Welcome (back) to 'The Jungle'

We have been following the Postville, IA raid on Agriprocessors, Inc literally since the day it happened, and have been dismayed at the way the whole sorry spectacle has played out. Especially surreal has been the draconian way the workers have been treated, contrasted with the fact that the employers are not only still free, but the business is still operating.

We are not alone in our dismay. The New York Times editorial board is equally dismayed, albeit late to the party by our standards.

The conditions at the Agriprocessors plant cry out for the cautious and deliberative application of justice.

In May, the government swoops in and arrests ... the workers, hundreds of them, for having false identity papers. The raid’s catch is so huge that the detainees are bused from little Postville to the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo. The defendants, mostly immigrants from Guatemala, are not charged with the usual administrative violations, but with “aggravated identity theft,” a serious crime.

They are offered a deal: They can admit their guilt to lesser charges, waive their rights, including the right to a hearing before an immigration judge, spend five months in prison, then be deported. Or, they can spend six months or more in jail without bail while awaiting a trial date, face a minimum two-year prison sentence and be deported anyway.

Nearly 300 people agree to the five months, after being hustled through mass hearings, with one lawyer for 17 people, each having about 30 minutes of consultation per client. The plea deal is a brutal legal vise, but the immigrants accept it as the quickest way back to their spouses and children, hundreds of whom are cowering in a Catholic church, afraid to leave and not knowing how they will survive. The workers are scattered to federal lockups around the country. Many families still do not know where they are. The plant’s owners walk freely.

This is law enforcement run amok. As Julia Preston reported in The Times, the once-silent workers of Agriprocessors now tell of a host of abusive practices, of rampant injuries and of exhausted children as young as 13 wielding knives on the killing floor. A young man said in an affidavit that he started at 16, in 17-hour shifts, six days a week. “I was very sad, and I felt like I was a slave.”

The defendants are also victims, but instead of receiving any sort of merciful treatment, they have been branded as predatory felons, the sort of people who steal identities and empty bank accounts, but nothing could be further from the truth. “Most of the clients we interviewed did not even know what a Social Security number was or what purpose it served,” said Erik Camayd-Freixas, a Spanish-language interpreter for many of the workers. “This worker simply had the papers filled out for him at the plant, since he could not read or write Spanish, let alone English.”

The heavy-handed prosecution of the workers at Agriprocessors is a 180-degree pivot for the bu$h administration, which had for years insisted that immigration needed to be fixed comprehensively, or not at all.

Before Postville, the one redeeming quality of this bunch of crooks had been a compassion for exploited workers, but all pretense of mercy and proportionality have been abandoned as they have gone after the workers with zeal and fervor, exaggerating the threat of the workers to society at large, while predatory employers who prey on the weak, the poor and the desperate remain free.

In the move to make undocumented workers by definition a criminal class, the government overstates the threat posed by those workers. They do this to justify the rabid pursuit of employees, while glossing over the crimes of the treasonous employers who are engaged in economic warfare against the United States.

It is more than a fraudulent exercise. It is a national disgrace.

Violence at a Small Town Parade

When was the last time you thought about how ridiculous the immigration debate could get? Well, in small town America, it got really ridiculous over the weekend in Albert Lea, Minnesota:

An entry in the Third of July Parade stirred controversy, and now the parade’s committee plans to review whether it would allow it next year.

The entry came from Minnesota Coalition for Immigration Reduction. It had a large yellow sign with moveable letters, and it was pulled by a Hummer. The sign’s message on both sides said: “Illegal immigrants cost jobs, hospitals and courts.”

Near the corner of Bridge Avenue and Fountain Street on the parade route, children threw rocks at the sign, and one rock missed, hitting a woman in the face. She was taken by ambulance to Albert Lea Medical Center. The Freeborn County Attorney’s Office will review the police report and decide whether to file charges.

The result of all of this was a debate, touched off in Albert Lea, as to whether they should have allowed the float to participate in the parade (they should NOT have) and whether or not anyone will take responsibility for allowing it (of course not) and whether it constituted a message of intolerance and hate (oh, it certainly did.)

