laws within the first 100 days of the next congressional session. Many demanded that Oregon reverse a decision, imposed by the state legislature in February, to require proof of legal residence to get a driver's license. [<a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g-yeeu4NtQOy4zpPnNXvBCIgZuVQD90D9PDG0">AP 5/1/08</a>] Some 500 people demonstrated in Portland. [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/MDList20.pdf">The Militant - List of May Day 2008 Actions</a>] A march was also planned in Medford, organized by Unete and Razas Unidas. [Rogue Valley Indymedia 4/26/08]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Washington:</span> In Seattle a noon anti-war march of some 3,000 people, which headed to the Port of Seattle in solidarity with striking dock workers, was followed by a late afternoon immigrant rights march of 10,000 people from Judkins Park through the Asian community and into downtown. The immigrant mobilization was called by the Committee for Immigration Reform and Social Justice under the slogans: "We are not undocumented. We are not illegal. We are workers!" and "For an immigration reform with human, labor and civil rights!" [<a href="http://www.workers.org/2008/us/may_day_0515/">Workers World 5/8/08</a>; <a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_may_day_marches.html">AP 5/1/08</a>]<br /><br />In Olympia, about 200 people took part in a rally at a downtown park and a march to the capitol to support immigrant rights and call for an end to the war. After demonstrating at the capitol, marchers headed downtown. Several participants threw rocks breaking windows at two downtown Olympia banks with customers inside; television news reports showed graffiti including an anarchy symbol on marble walls in the legislative building. No injuries were reported. As officers tried to make arrests, "they were attacked by the march participants who attempted to free those being arrested," according to a police news release. Police used pepper spray and pellet guns against protesters. Following the arrests, 30 to 40 protesters gathered outside City Hall, where the six arrestees were being held in custody for investigation of rioting and potential other charges including first-degree malicious mischief, second-degree theft and third-degree assault. [<a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_may_day_marches.html">AP 5/1/08</a>; <a href="http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20080503232238607">Infoshop News 5/3/08</a>]<br /><br />As many as 500 people took part in Bellingham's Third Annual Immigrant Solidarity March (participants numbered "several hundred" according to the Bellingham Herald). Marchers went from Maritime-Heritage Park to a rally at the Whatcom County Courthouse, then continued on to Cornwall Park for a barbeque. [Report from Danny Byrnes of Community to Community in <a href="http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/MayDay2008Report/">National Immigrant Solidarity Network May Day 2008 Reports, undated, sent out 5/10/08</a>; <a href="http://www.bellinghamherald.com/galleries/gallery/397901-a397898-t2.html">Bellingham Herald photo gallery, undated, accessed 5/11/08</a>]<br /><br />Some 800 people, many of them farm workers, demonstrated in Yakima. [<a href="http://www.themilitant.com/2008/7220/722001.html">The Militant Vol. 72/No. 20, 5/19/08 (date of newspaper–article accessed 5/11/08)</a>] AP said participants numbered "several hundred." [<a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_may_day_marches.html">AP 5/1/08</a>]<br /><br />RAIDS<br /><br />*6. RAID AT TEXAS LANDSCAPING BUSINESS<br /><br />On Apr. 25, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 28 Mexican workers employed by landscaping business and nursery in El Paso, Texas. Doña Ana County Sheriff's Department officers assisted as ICE agents executed search warrants at Nash Gardens in West El Paso, and a business annex in Sunland Park, New Mexico. Special agents also served a search warrant at the residence of the Nash Gardens business owner. The US Attorney's Office is prosecuting 25 of the workers for using a false document or Social Security number for employment purposes. They were placed in US Marshals Service custody and detained at the Otero County Jail pending their initial appearance in federal court during the week of Apr. 28. The other three workers who were arrested face administrative charges for violating immigration laws. Some of the workers had apparently entered the US legally with a Laser Visa (DSP-150) but had violated the terms of the visa by working without authorization. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080425elpaso.htm">ICE News Release 4/25/08</a>]<br /><br />*7. RAID AT ARKANSAS AIRPORT<br /><br />ICE agents arrested 24 workers on administrative immigration violations in an Apr. 30 raid on a construction project at the Little Rock National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas. One of the workers was from Peru; the rest were from Mexico. A US citizen working as supervisor of a concrete crew on airport property was also arrested on an outstanding warrant for driving while intoxicated. The workers were arrested at the site of Supermarine, a company that provides fuel and supplies to corporate and private aircraft. US Attorney Jane Duke said one or two of the arrested immigrants would face unspecified criminal charges; Duke declined to say whether she