Illegal alien roundup in Iowa

[Desertdog]

Illegal alien roundup in Iowa
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=192836


On May 11, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents descended on the eastern Iowa town of Postville and conducted an immigration raid on a plant run by Agriprocessors, Inc. Nearly 400 illegal workers were detained, most of whom came from Guatemala, but also included individuals from Mexico, Israel, and the Ukraine. But the raid created an uproar among church groups, Hispanic activists, and members of Congress who support illegal immigration, and they came to Postville to stage a huge rally to complain about how the raid disrupted the community and tore families apart.
 
Susan Tully is national field director with the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). She points out that the illegal aliens were charged with aggravated identity theft, the unlawful use of a Social Security number, and other crimes. "They're being prosecuted for the felony they committed," Tully contends. "But not one of these members of Congress and not one of these churches is coming out and speaking about this correctly, by pointing out to the people, 'Oh yeah, by the way, they committed felonies' -- and people who commit felonies...break up their families every day of the week when they get prosecuted and sent to jail."
 
According to Tully, federal agents had another justification for conducting the raid. "The conditions inside this factory, this meat processing plant, were unbelievable," Tully explains. "There was a meth lab operating inside of the plant where the meat's being prepared for the people who are going to consume this kosher, supposed-clean product."
 
So Tully says FAIR will participate in Sunday's counter-protest in Postville.

[longeyes]

It's nothing personal, just business, you know.

[MicroBalrog]

Meth is not kosher?

[BridgeRunner]

My sister lived in Postville for a year.  My brother-in-law worked on their poultry line for a while, checking guts for dis-koshering factors.  I visited several times. 

Very complicated town, with very complicated problems.  One of the biggest problems with Agri is that the Rubashkin family pretty much openly and arrogantly flouts law and convention and brags about it.  This raid is only the latest in a long series of troubles at Agri and in Postville. 

I'm not too sad they did the raid and are conducting prosecutions.  Much easier and more effective to conduct a raid a couple hundred miles from the nearest big city.  No network for criminals who are from other countries to disappear into.   

[Standing Wolf]

Get 'em out of here!

[Sindawe]

Get 'em out of here!

Indeed.  And send the traitorous scum congress-critters who support illegal alens with them. 

[HankB]

This morning there was a news story about protestors who object to picking up the illegals . . . much of the crowd was bussed in from the Twin Cities and Chicago.

Too many anglos carrying picket signs, but the majority of the crowd appeared to be hispanic or latino or whatever the heck the term is this week.

Am I the only one who thought this was a golden opportunity for ICE to check more IDs?

[longeyes]

Maybe you noticed the protests, backed by several politicians, telling us that identity theft really isn't anything deserving of serious punishment?

America appears to have become a country having a nervous breakdown.  This is one more symptom.

[MicroBalrog]

Maybe you noticed the protests, backed by several politicians, telling us that identity theft really isn't anything deserving of serious punishment?

What protests are those? 'tis the first I hear about this.

[Serena]

Aliens invading America is an act of war.  It is thus illegal.  Any newspaper article that calls these invaders illegal immigrants is calling the devil by another name.  It is impossible to cover up an act of war.  Will this post get deleted if I say,  "Round 'em up and get 'em out.  Or hang 'em."  Anyone aiding and abetting the enemy in wartime is to be treated as an invader.  Same treatment.

[longeyes]

Luis Gutierrez demagogues Agriprocessors raid, accuses DOJ of lying (Joe Baca, Albio Sires, Jens Manuel Krogstad)
Jens Manuel Krogstad of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier offers the inaccurate "Hispanic congressmen gather information in Postville" (link), informing us that Reps. Luis Gutierrez, Joe Baca, and Albio Sires visited that city for a meeting at St. Bridgets Catholic Church to discuss the Agriprocessors raid.

We're told that Baca "wiped tears from his eyes" as he heard tales from relatives of those involved in the raid.

Then, we get to the inaccurate part:

In an unprecedented move by the Department of Justice and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, more than 300 of the 390 people arrested in the raid were convicted of aggravated criminal identity theft under a plea deal.

During congressional testimony on Thursday, the plea deal was criticized as so coercive that it violated the due process rights of the immigrant workers.