No one should condone rock throwing and whoever did that should be punished. But you can see the emotion that was stirred up. Well, that's what hate groups do, don't they?

Now, I don't know if this is news to anyone, but there are a lot of people of Hispanic heritage who live and work in Minnesota. Many of them are legal residents. Many are not. But, in case anyone hasn't bothered to look lately, this "issue" isn't really a serious one. In fact, I'll draw you a map:



Notice anything? There's a bit of what we call "distance" between Mexico and Minnesota. If there are illegal immigrants who have the skills or the fortitude to get all of the way to Minnesota, chances are, those are the ones who WANT to work and who we should welcome into this country. I mean to tell you, Iowa sure is tempting.

The "hate group" in question is something or other called "Minnesotans Seeking Immigration Reform" and this is their mission statement:

We are Minnesotans Seeking Immigration Reform. Come take a look around and join us in our worthy cause. We believe in strengthening our borders, We believe in SENSIBLE Legal immigration that benefits the USA only and oppose all illegal immigration, We believe in tough oversight concerning issues of temporary and enforced timed visas, government financial assistance only for United States citizens and in supporting our culture and language - English is the language of the land.

It's sad to see home-grown hate groups put their float in hometown parades. I'll bet that if people looked at the association of Minnesota Coalition for Immigration Reduction to, for example, the Chuck Baldwin for President campaign (he's first on their list and first in their hearts!) they'd find a Baptist preacher who rails against the New World Order and thinks 9/11 was an inside job. Or their affiliation to Minnesota Majority, an unhinged hate group that has its fingers in a lot of pies, especially the pies everyone likes to eat, like gay marriage and living a moral, decent life.

Much of the statistical information that feeds these hate groups was supplied by a blatantly dishonest piece of partisan hackery produced for the administration of Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who is, you guessed it, a Republican under consideration to be McCain's running mate.

The report these groups are relying on is ginned up with phony statistics from the likes of The Washington Times and anti-immigration zealot Steven Camarota.

Camarota, in turn, made the brilliant observation that since three (3!) of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 (remember, the inside job?) were illegal immigrants that we, all of a sudden, had a massive immigration problem. No, we have a massive problem with people from Saudi Arabia coming here to kill Americans, but that's a whole other can of worms.

The folks at the hysterical hate groups point to a figure that appears on a billboard they put up in Minnesota that featured the sign popular in the San Diego, California area--of the father, mother, and child running across a freeway:



Like I said--if those three individuals have run all the way from Mexico to Albert Lea, don't STOP them from immigrating. Give them a free house to live in and something to drink for having such tremendous stamina.

And the phony outrage they're trying to gin up is based on a ridiculous assertion--that "illegal immigrants" cost money. Their estimate? That's right--$118 million dollars. (According to the bullshit report by the Pawlenty administration.) Well, that's a lot of money. Unless you factor in the size of Minnesota's economy.

Which, in 2005, was a gross domestic product of $234 Billion dollars. Less than one percent of the population in Minnesota is employed in agriculture, and that would, presumably, include a number of the people these hate groups rail against. In 2006, the agricultural sector produced over $11 billion dollars, more than enough to offset a paltry $118 million, no matter how you slice it.

We're not talking about dollars, we're talking about people. Poor people looking for work. Poor people are never the problem--no matter what the media, the rich, the hate groups or the politicians try to tell you. They're just people. People who, incidentally, help Minnesotans enjoy a pretty high standard of living compared with most states. People who, by the way, pump money INTO the economy by paying rent, buying goods, and living their lives honorably and decently.

Unlike the idiots who form hate groups and march in parades.

Arrests Made in Postville IA

We've been watching this story since the raids against the Postville meat processing plant happened--and now there are arrests and charges that a veritable fake documents ring was operating on the processing floor:

The arrest warrant was issued for Hosam Amara, 43. In interviews after the raid, several workers said Mr. Amara was a floor manager with more authority than line supervisors. They said he was a link between workers on the slaughterhouse floors and meatpacking lines and more senior management.

Agriprocessors, which before the raid was the country’s largest producer of kosher meat, is owned by Aaron Rubashkin. Two weeks after the raid, he removed his son Sholom as chief executive.