would pursue any charges against Naylor Concrete, the Oklahoma City company which employed them. Michael A. Holt, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in New Orleans, thanked the Little Rock Police Department, the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection for their assistance. [<a href="http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/2008/may/01/prosecutor-says-most-arrested-raid-face-deportatio/">AP 5/1/08</a>; <a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080430littlerock2.htm">ICE News Release 4/30/08</a>] <br /><br />*8. RAIDS AT BAY AREA RESTAURANTS, HOMES<br /><br />On May 2, ICE agents arrested 63 immigrants employed at 11 locations of a Bay Area Mexican restaurant chain, Taqueria El Balazo. Officials said one of the workers was from Guatemala and the rest were from Mexico. Those arrested were photographed, fingerprinted and processed; 10 men and one woman were released the same day on humanitarian grounds to await hearings in immigration court. [<a href="http://www.ktvu.com/news/16144927/detail.html">KTVU.com/Bay City News 5/2/08</a>] By May 5, all but 10 of those detained in the raids had been released pending future immigration proceedings, according to ICE spokesperson Virginia Kice. A suspected gang member was still detained, as well as five individuals who refused the option of electronic monitoring, and three juveniles, said Kice. [<a href="http://origin.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_9160313">Bay City News Service 5/5/08</a>] The raided taquerias were located in San Francisco, San Ramon, Lafayette, Concord, Pleasanton and Danville. [<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/03/BA3610G940.DTL">San Francisco Chronicle 5/3/08</a>] Some 250 people protested the raids in an emergency press conference and rally at ICE offices in San Francisco on May 5. [<a href="http://socialistworker.org/2008/05/07/ice-cant-invade-our-city">Socialist Worker 5/7/08</a>]<br /><br />On May 6, ICE arrested four family members at a Berkeley home and a woman at an Oakland residence. The sweep was part of ICE's fugitive operations program, which seeks out people who have failed to comply with deportation orders. The raids sent a wave of panic among parents in both cities, as many people believed immigration agents were raiding nearby schools. ICE spokesperson Virginia Kice said the rumors launched a "tsunami" of calls to the ICE office. The next day, some two dozen students from Berkeley High School protested the raids by wearing brown armbands in solidarity with the Latino community. [<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/07/BAD110IHTB.DTL">SF Chronicle 5/7/08--Berkeley</a> & <a href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/07/BA8B10HRUS.DTL">Oakland</a> (2 articles); <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20080506-1826-ca-immigration-schools.html">AP 5/6/08</a>] <br /><br />Representative Barbara Lee, whose congressional district includes the raided homes in Berkeley and Oakland, issued a press release condeming the May 6 raids: "Although ICE officials assured my district office that they did not physically enter public school property, the presence of the ICE van near or parked in front of the Esperanza Academy and Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy is of grave concern to me," she wrote. "I will be working with my colleagues to oppose the use of this troubling approach, and I am personally committed to reviewing any ICE policies that may create a culture of fear and intimidation, especially near a school or place of worship." [Press Release 5/6/08]<br /><br />*9. RESTAURANTS RAIDED IN HAWAI'I<br /><br />On May 2, ICE agents arrested 22 Mexican immigrant workers at two popular chain restaurants on Maui, according to a news release. Eight workers were arrested at the Cheeseburger Island Style restaurant in Wailea and the Cheeseburger In Paradise restaurant in Lahaina; ICE also arrested 14 employees of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant in Lahaina. The arrests are part of separate ongoing investigations by ICE. The workers were arrested on suspicion of administrative immigration violations. Officials questioned the individuals and released two men under supervision on humanitarian grounds. Twenty workers--six women and 14 men--were flown to the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu. The state Department of Public Safety Sheriff Division, Maui Police Department, Coast Guard, Hawaii Army National Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and US Attorney's Office assisted in the case. [<a href="http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080503honolulu.htm">ICE News Release 5/3/08</a>; <a href="http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=7051">Honolulu Star-Bulletin 5/3/08</a>]<br /><br />*10. VIRGINIA CONSTRUCTION SITE RAIDED<br /><br />On May 5, ICE agents raided the construction site of a new federal courthouse in Richmond, Virginia, arresting 33 workers for violating federal immigration laws. Officials had received information that unauthorized immigrants were working at the site, said ICE spokesperson Ernestine Fobbs, and the investigation is ongoing. Fobbs said the 29 men and four women were from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru and were being processed for deportation. No information was available about the employers, Fobbs said. <br /><br />According to