An aggravated identity theft charge usually requires a person to knowingly steal someone else's identity, or intent to use a person's identity for personal gain, such as to run up credit.

Gutierrez argued the immigrants, many of them illiterate, could not have been guilty of the crime.
Actually, many were just charged with "aggravated criminal identity theft", but they were given the choice of going to court on it or pleading to lesser offenses, and all or almost all took the latter route. The pleas involved "false identification to obtain employment", "false use of social security number", etc. and are listed on these pages:

usdoj.gov/usao/ian/press/June_08/6_10_08_Postville.html
usdoj.gov/usao/ian/press/May_08/5_20_08_Agriprocessors.html
usdoj.gov/usao/ian/press/May_08/5_22_08_Agriprocessors.html

Needless to say, the actual facts mean little to a vile supporter of illegal activity like Gutierrez:

"Illegal immigration is not an aggravted felony," Gutierrez said. "What they did here in Postville is unprecedented."

The Illinois Congressmen took particular exception to the Justice Department not allowing the arrested workers immediate access to immigration attorneys. After the raid, criminal lawyers were allowed to visit with their clients, but a handful of immigration attorneys were turned away.

"The Department of Justice came to us to tell us personally this process was done in compliance with the law," Gutierrez said. "I don't believe them. They're lying to us, theyre lying to you, and we need to find the truth."

[Lennyjoe]

How about just deporting them back to their home country?

[MicroBalrog]

I do not see an issue, really.

If a person is located in America, and is not a US citizen and not a foreigner legally present (a visa, an embassy employee, or a citizen of a country which has an agreement with the US for free travel), this person needs to be put on a truck or a plane and taken to their home country, or, if that is not doable, to the nearest foreign country that will accept them.

There is no necessity of prosecuting every single crime he may have also committed while already violating US law unless he did something like kill or rob someone.

Just throw them on trucks and cart them back to Mexico.

[Dntsycnt]

Aliens invading America is an act of war.  It is thus illegal.  Any newspaper article that calls these invaders illegal immigrants is calling the devil by another name.  It is impossible to cover up an act of war.  Will this post get deleted if I say,  "Round 'em up and get 'em out.  Or hang 'em."  Anyone aiding and abetting the enemy in wartime is to be treated as an invader.  Same treatment.

Is this a parody, or actual insanity?

Illegal immigration is just that- illegal- and when caught illegal immigrants should be sent back to their home state, but I do think the sheer enormity of the problem at least indicates we should take a closer look at our policies- and by that I don't mean "Hang 'em."

[AZRedhawk44]

I do not see an issue, really.

If a person is located in America, and is not a US citizen and not a foreigner legally present (a visa, an embassy employee, or a citizen of a country which has an agreement with the US for free travel), this person needs to be put on a truck or a plane and taken to their home country, or, if that is not doable, to the nearest foreign country that will accept them.

There is no necessity of prosecuting every single crime he may have also committed while already violating US law unless he did something like kill or rob someone.

Just throw them on trucks and cart them back to Mexico.

I think attaching a legal sentencing to them such as identity theft is a good step also.

I don't want them in jail sucking up tax dollars, but I don't want them coming back EVER AGAIN if they think stealing ID's is a kosher activity.  If a minor felony or major misdemeanor charge disqualifies them FOREVER from legal entry into the US, then hooray.

The one good thing about throwing them in jail though, is that it disrupts their cash flow that they send back via Western Union to Mexico.  They don't care about jail... but they do care when they can't send money back home.  Jail hits them (and their family that encourages them to illegally enter the US) hard in the pocketbook. 

[Hawkmoon]

"Illegal immigration is not an aggravted felony," Gutierrez said. "What they did here in Postville is unprecedented."

True.

But ... "unprecedented" simply means it had no precedent. That only means they (the Gummint) haven't done it before this time. It doesn't mean it was wrong, or that they shouldn't be doing it every day, in towns and cities all across the USA.

[Boomhauer]

If a person is located in America, and is not a US citizen and not a foreigner legally present (a visa, an embassy employee, or a citizen of a country which has an agreement with the US for free travel), this person needs to be put on a truck or a plane and taken to their home country, or, if that is not doable, to the nearest foreign country that will accept them.