Most of the illegal immigrants arrested at the plant were from rural Guatemala. In expedited proceedings, 270 workers were sent to federal prison on criminal charges, most for presenting false documents when they were hired.

In a criminal complaint unsealed on Thursday, federal authorities said Mr. [Juan Carlos]Guerrero was the supervisor of four departments in the Postville plant, including a slaughterhouse called Beef Kill. Workers cited anonymously in the complaint said Mr. Guerrero was running a business obtaining fraudulent immigration documents, known as green cards.

In the days before the raid, the workers said, according to the complaint, Mr. Guerrero told them in a meeting that “they needed new IDs and Social Security numbers to continue working at the company.” Mr. Guerrero collected $200 and a photograph from each worker, promising to provide new documents, the complaint says.

Obviously, we can't have something like that going on. Perhaps a comprehensive reform of the laws is in order. Oh, and a union would be one way to try and ensure that the workers aren't being taken advantage of by management--but you can't be pro-union in this country anymore, can you? Well, too bad--despite the wingnut fantasies about corrupt unions, they are needed now more than ever--especially when immigrants are being ripped off, handed phony documents by a manager, and working for next to nothing.

What no one in this country wants to talk about are the hundreds of thousands of people being worked to death in food processing plants for lousy pay with no benefits while the owners reap unprecedented profits and exploit vulnerable people. It's an outrage that we have a third world food processing plant system in this country.

--WS

"Illegal Immigrant" Kills Cyclist

But it's not what you think.

Every time Lou Dobbs or Glen Beck speaks out about "illegals" committing crimes in this country, try to remember that picture.

It's a photo of a American citizen, drunk and asleep at the wheel, killing a cyclist and injuring others, in Northern Mexico. He's a resident of Browsville, TX, and he's driving drunk inside of Mexican territory. He may not be an immigrant, but he's breaking a law on foreign soil. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that you can't drive drunk in Mexico and fall asleep and kill people.

Sometimes the stupid shit happens on both sides of the border, and sometimes it doesn't matter whether they're legal or illegal. Sometimes, you can demagogue an issue to the point where common sense goes out the window. Sometimes, you just have to ignore the pundits and remember that this is a pretty complicated world, and there are no absolutes. If this happened in Podunk, America and if the person behind the wheel was an illegal immigrant, you can bet your bottom dollar that the outrage meter would be pegging all throughout the intolerant pundit world. When the shoe gets put on the other foot, it sure punctures their worldview, doesn't it?

Well--there is one absolute. Drunk driving kills. And that kind of stupidity has no respect for borders, citizenship, nationality or race.

--WS

Somehow, someway, we have to return sanity to immigration policy

This is nuts. Without a doubt, this is the most infuriating thing I have come across in a while.

A valedictorian in Fresno California is in the process of being deported after his parents appeals for asylum were exhausted. His father has been taken into custody and is in a detention center in Arizona. He and his mother have been ordered out of the country. He has a twelve year old brother who is a natural born American citizen will be expatriated back to Armenia with his mother and brother if the family is to remain together.

Arthur Mkoyan has not seen Armenia since he was two years old, and he does not want to return. He doesn't speak the language and he barely understands it when he hears it spoken to him. "Hopefully, I can somehow stay here and continue my studies here," he said. "It would be hard if I go back."


The Mkoyan family fled the crumbling Soviet Union in it's waning days. Ironically, they did not seek asylum because they were dissidents - they sought asylum because Arthur's father was a police officer in the old USSR, and the family was targeted by independence forces. The families home was burned to the ground and the general store they operated was looted and ransacked.

Seeking a better life, his father left for Fresno in 1991, choosing Fresno because he knew someone who had emigrated there, and soon applied for political asylum. Arthur and his mother arrived in Fresno in 1995, after three years in Russia.

His father's application for asylum, which included his wife and son, was ultimately rejected. Asylum is an arduous process, and asylum seekers must prove they would suffer severe persecution if they return to their country.

Arthur said he thinks it's unfair that he has to return to a country he hasn't seen since he was 2.

