Immigrations and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 600 suspected illegal workers in a raid on an electronics plant Monday in Laurel, Mississippi. As of Monday evening "dozens of workers had been 'identified, fingerprinted, interviewed, photographed and processed for removal from the U.S.'"
ICE ended its self-deportation pilot program for non-criminal fugitive aliens last week, noting that it learned a lot from the three-week initiative. The main lesson was that the only method that works is enforcement.
We hear so much these days about the separation of families due to immigration raids, but no one seems to mention the family separation as a result of both legal and illegal immigration to the United States and other parts of the world. Statistics on how many children are left behind around the world – especially in Latin America – are difficult to find, but what numbers I could find, are disturbing.
"The construction boom at Fort Lee is causing a significant increase in the number of illegal immigrants being arrested on the base compared with arrests at other military installations. And the number of arrests is likely to increase as the number of workers grows over the next year.
Sixty-two illegal immigrants have been arrested this year while trying to enter Fort Lee, and all have been prosecuted for violating U.S. immigration laws, base officials said. In 2006, there were 15 arrests...."
"U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints, such as one near the Hood Canal Bridge on Friday and another about six months ago near Forks, are about to become more common on the North Olympic Peninsula, said an agent.
A checkpoint was set up Friday morning on state Highway 104 one mile west of the Hood Canal Bridge.
Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania state legislators attending the annual Quad State Legislative conference learned about why the 287(g) program, which trains local law enforcement officers to engage in immigration enforcement activities and enables them to initiate deportation proceedings for illegal aliens, is a fast-growing success.
In the wake of the Postville, Iowa enforcement action at Agriprocessors, Inc, where almost 400 illegal aliens were arrested, the company turned to labor recruiters to find legal workers in the U.S. to fill the void, the Associated Press reports. Agriprocessors' experience proves a point – when unscrupulous employers are forced to look for legal workers – both native-born and legal immigrants -- they can turn to recruiters to find them.
ICE has conducted its second raid of the week at a critical infrastructure facility, this time at Dulles International Airport in Virginia where agents arrested 42 illegal aliens yesterday. Earlier in the week, an ICE raid at a military parachute company in North Carolina resulted in the arrest of 59 illegal aliens. Dulles was the target of a similar operation in 2006 that netted 55 illegal aliens.ICE interviewed more than 200 individuals to verify their identities, immigration status, and eligibility for lawful employment in the U.S., according to a related ICE press release.
A 10-day ICE operation in Pennsylvania and Delaware netted 75 fugitive aliens and 44 other immigration violators, according to an ICE press release. Of these, 38 had criminal histories that included offensive touching and assault of a child, forgery, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, and narcotics violations. The arrestees came from countries around the globe including El Salvador, Indonesia, Mauritania and Mexico.
In what is billed as the largest bust in western North Carolina, ICE took into custody 59 illegal aliens who making parachutes for the U.S. armed forces at the Mills Manufacturing Corp. in Woodfin, North Carolina. A related ICE press release suggests the enforcement action neutralized a potential national security vulnerability.
The fund will allow arrested illegal aliens who do not have any outstanding criminal violations to apply for financial assistance through churches, legal organizations or open-border groups. If approved, the fund covers half the bail money and the illegal aliens cover the rest.
ICE in partnership with state and local law enforcement across Massachusetts has arrested 55 permanent residents and 25 illegal aliens involved in gang activity in the state. The four-day operation was part of ICE’s Operation Community Shield initiative, which targets violent transnational street gangs. ICE plans to deport the illegal aliens and will attempt to remove the permanent residents based on their criminal histories.
Yavapai County, Arizona deputies arrested 31 illegal aliens within two days in an area highly trafficked by human smugglers on Interstate 17, a Phoenix ABC affiliate reports. In one encounter, deputies pulled over a van that appeared to be overloaded. It was carrying 15 passengers who ICE confirmed as being illegally present after conducting phone interviews.Similar traffic stops yielded the arrests of six illegal aliens in one vehicle, and ten in another, after ICE verified the occupants were in the county illegally.
Last May, ICE agents descended on the quiet town of Postville, Iowa, swooping up 390 people at the Agriprocessors, Inc. slaughterhouse in the largest immigration raid in U.S. history. Months later, we find ourselves in the middle of a blame game in which the big picture has been obscured. The employers blame the illegal aliens for deceit and falsifying documents. The illegal aliens blame “necessity,” possibly interpreted as blaming their home governments for neglecting their countrymen. Agriprocessors, Inc. is receiving blame for egregious working conditions and abuse. Open border advocates blame the government for not enacting “comprehensive” reform. And now, three members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus blame the ICE for hard-handed tactics and the Justice Department for ignoring due process.