radio reports, federal agents and Virginia State Police officers surrounded the work site about 8 am and rounded up about 50 workers while others attempted to hide inside the half-built complex. The reports said that officials were still searching the site hours later and that the remaining workers were required to wear wristbands showing that their IDs had been found valid. [<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/07/AR2008050703438.html">Washington Post 5/8/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," a new book by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas, out now on Monthly Review Press: for details see<br />publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817674745872365194.post-44637644762695234462008-04-27T23:59:00.000-07:002008-04-27T21:28:03.326-07:00INB 4/27/08: Detainees Transferred After RiotImmigration News Briefs<br />Vol. 11, No. 9 - April 27, 2008<br /> <br />1. Detainees Transferred After Riot<br />2. Food Poisoning in Arizona Detention Center?<br />3. Palestinian Professor Transferred to ICE Custody<br />4. Georgia: Restaurant Labor Agents Indicted<br /><br />Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.<br /><br />*1. DETAINEES TRANSFERRED AFTER RIOT<br /><br />On Apr. 22, a riot broke out at the Mira Loma immigration detention center in Lancaster, California, which holds nearly 1,000 immigrants. The riot allegedly involved the South Siders and Paisa gangs, according to a detainee who spoke with the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department fired tear gas grenades at the detainees; additional deputies came to the detention center from nearby Lancaster and Palmdale stations to assist the guards with separating detainees. The riot was diffused "within minutes," said Steve Whitmore, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. At least 10 immigrants were taken to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson Virginia Kice. Two detainees suffered serious, though not life-threatening, head injuries during the riot and were taken to a local hospital, Whitmore said, and about 20 other detainees suffered minor injuries. No deputies were injured, said Whitmore.<br /><br />Detainees who spoke to the Daily Journal as the riot unfolded said the fight broke out after a deputy allegedly opened a gate allowing gang members into an area that housed rival gang members. Sheriff's Department and ICE personnel spent much of the night interviewing detainee witnesses, and some who instigated the riot may be prosecuted on criminal charges, authorities said. Kice said a federal team was dispatched to conduct an in-depth investigation into the riot. "We believe the original altercation was gang-related," Kice said.<br /><br />On Apr. 23, ICE began moving dozens of detainees from the Mira Loma facility to undisclosed facilities. Whitmore said on Apr. 23 that 50 detainees involved in the riot had been identified as gang members and had been bused to other federal facilities. Whitmore would not say what gangs those detainees were affiliated with or which gangs were involved in the riot. Officials said the men would be transferred to detention centers in the western US. "We are moving people based on interviews conducted by ICE officials and sheriff's deputies," said Kice. "We are taking a zero-tolerance policy. We want to send a strong message that this kind of action is not appropriate." More than half of the immigrants transferred were Salvadorans moved to a downtown Los Angeles staging area. Reports circulated that some detainees were being deported. "If someone has a final order of removal and we have travel documents, then we are in the process of removing them," said Kice. [<a href="http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/files/immigrants20transferred20424081.txt">Los Angeles Daily Journal 4/24/08</a>; <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-riot24apr24,1,1742963.story">Los Angeles Times 4/24/08</a>]<br /><br />Attorneys representing some of the detainees said they had little information about the pending transfers. "My client was taken to downtown Los Angeles for processing," said Nikhil Shah, a Los Angeles immigration lawyer who represents a Salvadoran man. "If my client is moved he would not be able to see his family," Shah said. "He would be penalized for something he didn't participate in, endorse or start." <br /><br />In December, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a $10 million plan to expand the Mira Loma facility just days after a detainee was killed while operating a jackhammer [see <a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2007/12/inb-123007-detainee-killed-in-workplace.html">INB 12/30/07</a>]. The US Department of Homeland Security agreed to pay the county $51 million to house 1,400 immigrants. Mira Loma does not house detainees with serious medical issues or convictions for violent crimes. [<a href="http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/files/immigrants20transferred20424081.txt">LA Daily Journal 4/24/08</a>]<br /><br />*2. FOOD POISONING IN ARIZONA DETENTION CENTER?