Politics or real effort to make changes.???
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1863706&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1863706&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
Executives Arrested In Immigration Raids
- Thread starter wingman
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longeyes
member
Good theater, I suspect. The show that's playing right now: "The Bush Adminstration: Tough on Illegal Immigration." Okay, now pass my amnesty bill, dang it!
I'm sure Bush & Co. is willing to throw a few to the wolves to get the herd through.
I'm sure Bush & Co. is willing to throw a few to the wolves to get the herd through.
El Tejon
Member
ICE has "no tolerance" for those who employ illegal aliens?
The Feds have had nothing but tolerance for employing illegal aliens: looking the other way on multiple SSNs, continuing to release illegal aliens even after federal felony criminal convictions instead of deporting them so they may continue to work for corporations, tolerating agribusiness sending agents into Mexico to recruit, posting of signs on Mexican side of US/Mexico border advertising for workers in construction and agribusiness, inter alia.
And NOW you say you will have no tolerance?
The Feds have had nothing but tolerance for employing illegal aliens: looking the other way on multiple SSNs, continuing to release illegal aliens even after federal felony criminal convictions instead of deporting them so they may continue to work for corporations, tolerating agribusiness sending agents into Mexico to recruit, posting of signs on Mexican side of US/Mexico border advertising for workers in construction and agribusiness, inter alia.
And NOW you say you will have no tolerance?
CAnnoneer
Member
The media spotlight is on immigration, so it stands close to reason that FBI operatives would like to boost their careers by gaining exposure for energetic efforts. If that is what it takes for them to do their job, then so be it. Careerism, when properly directed, can be a source of positive changes.
You guys should think positive - a bunch of scumbags will end up in jail, while a whole lot of others may rethink their business practices in view of the new-found vigour in enforcing our labor and immigration laws.
You guys should think positive - a bunch of scumbags will end up in jail, while a whole lot of others may rethink their business practices in view of the new-found vigour in enforcing our labor and immigration laws.
Camp David
member
wingman said:
Probably politics but I give high marks to the Administration for making an initial effort, something prior adminstrations did not do... so it was only a few executives and a few illegals caught but applause should come for the gesture with heavy emphasis upon many more such raids until the illegal roaches get the message that the game is afoot and no longer to be tolerated!
Arrest the right executives in the right industries (hint: ground & maintenance and construction firms) and the illegals might find no work available and go home!
garyk/nm
Member
Don't know about the other locations, but the illegals arrested in Houston were released after 5 hours, with the promise that they show up for their immigration hearings.
Political grandstanding and headline grabbing; nothing more.
Political grandstanding and headline grabbing; nothing more.
longeyes
member
When do the arrests stop? When Bush gets his "comprehensive" bill?
odysseus
Member
It's this. I have super secret remote-viewing ability:
HD administration: ring-ring... "Homeland Defense."
Karl Rove: "Hey, we need someone to get some press on how hard we are on this and how the HD department and this administration can handle illegal immigration without Congress."
HD administration: "What can we do?"
Karl Rove: "Here's some companies who... ahem... we know about. Let's get some visibility here."
HD administration: "We are on it sir!".
Not picking on Rove particularly, seemed a good choice for the moment. Seriously, this is typical "look at us" federal grandstanding. I mean seriously, if they really cared there are proabably hundreds of violating companies out there and a very porous border.
remote-viewing ability:HD administration: ring-ring... "Homeland Defense."
Karl Rove: "Hey, we need someone to get some press on how hard we are on this and how the HD department and this administration can handle illegal immigration without Congress."
HD administration: "What can we do?"
Karl Rove: "Here's some companies who... ahem... we know about. Let's get some visibility here."
HD administration: "We are on it sir!".
Not picking on Rove particularly, seemed a good choice for the moment. Seriously, this is typical "look at us" federal grandstanding. I mean seriously, if they really cared there are proabably hundreds of violating companies out there and a very porous border.
longeyes
member
German company. Guess they can't make any political contributions, huh?
Standing Wolf
Member in memoriam
Whew! I'm so glad that problem's been solved!
Malone LaVeigh
Member
I heard an official on the radio today saying he hopes this will give incentives for big business to begin lobbying for the "reform" bill.
First time I ever used one of these: :banghead:
I'll believe they're serious when I see top execs from WalMart, Tyson, and Kellog Brown and Root doing the perp walk.
First time I ever used one of these: :banghead:
I'll believe they're serious when I see top execs from WalMart, Tyson, and Kellog Brown and Root doing the perp walk.
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
From the article:
"Last week, operators of three restaurants in Baltimore pleaded guilty to similar immigration charges..."
That's a bit more than "political", seems to me.
Art
"Last week, operators of three restaurants in Baltimore pleaded guilty to similar immigration charges..."
That's a bit more than "political", seems to me.