He already has been accepted to the University of California at Davis, where he planned to major in chemistry. He would like to become a dentist or a pharmacist.

Bullard High School Principal Glenn Starkweather said he wasn't aware of Arthur's situation but said he had a good academic record. Arthur has just over a 4.0 grade-point average, making him a valedictorian.

"He's obviously a very strong student. I'm proud of him," Starkweather said.

With deportation on the horizon, Silverman said, Arthur has limited options.

Once he is back in Armenia, Arthur could return to the United States on a student visa. Or he could ask a member of Congress to introduce a private bill on his behalf to grant him legal residency, Silverman said.

Arthur contacted Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein for help weeks ago. Feinstein has introduced private bills in the past in an effort to grant legal status to individuals.

Feinstein's office is looking into Arthur's case, said Claire Bowyer, Feinstein's deputy press secretary.

Private bills are rarely introduced and often don't pass, according to Feinstein's office. Once a bill is introduced, deportation is halted. If it passes, the applicant receives a green card. In some cases, the bill allows a parent to obtain legal residency along with the child.

"Arthur Mkoyan represents another reason why Congress needs to pass the Dream Act," Feinstein said in a prepared statement. "It is in our nation's interest to provide talented students the incentive to take this path toward being responsible and law-abiding members of our society."

Arthur, clinging to hope that something will give, hasn't told his classmates that he is under a deportation order and will be forced to leave the country. "I can't really concentrate on my studies. It's hard to focus, [but] I'm still keeping my grade-point average high."

I will be contacting my elected representatives and encouraging them to support passage of the DREAM Act, and letting them know that I support making allowances for all of the children who were brought here by their parents and had no voice in the decision. But it's just cruel to take a kid out of their "homeland" when they are too young even to remember, admit them to this country, educate them,and Americanize them - and then tell a 17-year-old they have to go back to a country they can't remember because their dad's application for asylum was denied.

And until we have some sanity restored by legislative fiat, can we please, pretty please, take a look at these kids on a case-by-case basis? They have done nothing wrong and don't deserve to have their lives ripped away.

UPDATE: ICE Immigration Raid in Northeast Iowa

Israelis and Ukrainians among the detainees in Northeast Iowa:

On May 12, 2008 the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) executed two search warrants at the Agriprocessors, Inc. plant in Postville, Iowa. The search warrants were for evidence of aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers, people illegally in the United States and other crimes. 390 people were detained. Of the original 390 detainees 314 were males and 76 were female. 12 of the detainees were juveniles. 290 are Guatemalans, 93 are Mexicans and the rest are Israelis and Ukrainians.

56 of the detainees were under supervised release. They were released for humanitarian reasons. (women with kids and the father was also detained, juveniles, etc.) The rest were transported to the National Cattle Congress Fairgrounds in Waterloo, Iowa for processing and their initial appearance in U.S. District Court.
In a press release May 13th the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa Matt M. Dummermuth said, "Based on the number of those administratively arrested, this is the largest single-site enforcement operation of its kind ever in the United States."

Further information can be found here.

ICE leased almost the entire fair grounds from the beginning of May until May 25th under the premise that they were going to conduct training exercises. In preparation for the detainees they turned the main auditorium into a processing center, Estell exhibit hall into a detention center including portable heating and air conditioning, toilets and showers. The female detainees are reported to be being held at the Black Hawk County Jail in Waterloo and other local jails. The U.S. District Court temporarily relocated some of its judges and personnel from the federal courthouses in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Sioux City, Iowa to a make-shift courtroom in the Electric Park Ballroom on the National Cattle Congress grounds.

This is going to do wonders for tourism

Two years ago, a Virginia girl met an Italian gentleman in a supermarket in Rome and a romance blossomed. He was prosperous and in a position to make frequent visits to see her, and so he did. His visits were always without incidence until he landed at Dulles last month, and was denied entry.

Normally, persons denied entry are put on the next plane home, but this gentleman was not so fortunate. He was held in a county jail for ten days, and even intervention by Senator John Warner could not gain him his freedom. The case of Domenico Salerno might be extreme, but it highlights a very real danger that travelers to this country face.