A five-day Federal and local law enforcement operation netted the arrests of 55 fugitive aliens and seven other illegal aliens in Lee and Collier Counties, Florida last week. The operation serves as a reminder on this first day of Operation Scheduled Departure – an ICE program designed to give fugitive aliens an opportunity to turn themselves in for deportation -- that ICE has been increasingly successful in tracking down absconders.
In an ICE blog posted on July 29, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary Julie Myers discussed a recent enforcement case that is emblematic of the activities that unscrupulous businesses engage in to gain unfair advantage - domestic off-shoring. This practice involves building a business around the importation and employment of illegal aliens in an effort to avoid paying higher wages to, and taxes for, American workers.
ICE yesterday announced the introduction of a self-deportation pilot program for fugitive aliens called "Operation Scheduled Departure." Fugitive aliens are illegal aliens who are under court order to leave the United States but took flight after being released on their own recognizance. The Washington Post reports the program will give these absconders 90 days to put their affairs in order and in some cases leave with some family members. By turning themselves in, they will avoid the risk of being caught and jailed.
A Virginia law took effect this month which requires local jails to contact ICE to check the immigration status of all foreign-born inmates, irrespective of whether they are in the country legally. While the law hasn’t received as much attention as the 287(g)-related illegal alien crackdown in Prince William County, Va., it will benefit other jurisdictions seeking to identify and deport illegal alien inmates. The law may not have the force multiplier effect that results from Prince William’s policy, however.
Yesterday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 58 illegal aliens during eight enforcement actions in the Ohio towns of Ashland, Fremont, Norwalk, Oberlin, Oregon, Sandusky, Vermilion and Youngstown. All were employed in the Norwalk-based Casa Fiesta restaurant chain. Agents also searched a Norwalk home after a warrant was issued.The raids were the result of a one-year criminal investigation, according to an ICE press release.
E-Verify (the effective program to keep illegal aliens out of U.S. jobs) now is facing danger in the Senate, as well as the House (see my previous blogs on House troubles).
The NumbersUSA Capitol Hill Team has been told that Sen. Menendez (D-N.J.) has put a "hold" on legislation to reauthorize the E-Verify workplace verification program. That means the Senate is barred from voting to keep it alive. Without a vote, E-Verify will die in November.
The most effective government program against illegal immigration is again under attack behind the scenes in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Your NumbersUSA Capitol Hill Team just called me and urged that you pick up a phone this afternoon and help the Hill Team protect the E-Verify program that keeps illegal foreign workers out of U.S. jobs.
Having worked in Oregon politics for a number of years, I was quite surprised to see a new study that suggested the state doesn't have enough workers -- until I saw who paid for the study. The Coalition for a Working Oregon, an organization whose members include Oregon's Farm Bureau and Restaurant Association, as well as Immigration Works USA and Essential Workers Immigration Coalition, commissioned a study on what would happen to Oregon’s economy should the new “no-match” rule be implemented.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials last week said illegal alien deportations from Washington, Oregon and Alaska have increased almost 40 percent over last year, according to the Associated Press. 7,345 illegal aliens were deported during the first nine months of the fiscal year, up from 5,256 for the same period last year. ICE officials said the increase is partially due to an expansion of the Criminal Alien Program, which enables federal, state and local officials to work together to identify illegal aliens with criminal records and deport them.
Just back from my first trip to the Berkshires (in western Massachusetts) where the affluent of the East Coast megalopolises like to summer and play, and I was just stunned to see nearly every visible job filled with an English-speaking American.
Nineteen former Pilgrim's Pride workers have pleaded guilty to misusing Social Security numbers in order to gain employment at a Texas plant. These convictions stem from the April ICE raids of Pilgrim's Pride facilities in five states. These individuals, all illegal aliens of Latin American origin, have been handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for possible deportation. The April ICE raids were the culmination of a year-long investigation by ICE into the fraudulent use of Social Security numbers.
Missouri Governor Matt Blunt signed into law today legislation that will make it harder for illegal aliens living in the state to receive benefits and harder to find jobs.
The new legislations requires all public employers to use the E-Verify system to verify the legality of a potential employee and requires and individual to prove their citizenship status before receiving state benefits such as food stamps and housing. The bill also punishes those localities that adopt policies to not cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
The May 12 enforcement action at the Postville, Iowa meatpacking plant yielded 389 rank-and-file arrests, but no managerial arrests until yesterday when the first supervisors were taken in custody. The New York Times reports two supervisors were charged with securing false documents for illegal aliens and a warrant was issued for the arrest of a third person, who is described as a plant manager. 270 of the illegal aliens arrested were sent to federal prison on fraudulent document charges.