Art
Crom
Member
IMO, nothing more then a smoke screen to appease the masses. Americans were beginning to wake up to the illegal problem and the feds realized it. So they stage a few busts on some minor players to make us all calm down.
ConstitutionCowboy
member
Placation
It's a sham, most likely. Concealed Carry laws are nothing more than that as well. It is placation. It "satisfies" enough of the loud voices and allows the unconstitutional laws to remain on the books, or in the case of the foreign nationals that have invaded us, it is a "show of concern" for the situation by the feds. The proof is in the pudding. If this action continues and causes this invasion to cease, there might be something to it. The bottom line for me is that this invasion should never have been allowed to go this far to begin with.
If there was concern for the Constitution, those politicians who created and passed the Concealed Carry laws would have written law to repeal the unconstitutional law making it illegal to carry weapons in the first place. It is all placation designed to "silence" enough people to allow the unconstitutional law to remain on the books. Plain and simple.
I believe this round-up is nothing more than that. I'll continue to believe that until it proves to be more.
Woody
It's a sham, most likely. Concealed Carry laws are nothing more than that as well. It is placation. It "satisfies" enough of the loud voices and allows the unconstitutional laws to remain on the books, or in the case of the foreign nationals that have invaded us, it is a "show of concern" for the situation by the feds. The proof is in the pudding. If this action continues and causes this invasion to cease, there might be something to it. The bottom line for me is that this invasion should never have been allowed to go this far to begin with.
If there was concern for the Constitution, those politicians who created and passed the Concealed Carry laws would have written law to repeal the unconstitutional law making it illegal to carry weapons in the first place. It is all placation designed to "silence" enough people to allow the unconstitutional law to remain on the books. Plain and simple.
I believe this round-up is nothing more than that. I'll continue to believe that until it proves to be more.
Woody
It is political grandstanding.......
They say it was a year long investigation and after repeated requests for IFCO to correct the bogus ss number problem, they struck, because it was politically correct to do so. If Immigration was serious about the illegals, all they would have to do is drive down Mustang Ave in Grapevine TX at 8am and it would look like a bunch of cockroaches when the light is turned on. That whole apartment complex is an illegal alien community. A guy I used to work with bought a pickup from INS at a salvage sale. He had fun driving around to the day labor sites and watching the run for cover of the illegals.......chris3
They say it was a year long investigation and after repeated requests for IFCO to correct the bogus ss number problem, they struck, because it was politically correct to do so. If Immigration was serious about the illegals, all they would have to do is drive down Mustang Ave in Grapevine TX at 8am and it would look like a bunch of cockroaches when the light is turned on. That whole apartment complex is an illegal alien community. A guy I used to work with bought a pickup from INS at a salvage sale. He had fun driving around to the day labor sites and watching the run for cover of the illegals.......chris3
Desertdog
Member
I have a completely different take on this. It is not necessarily a political ploy or it could be killing 2 birds with one stone.
How do you overpower your competiton? Be a better business man? That is one way.
Find some dirt on them and spread it around? Probably not.
Pay the right people and get them to raid the place and see if they can be put out of business? It has worked before and it can work again.
It also makes the government look like it is trying to do something about illegal immigration.
How do you overpower your competiton? Be a better business man? That is one way.
Find some dirt on them and spread it around? Probably not.
Pay the right people and get them to raid the place and see if they can be put out of business? It has worked before and it can work again.
It also makes the government look like it is trying to do something about illegal immigration.
longeyes
member
And while the Feds were grandstanding how many illegals came across the unsecured border?
This is not a joke, it is effrontery.
This is not a joke, it is effrontery.
longeyes
member
Bush is not going to save himself with a few photo op raids. In a week or two or three the anger quotient is in fact going to rise by an order of magnitude when the happy campers of Washington D.C. attempt to foist their "deal" on the American people. There's a hot summer ahead.
Desertdog
Member
Follow up article
Federal officials talk about immigration crackdown
By Frank James
Washington Bureau
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...90.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
WASHINGTON -- A day after federal agents arrested 1,187 people on illegal immigration charges in the nation's largest-ever work-site enforcement action, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Thursday warned of an intensified campaign to target employers whose businesses rely on large numbers of undocumented workers.
But there was suspicion among some immigration lawyers that the crackdown was more a Bush administration response to criticism that for years it had done too little work-site enforcement. They questioned whether the administration would follow through with the new get-tough approach.
The arrests in Chicago and other U.S. cities of employees of IFCO Systems, a Netherlands-based company that manufactures wooden pallets, came amid the raging national debate over illegal immigration. There was evidence that the arrests already were being factored into that debate.
"This complements the temporary worker notion," Chertoff said, referring to the proposal in Congress that a legal path be provided for undocumented immigrants to gain legal status in the U.S.