Each year, thousands of would-be visitors from 27 so-called visa waiver countries are turned away when they present their passports, said Angelica De Cima, a spokeswoman for Customs and Border Protection, who said she could not discuss any individual case. In the last seven months, 3,300 people have been rejected and more than 8 million admitted, she said.

Though citizens of those nations do not need visas to enter the United States for as long as 90 days, their admission is up to the discretion of border agents. There are more than 60 grounds for finding someone inadmissible, including a hunch that the person plans to work or immigrate, or evidence of an overstay, however brief, on an earlier visit.

While those turned away are generally sent home on the next flight, “there are occasional circumstances which require further detention to review their cases,” Ms. De Cima said. And because such “arriving aliens” are not considered to be in the United States at all, even if they are in custody, they have none of the legal rights that even illegal immigrants can claim. [emphasis added]

Government officials have acknowledged that intensified security since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has sometimes led to the heavy-handed treatment of foreigners caught in a bureaucratic tangle or paperwork errors. But despite encouraging officers to resolve such cases quickly, excesses continue to come to light.

One recent case involved an Icelandic woman who was refused entry at Kennedy Airport because, a dozen years earlier, she had overstayed her visa by three weeks. The woman, Erla Osk Arnardottir Lillendahl, was deported Dec. 10 after what she described as 24 hours of interrogation and humiliating treatment — locked in a cell and barred from making phone calls. The Department of Homeland Security later issued a letter of regret.

In questioning Mr. Salerno, customs agents seemed to suspect that he intended to work here. Ms. Cooper, a copy editor for an educational publication, said she was in the airport lobby when an agent called to ask about Mr. Salerno’s income and why he visited so often.

The youngest son of a prosperous contractor in Calabria, Mr. Salerno helps out in his brother’s law firm in Rome and is able to visit the United States several times a year. Neighbors said he joined volunteers in refurbishing the Wessynton recreation center in 2006, then became one of its summer attractions, kicking a soccer ball with the kids and playing tennis with the adults.

“He just is a very open, fun and helpful guy,” said Christopher M. Porter, a resident of Wessynton.

Ms. Cooper said that at the airport, when she begged to know what was happening to Mr. Salerno, an agent told her, “You know, he should try spending a little more time in his own country.”

Another agent eventually told her to go home because Mr. Salerno was being detained as an asylum-seeker.

“The border patrol officer said to my face that Domenico said he would be killed if he went back to Italy,” she recalled, voicing incredulity that, in his halting English, he could express such a thought. “Also, who on earth would ever seek asylum from Italy?”

Twelve hours later, when Mr. Salerno was granted a five-minute phone call, he called Ms. Cooper and denied saying anything of the kind. Instead, he said, the asylum story seemed to be retaliation for his insisting on speaking to his embassy.

After being turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he was taken to the Pamunkey Regional Jail in Hanover, Va., where he ended up in a barracks with 75 other men, including asylum-seekers who told him they had been waiting a year.

Ten days after he landed in Washington, Mr. Salerno was still incarcerated, despite efforts by Senator John W. Warner, Republican of Virginia, and two former immigration prosecutors hired by the Coopers.

“He’s just really scared,” Ms. Cooper said in an interview last Thursday. “He asked me if Virginia has the death penalty.”

Luis Paoli, a lawyer hired by the Coopers, said there was no limit on detention while waiting for an asylum interview. But even after officials agreed the asylum issue had been a mistake, Mr. Salerno was not released.

“Now an innocent European, who has never broken any laws, committed any crimes, or overstayed his visa, is being held in a county jail,” Ms. Cooper wrote in an e-mail message to The New York Times last Wednesday, prompting a reporter’s inquiries.

Less than 24 hours after the New York Times started probing the case, immigration officials intervened and Mr. Salerno was released from custody and expelled from the country. Ms. Cooper was with him when he departed for Rome, and is considering moving to Italy to be with him there and spare him the possibility of such degrading and humiliating treatment at the hands of overzealous nitwits with too much power and too little accountability.