I wish I could tell you precisely what Rep. Price (D-N.C.) and his U.S. House Appropriations Committee did to local immigration enforcement last week. Price and his staff have been so clever in their writing of the DHS spending bill that both NumbersUSA analysts and federal agencies are still attempting to figure out precisely what the House Appropriations Committee last week did. A week later, still nothing definitive.
A Lot of Effort to Hide True Intent
Forty-five illegal workers were arrested by federal agents in the largest immigration bust that Maryland has seen in recent years. 16 homes in Anne Arundel County were raided early on June 30th. Illegal workers for Annapolis Painting Services were allegedly coerced into renting the apartments in exchange for one-third of their monthly wages. The owner of the company, Robert Bontempo, has not yet been charged with any crime, but the company has been accused of providing workers with false Social Security numbers.
"Over the past eight months, federal immigration agents have arrested more than 2,900 suspected undocumented workers on administrative immigration charges and 775 more workers on criminal charges such as identity theft or Social Security fraud.
Only 75 ''bosses" — business owners, supervisors or human resources workers — have been arrested on charges such as harboring or knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants...."
"Kris Stuebner, director of administration for the Fresno-based JEM, said the company started using the system because of the concern over hiring a legal work force. "We wanted to do the right thing," Stuebner said.
And while the system allows the company to check an employee's work status by quickly verifying a person's Social Security number and name, it's not without challenges, said Stuebner, who attended a seminar about E-Verify on Tuesday. The event, held at the Piccadilly Inn in Fresno, was sponsored by the California Employers Association...."
"Immigration authorities have detained at least 170 workers during a raid of a Houston used clothing company suspected of employing undocumented workers...." http://www.kdbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=8554061
AP, 25 June 2008
"Sheriff's officials, who have been trained by federal authorities to screen for illegal immigrants at the jail, have interviewed nearly 20,000 inmates since the controversial program began more than two years ago. They have referred 10,840 people to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for possible deportation...." http://www.latimes.com/news/local/immigration/la-me-immigjail22-2008jun22,0,2078919.story
Anna Gorman, LA Times, 22 June 2008
"As William Jerry Hadden's attorneys see it, the federal government is singling out their client to send a message to landlords: Don't rent to illegal immigrants.
Hadden, 69, goes on trial Monday on 24 counts of harboring illegal aliens and 24 counts of encouraging illegal immigrants to remain in the country. Hadden and his son, Jamey, who is in Vietnam, rented to 60 undocumented immigrants at the Woodridge and Cross Keys apartments in Lexington's Cardinal Valley...."
ARIZONA/MEXICO BORDER -- "We're seeing a lot more babies crossing through here now," Barbara Barnett told me, as we sat on her patio looking out over her and her husband Roger's geologically dramatic, sprawling desert cattle ranch.
U.S. House appropriators are deep in internal discussions over whether to praise (and fund) current enforcement efforts that are proving most effective in arresting illegal aliens and deterring future illegal immigration. Postponement of markup today on a DHS spending bill is probably a good sign.
The House Appropriations Committee has postponed its Wednesday afternoon (June 18) consideration of the DHS spending bill that will determine funding levels for immigration enforcement next year.
During today’s markup of the FY09 Department of Homeland Security spending bill (no bill number yet), the House Appropriations Committee voted to cut and remove funding for proven enforcement measures such as the 287(g) program, which enables local police and sheriffs to enforce immigration laws, and workplace enforcement activities. The measure will, among other things, require ICE to spend $800 million to identify and deport illegal aliens who have committed serious crimes.
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that deportable illegal aliens can back out of their agreement to voluntarily depart the country and get another opportunity to make the case to immigration officials that they should be allowed to adjust their status.
'I told Myers and Chertoff about the problems, and they said they have everything (under control), that everything was OK,' Menendez said. 'They're obviously in total denial.' …
'We have the equivalent of a shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later policy,' he said. 'That can't possibly be the law.' http://www.northjersey.com/news/nationalpolitics/19880064.html
By Elizabeth Llorente -- The Herald News (Passaic County, NJ)
ICE Chief Julie Myers goes before a congressional panel Wednesday to answer charges such as that she is allowing "immigrants in detention (to) languish without lawyers and decent medical care even when they are mortally ill," as the New York Times stated in an editorial today (June 3).