\

Three Words: Really Big Trebuchet. Of course, firing over the really big fence...





 

[bedlamite]

IMO, the ones that need to be punished are the people hiring the illegals. Toss the owner and HR manager in jail, seize the plant and sell all equipment to recoup the cost of deporting the illegals and lost income tax revenue. The town would be hurting for a while, but how long do you think it would take for everyone else to start hiring US citizens and legal immigrants?

[vaskidmark]

I understand that there are really big drone aircraft available, so that we will not have to deal with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportee_(Plane_Wreck_At_Los_Gatos) should there be any mechanical malfunction.

Sorry if that sounds cold, but every day I see costs rising due to some liberal do-gooder's notion that these folks are just taking the jobs Americans will not.  I'm also moving towards not jailing them for crimes other than immigration law violations, but just sending them back where they came from.

If their country of origin will not allow the aircraft to land, then give them parachutes.  If their country of origin fires on the aircraft bringing them back, consider it an act of war and have the US surrender to them on the spot - then they can provide foreign aid to us!

stay safe.

skidmark

[MicroBalrog]

See, this is what I don't understand about America.

It seems if you cut the front end off your shotgun, or (as in California) medicate your chronic pain marijuana, there will be cops aplenty to raid your appartment or home, and beat you up or stomp on your kittens or even set your house on fire. There's even countless stories about cops who have armored personnel carriers and ninja-gear and violently raid some grandma's home on an anonymous tip.

Why can we not sic these very people on the illegals? I mean, why can we not have hordes of ninja-clad JBTs dragging illegals towards some large trucks, driving them out of the country, and using their infamous jackboots to kick them out of the trucks and onto Mexican soil?

Where's Lon Horiuchi when we need his services?

(I exaggerate for rhetorical purposes, but my point remains).

[chaim]

IMO, the ones that need to be punished are the people hiring the illegals. Toss the owner and HR manager in jail, seize the plant and sell all equipment to recoup the cost of deporting the illegals and lost income tax revenue.

Normally I agree with you to go after employers.  The caveat is that I think we should go after employers who knowingly hire illegals.  In this case, the criminal charges against the illegals are because they employed identity theft to get real Social Security numbers and IDs so they could get the jobs to begin with.  The employer saw real gov't issued IDs and hired these people.  You can't hold the employer responsible when they thought they were hiring legal residents or people with temporary work visas.

[AZRedhawk44]

Why can we not sic these very people on the illegals? I mean, why can we not have hordes of ninja-clad JBTs dragging illegals towards some large trucks, driving them out of the country, and using their infamous jackboots to kick them out of the trucks and onto Mexican soil?

Where's Lon Horiuchi when we need his services?

That waste of flesh is hiding somewhere in Quantico teaching other JBT's how to aim for mothers that are harmlessly holding children, surrounded by FBI bodyguards.  On our dime.

You make a good point, microBalrog.  I wish those paramilitary forces would lay off of the patriotic and harmless gun collectors and such, and focus their efforts on credit extortionists, identity thieves and other unsavories that tend to come from "down south."  Heck, some of the unsavories even have automatic weapons and explosives.  Take the guns from them (and burn their houses down) before you come after the rest of us.

[MicroBalrog]

In a world where my opinion actually mattered, I would of course prefer to have law enforcement that doesn't act like a team of Teenage Mutant Ninja Rubber Duckies, but failing that - and we've clearly failed that - at least they should focus on the people who are actually a threat to our society.

[freakazoid]

IMO, the ones that need to be punished are the people hiring the illegals. Toss the owner and HR manager in jail, seize the plant and sell all equipment to recoup the cost of deporting the illegals and lost income tax revenue.

Welcome to capitalism,

[roo_ster]

The one good thing about throwing them in jail though, is that it disrupts their cash flow that they send back via Western Union to Mexico.  They don't care about jail... but they do care when they can't send money back home.  Jail hits them (and their family that encourages them to illegally enter the US) hard in the pocketbook. 

I think some tent-prisons in the middle of Arizona or New Mexico run Joe Arpaio-style would do the trick.