Massive Immigration Raid in Postville, IA

[map image from the Des Moines Register]
Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have sealed a meatpacking plant in Northeastern Iowa in order to determine who is and who is not legally entitled to work in the facility:

Federal agents descended upon this northeast Iowa community at about 10 a.m. [Central] today to conduct an immigration raid at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant.

The ICE agents entered the Postville plant to execute a criminal search warrant for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, said Tim Counts, a Midwest ICE spokesman.

Agents are also executing a civil search warrant for people illegally in the United States, he said.

Immigration officials told aides to U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley that they expect 600 to 700 arrests. About 1,000 to 1,050 people work at the plant, according to Iowa Workforce Development.

Chuck Larson, a truck driver for Agriprocessing, was in the plant when the agents arrived. “There has to be 100 of them,” he said of the agents.

Larson said the agents told workers to stay in place then separated them by asking those with identification to stand to the right and those with other papers, to stand to the left.

“There was plenty of hollering,” Larson said. “You couldn’t go anywhere.”
When asked who was separated, Larson said those standing in the group with other papers were all Hispanic.

The people who are detained as a result of the raid, as documented by the Des Moines Register, will be transported to a facility in Waterloo, Iowa that has been set up as a detention center, capable of handling a large number of people:

Workers and immigration advocates in Iowa began girding for an immigration raid last week after learning that federal authorities had leased Waterloo’s Cattle Congress fairgrounds. Federal officials declined to explain their plans last week, but advocates worried the fairgrounds would be used as a detention center. That’s what happened in December 2006, when federal agents took people apprehended in a raid at the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Marshalltown to the Camp Dodge military base in Johnston.

Postville is not a stranger to controversy:

Postville, on the border of Allamakee and Clayton counties, is a community of more than 2,500 people that includes natives of German and Norwegian heritage and newcomers who include Hasidic Jews from New York, plus immigrants from Mexico, Russian, Ukraine and many other countries.

The Agriprocessors plant, known as the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse, is northeast Iowa’s largest employer.

About 200 Hasidic Jews arrived in Postville in 1987, when butcher Aaron Rubashkin of Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood reopened a defunct meat-packing plant with his two sons, Sholom and Heshy, just outside the city limits. Business boomed at the plant, reviving the depressed economy while pitting the newcomers against the predominately Lutheran community.

Stephen Bloom is the author of a book that details what he found in Postville in the late 1990s, titled “Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America,” and this is from the transcript of an interview he did with CNN on October 24, 2000:

For years, meat processors had shipped the corn-fed rich Iowa beef to slaughterhouses, sometimes thousands of miles away. It made sense for the slaughterhouse to be located next to the beef, instead of visa versa. So when the Hasidic community moved to Postville, they moved their entire ethos with them from Brooklyn to northeastern Iowa. They created immediately a shul or synagogue. They made two mikvehs, or ceremonial bath houses, as well as a yeshiva, or school for their children. They replicated in northeastern Iowa the community they had established in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. So in my mind, they were not suffering any degree of cultural deprivation. They moved their world, lock, stock, and barrel, one thousand miles westward.

In December, 2006, ICE conducted raids throughout the Midwest, targeting meatpacking plants:

Today [December 12, 2007] marks the one year anniversary of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s (ICE) raids of Swift and Co. meatpacking plants in six cities in Nebraska, Texas, Iowa, Minnesota and Utah. In all, 1,282 Swift employees were arrested.

In December, 2007, ICE notified a warehouse company in New York called Fresh Direct that its employee records were going to be reviewed, resulting in over 40 people simply quitting or leaving the company, reportedly without even being paid for their work.

Companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants can face fines or criminal charges, but until recently, prosecutions were extremely rare. In some workplaces elsewhere in the country, workers without proper documents were summoned to the main office without warning, and taken away in handcuffs.

Union officials said that many Fresh Direct employees, who earn between $7.50 and $9.75 an hour, were so frightened of being detained and separated from their children that they stayed home on Wednesday. Others said they were told not to come back.

Ms. Pope said that some employees were warned by company officials not to show up for their paychecks. She said the union was scrambling to find clergy members or other volunteers to collect paychecks for workers who feared going back to the warehouse.