<br /><br />On Apr. 23, more than 80 immigration detainees at the Eloy Detention Center in central Arizona began suffering from vomiting and diarrhea. The Pinal County Health Department says it's unclear what caused the health problems, but is studying samples to find out. The detention center has closed its kitchen and is getting food from the nearby Saguaro Correctional Center. The center is also working on disinfecting the facility and "urging detainees to practice good hygiene," according to Associated Press. [<a href="http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/04/24/20080424sick-detainees0424-ON.html">AP 4/24/08</a>]<br /><br />*3. PALESTINIAN PROFESSOR TRANSFERRED TO ICE CUSTODY<br /><br />On Apr. 11, Palestinian professor Sami Al-Arian was transferred into ICE custody after completing a sentence on civil contempt citations for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury [<a href="http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/03/inb-32908-h-2-workers-sue-march.html">see INB 3/29/08</a>]. On Apr. 15, ICE agents transported Al-Arian from the Northern Neck Regional jail in Warsaw, Virginia to the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth, Virginia. Just hours after he arrived at Hampton Roads, jail officials placed Al-Arian on suicide watch in a segregation unit and confiscated all of his belongings, allegedly because of his refusal to eat. Al-Arian had been on hunger strike since Mar. 3, protesting the government's refusal to release him. Jail officials told Al-Arian he would only be allowed one telephone call every 15 days, and would not be allowed any attorney calls. Some of these conditions were relaxed after thousands of supporters called the Hampton Roads jail to complain about Al-Arian's treatment. However, the jail is still keeping Al-Arian in segregation and has not provided him with adequate medical care. [<a href="http://www.freesamialarian.com/media/press103.htm">Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace Press Releases 4/16/08</a>, <a href="http://karmalised.com/?p=3101">4/23/08</a>] Meanwhile, according to news reports, the Justice Department is apparently considering charging Al-Arian with criminal contempt. [<a href="http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article470321.ece">St. Petersburg Times 4/23/08</a>]<br /><br />On Apr. 21, Al-Arian collapsed and lost consciousness for a few minutes. On Apr. 23, the 52nd day of his hunger strike, Al-Arian began to take a liquid nutritional supplement at the urging of his family, who would like him to regain his strength to be able to travel in the event that he is deported soon and allowed to finally rejoin them, as the government has promised. Concerned people are urged to call ICE Acting Field Office Director Vincent Archibeque in Fairfax, Virginia, at 703-285-6200 to demand that Al-Arian be treated with dignity and respect, and that the government honor its promise to deport him immediately. [<a href="http://karmalised.com/?p=3101">Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace Press Release 4/23/08</a>]<br /><br />*4. GEORGIA: RESTAURANT LABOR AGENTS INDICTED<br /><br />On Apr. 15 a grand jury in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia handed down five indictments charging 15 people with providing unauthorized immigrants from Mexico or Central America to work in Chinese restaurants across the East Coast. The charges involve six employment agencies based in Chamblee, Georgia: Sing Rong Employment Agency; Ji Chang Sen Employment Agency; Grand China Employment Agency; Dong Sheng Employment Agency; Number One Employment Agency; and Da Zhong Employment Agency. The 15 people who were charged include employment agency owners, drivers who transported the workers to restaurants in other states, operators of "safe houses" in Chamblee where immigrants waited for jobs and smugglers who brought workers up from Florida. The agencies charged a commission of hundreds of dollars to place each worker, which was deducted from wages. According to the indictment, the agencies placed workers in restaurants in Tennessee, Kentucky, New York, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio. Restaurant owners and warehouse owners would approach the agencies to hire the immigrant workers, "thereby cutting costs and maximizing profits," the indictments said. The restaurant owners would pay the workers in cash and not withhold state or federal taxes. They gave them food and housing, but paid $3 or $5 per hour in some cases. [<a href="http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2008/04/15/iceraid_0416.html">Atlanta Journal Constitution 4/16/08</a>]<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------<br />END<br /><br />Contributions toward Immigration News Briefs are gladly accepted: they should be made payable and sent to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012. (Tax-deductible contributions of $50 or more may be made payable to the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute and earmarked for "NSN".)<br /><br />**************************************************************************<br />ORDER "The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers," a new book by the editors of Immigration News Briefs and Weekly News Update on the Americas, out now on Monthly Review Press: for details see<br />publisher website: http://monthlyreview.org/politicsofimmigration.htm<br />book website: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org<br />authors' blog: http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com<br />or email the authors at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.comImmigration News Briefshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204350171360840236noreply@blogger.com0