"We want to create a very clear choice for employers," he said. "A legal path that'll be regulated, that'll be totally visible and that will allow the hiring of workers in accordance with the law, on a temporary basis. … Or a choice not to follow the law, which will be met with a very tough sanction."
Legislation that was part of a Senate compromise that might be taken up next week when Congress returns would create a new guest-worker program and allow undocumented immigrants to apply for legal status in the U.S., a path that could lead to citizenship.
Congressional and other critics of legalization have pointed to the lack of work-site enforcement of immigration laws as a reason to oppose the proposal.
The arrests at the IFCO sites, which included seven current and former company managers charged with felony conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants, came after a year's investigation, Chertoff said. They were triggered when a witness at an IFCO location in New York state saw many workers destroying their W-2 tax forms.
When the witness asked why they were doing that, IFCO managers said the workers "wouldn't need their W-2s because they were illegal aliens, had invalid Social Security numbers and, therefore, weren't going to be filing income tax returns," Chertoff said.
The company did not return a call Thursday seeking comment on the raids, but in a statement Wednesday it pledged to cooperate with the investigation and comply with employment requirements.
But immigration-rights activist Roberto Carlos Lopez of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or Community Without Borders, called upon the government Thursday to stop such raids and any deportations while Congress debates immigration. Lopez spoke outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Chicago's Loop, where he had gathered with a small group of activists and Mexican immigrants.
The 26 people arrested at a Southwest Side IFCO site were released on their own recognizance Thursday from a federal immigration processing facility in Broadview, ICE spokeswoman Gail Montenegro said.
Lopez said the arrests at IFCO sites were intended to intimidate the immigrant community.
"It is undeniable that these raids were timed right after the historic marches and demonstrations and it's a move by the [Bush] administration to try and intimidate and stop this movement," Lopez said. "They can't stop our movement. If anything it will make us stronger."
But Chertoff, speaking in Washington, said, "The fact of the matter is there are employers who knowingly or recklessly hire unauthorized workers, and they've actually built their business on being able to do that … so those are the employers, the bad actors, that we have to target.
"And we're going to move beyond the current level of activity to a higher level in each month and year to come," he said.
David Whitlock, an immigration and labor lawyer in Atlanta, said he suspected that the crackdown was linked to criticism that the Homeland Security Department has received in the past year—and heightened recently—that it has been lax in such enforcement.
In all of fiscal 2005, Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency filed only two notices of its intent to fine employers who violated the law by hiring illegal immigrants, Whitlock said.
Whitlock suspected that the IFCO announcement was "enforcement by propaganda. You're seeing a case of that now. The Wal-Mart and Tyson Foods deals were exactly that. It's pick on a big huge employer that's dominant in an industry … see what sticks and move on."
Wal-Mart in 2005 agreed to pay an $11 million fine for using a contractor that employed illegal immigrants, an amount many experts considered a slap on the wrist compared with the company's revenues. Tyson employees were acquitted in 2003 of smuggling illegal immigrants to work in its plants.
"What I heard Chertoff saying was, 'Look out, we're going to have enforcement now.' And we'll see if it's going to be enforcement by publicity or not," Whitlock said.
Tribune staff reporter Mitch Dudek contributed to this report from Chicago.
[email protected]
Federal officials talk about immigration crackdown
By Frank James
Washington Bureau
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...90.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
WASHINGTON -- A day after federal agents arrested 1,187 people on illegal immigration charges in the nation's largest-ever work-site enforcement action, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Thursday warned of an intensified campaign to target employers whose businesses rely on large numbers of undocumented workers.
But there was suspicion among some immigration lawyers that the crackdown was more a Bush administration response to criticism that for years it had done too little work-site enforcement. They questioned whether the administration would follow through with the new get-tough approach.
The arrests in Chicago and other U.S. cities of employees of IFCO Systems, a Netherlands-based company that manufactures wooden pallets, came amid the raging national debate over illegal immigration. There was evidence that the arrests already were being factored into that debate.
"This complements the temporary worker notion," Chertoff said, referring to the proposal in Congress that a legal path be provided for undocumented immigrants to gain legal status in the U.S.
"We want to create a very clear choice for employers," he said. "A legal path that'll be regulated, that'll be totally visible and that will allow the hiring of workers in accordance with the law, on a temporary basis. … Or a choice not to follow the law, which will be met with a very tough sanction."
Legislation that was part of a Senate compromise that might be taken up next week when Congress returns would create a new guest-worker program and allow undocumented immigrants to apply for legal status in the U.S., a path that could lead to citizenship.
Congressional and other critics of legalization have pointed to the lack of work-site enforcement of immigration laws as a reason to oppose the proposal.