One 41-year-old woman from Ecuador, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of deportation, said she was let go with an expression of regret when she told human resources workers at the company that the Social Security number she had been using for nearly four years was false.

“I’m really desperate now because I have no money to send to my kids,” she said, referring to four children in Ecuador. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life.”

Congress is currently considering the "New Employee Verification Act" (NEVA) that is being presented to replace the current ineffective federal government's employee verification process with a new electronic verification system. Under H.R. 5515, employers would use the state systems to confirm the work eligibility of an individual for I-9 purposes, therefore, it should provide more reliablity and less risk to us as employers.

The following is from an E-mail being circulated on behalf of supporters for the new legislation:

In addition, the bill also would create a voluntary biometrics option that employers could choose to use in the verification process. This system would include a standard background check and the collection of a "biometric" characteristic - such as a thumbprint - to secure an employee's identity and prevent the illegal use of a Social Security number, stolen or fraudulently-obtained drivers' license, or altered identification documents. Other key aspects include:

Electronic Attestation - Allows the entire attestation requirements to be done electronically and eliminates the current Form I-9.

New Hires - Applies only to employers' newly hired employees and would not require employers to re-verify all existing employees as is required by other bills.

Post Offer and Acceptance, Pre-Start - Allows employers to check the employee's work eligibility through the electronic system beginning on the date of hire and ending on the third day after the employee has reported to work.

Federal Law Preemption - Provides that federal immigration law preempts any state law with regard to employer fines for immigration-related issues or in requiring employers to verify identity or work authorization of employees.

Employer Responsibility - Requires employers to be responsible only for the hiring decisions of their own employees, not those of their subcontractors.

Definitely Not the Right Answer

Uh...the POINT of this post was to highlight how ridiculous it is to
listen to Chuck Norris advocate SHOOTING illegal immigrants. You, umm...got that didn't you?

Chuck Norris, noted for his grasp of public policy and his fascinating pants, weighs in on this whole illegal immigration thing...

Exacerbating the security crisis is the fact that there continues to be a shortage of both Border Patrol and other safety government officials. The Homeland Security Department is still trying to fill last year's 138 vacancies in high-level jobs – an employment crisis that it calls "a critical homeland security issue that demands immediate attention."

Another good reason to throw the incompetent Bush administration out on its ear. Unemployment is skyrocketing, but the US government can't find anyone who wants to work for it. We've shown you how many jobs in the Washington DC area alone are open and that pay more than a $100,000 a year--it's a disgrace.

Unfortunately, illegal transport of immigrants, terrorists and other contraband is only going to worsen, especially with the possible creation of a North American Union (with Canada and Mexico) and the so-called NAFTA Superhighways. Unless of course we stop it! (How is it that we can militarily overthrow a government like Iraq, yet we can't militarily keep illegalities from crossing our borders?) As Mike Huckabee still says, "If the government can't track illegals, then let's outsource the job to UPS or Fed-Ex."

You mean the "NAFTA Superhighway" that actually doesn't exist, except in the imagination of wingnuts everywhere? You mean the war where 20,000 irregular insurgents have a 140,000 man and woman army pinned down--how's that going, by the way? It's not a great analogy to use the fiasco of Iraq to show how good of a job we could do by militarizing our southern border. I seem to recall that the last time someone thought that was a good idea, some Marines shot an 18 year-old goat shepherd and the whole thing had to be discontinued. And you've gotta love the wingnut obsession with outsourcing. That job you thought you were going to retire from? Someone in India, Mexico or the Marianas Islands has it now, and they're working for pennies on the dollar.

If these solutions don't stop the tides of illegal flow in and out of our borders, a friend of mine has a Texas-tough alternative and answer to replace the government's virtual fence failure. In fact, he says, we don't need a security fence at all. All we need to do is to post signs and position manned trucks at key points, just like our government does at Area 51, the top secret military airfield in remote central Nevada, around which there are no fences or walls. There is never a breach or unwanted border crossing there, at least that we hear about! And why? Because the boundary sign reads and is never questioned, "Warning: Use of deadly force authorized."