The arrests at the IFCO sites, which included seven current and former company managers charged with felony conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants, came after a year's investigation, Chertoff said. They were triggered when a witness at an IFCO location in New York state saw many workers destroying their W-2 tax forms.
When the witness asked why they were doing that, IFCO managers said the workers "wouldn't need their W-2s because they were illegal aliens, had invalid Social Security numbers and, therefore, weren't going to be filing income tax returns," Chertoff said.
The company did not return a call Thursday seeking comment on the raids, but in a statement Wednesday it pledged to cooperate with the investigation and comply with employment requirements.
But immigration-rights activist Roberto Carlos Lopez of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or Community Without Borders, called upon the government Thursday to stop such raids and any deportations while Congress debates immigration. Lopez spoke outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Chicago's Loop, where he had gathered with a small group of activists and Mexican immigrants.
The 26 people arrested at a Southwest Side IFCO site were released on their own recognizance Thursday from a federal immigration processing facility in Broadview, ICE spokeswoman Gail Montenegro said.
Lopez said the arrests at IFCO sites were intended to intimidate the immigrant community.
"It is undeniable that these raids were timed right after the historic marches and demonstrations and it's a move by the [Bush] administration to try and intimidate and stop this movement," Lopez said. "They can't stop our movement. If anything it will make us stronger."
But Chertoff, speaking in Washington, said, "The fact of the matter is there are employers who knowingly or recklessly hire unauthorized workers, and they've actually built their business on being able to do that … so those are the employers, the bad actors, that we have to target.
"And we're going to move beyond the current level of activity to a higher level in each month and year to come," he said.
David Whitlock, an immigration and labor lawyer in Atlanta, said he suspected that the crackdown was linked to criticism that the Homeland Security Department has received in the past year—and heightened recently—that it has been lax in such enforcement.
In all of fiscal 2005, Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency filed only two notices of its intent to fine employers who violated the law by hiring illegal immigrants, Whitlock said.
Whitlock suspected that the IFCO announcement was "enforcement by propaganda. You're seeing a case of that now. The Wal-Mart and Tyson Foods deals were exactly that. It's pick on a big huge employer that's dominant in an industry … see what sticks and move on."
Wal-Mart in 2005 agreed to pay an $11 million fine for using a contractor that employed illegal immigrants, an amount many experts considered a slap on the wrist compared with the company's revenues. Tyson employees were acquitted in 2003 of smuggling illegal immigrants to work in its plants.
"What I heard Chertoff saying was, 'Look out, we're going to have enforcement now.' And we'll see if it's going to be enforcement by publicity or not," Whitlock said.
Tribune staff reporter Mitch Dudek contributed to this report from Chicago.
[email protected]
mountainclmbr
Member
If this happened in Mexico you would be serving serious time in prison. And almost everywhere else in the world. You cannot go to other countries without documentation or work permits, including Mexico. PRISON TIME is the result if you do this. Why is the USA so lenient? Leftists want to tear this country down so they can impose the "other way" - Marxism again. Redistribution of wealth works well if you have millions of "new" Democrat-socialist voters" AKA communists. I don't recall where in the constitution or bill of rights where I read about communist goals.
Freedspeak
Member
Can anyone else say this sounds like:B.S..
Laws for thee and not for me!
Laws for thee and not for me!
Total BS. Try reporting some businesses that you are positive hire illegaly and see what happens. LOL Nothing. This happened in Chicago? They could shut down every single restaurant in the city...
This is 15 years of tending bar downtown chicago talking.
This is 15 years of tending bar downtown chicago talking.
Waitone
Member
Lemme see here. Bush has had this problem since taking office 6 years ago and has had a major problem for the last 5 years. During his tenure workplace enforcement and fines have dropped literally to zero.
Why now?
Why this company?
Why not sometime over the last 5 years?
The answer is really simple. Amnesty is going down in flames but Bush and his ilk will not give it up. Never in my years of political consciousness of almost 40 years have I ever seen a politician so oblivious of popular sentiment. It is almost like the man has an internal drive to dash himself and his party of the rocks of public opinion. There is an ill wind blowing through the electorate and he thinks sophomoric (?sp) stunts will prevail.
He insults Americans with his "work that Amer . . . " and now he thinks they are so stupid as to believe his publicity stunt is meaningful.
The man is delusional.
Why now?
Why this company?
Why not sometime over the last 5 years?
The answer is really simple. Amnesty is going down in flames but Bush and his ilk will not give it up. Never in my years of political consciousness of almost 40 years have I ever seen a politician so oblivious of popular sentiment. It is almost like the man has an internal drive to dash himself and his party of the rocks of public opinion. There is an ill wind blowing through the electorate and he thinks sophomoric (?sp) stunts will prevail.
He insults Americans with his "work that Amer . . . " and now he thinks they are so stupid as to believe his publicity stunt is meaningful.
The man is delusional.
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