The last refuge of a pussy is to shoot people when there's a problem. Nothing is solved from shooting people to get what you want. It's not going to stop immigration. It's going to cause a lot of unnecessary death and destruction. In short, you can spot the pussy in the crowd when he draws his gun before there's a need to draw a gun. Yes, Chuck Norris is just a big, uninformed pussy who can't think for himself and probably didn't even bother writing his own column. I think he's trying to revitalize his reinforced crotch pants:



Stick with the cheesy products, Chuck.

When emotion and agendas hijack the debate...

...you end up with foam-flecked insanity and spear-carrying nativists fueled by the rantings of Lou Dobbs and Tom Tancredo.

Witness the current hysteria about immigration from Latin American. Lou Dobbs has been lauded as a hero of the working class and even inspired talk among the crowd he plays to about a presidential run, and "immigration" consistently polls near the top of voters concerns. Funny thing is, when polls are conducted using neutral language, it turns out that voters are, as a whole, are not only pretty damned clueless about the issue, they have no idea what their candidate's actual position even is.

The Center for Immigration Studies commissioned Pulse Opinion Research to conduct a poll of voters who had either voted in a primary or attended a caucus. The sample size was 1,276 , and the polling was conducted over March 12 and 13 (full .pdf here).

Among the findings:

• Only 34 percent of McCain voters, 42 percent of Clinton voters, and 52 percent of Obama voters correctly identified their candidate as favoring eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants who meet certain requirements.
  
  
• Of McCain voters, 35 percent mistakenly thought he favored enforcement that would cause illegals to return home, another 10 percent thought he wanted mass deportations, and 21 percent didn’t know his position.
  
  
• Voters often held different positions from the candidate they supported. Only 31 percent of McCain voters had the same immigration position as he does. For Clinton voters, 45 percent shared her position; 61 percent of Obama voters shared his position.
  
  
• This lack of knowledge, coupled with disagreements with their candidates’ positions, makes it very difficult to draw any conclusions about the fact that all three remaining candidates favor legalization for illegal immigrants.
  
  
• Whoever wins the presidency will face significant opposition to giving eventual citizenship to illegal immigrants. Just 25 percent of Republican and 50 percent of Democratic primary/caucus voters said they would support such an effort.
  
  
• Pro-enforcement voters have a greater intensity of views than supporters of legalization. Among Republicans, almost nine out ten who favored causing illegals to return home said they strongly supported that view; on the other hand, fewer than half of Republicans who backed legalization strongly supported that view.
  
  
• This greater intensity also exists among Democrats. Of Democrats who favored causing illegals to return home, more than seven out of ten strongly supported that view; on the other hand, fewer than six out of ten who favored legalization strongly supported that view.

Now, I don't have a dog in the immigration fight. Even when I was working, my job wasn't in jeopardy. Scientists don't sneak across the border and displace American bench techs. But I find the disconnect between voters and reality more than a little disconcerting.

It is time to inject some reality and common sense into the debate. I just wish I knew how to do that.

Talk about your Catch-22's...

Yet another shining example of the idiocy of our federal government with these chuckleheads at the helm.

The Immigration Service allows people who fought in those developing-world, U.S. funded guerrilla wars on our behalf - to enter the country and seek refugee status or a ruling on asylum. But then, the same agency turns around and denies them permanent resident status because fighting guerrilla wars is defined as terrorism:

Most of the applications involve people linked to groups that U.S. immigration and counterterrorism laws have defined as "undesignated terrorist organizations" because they took armed action against a foreign government. The groups include U.S. allies that fought against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the Taliban government in Afghanistan....

[Deputy director Jonathan] Scharfen said that USCIS recognized the illogic of admitting immigrants under one provision of the law and then labeling them terrorists for green card purposes, calling it a "very good question." At the same time, he said, the restrictions are "written so that the definition of a terrorist organization and activity is very, very broad." Even groups that have been "closely associated with the United States," such as Montagnard tribesmen who fought with U.S. forces in Vietnam, "fall under the definitions."

Do I even have to say it? I mean it's so cliche, but at the same time so true...One man's freedom fighter is another mans terrorist, it just depends on who you ask. Fortunately, the Immigration Service announced yesterday that they will be suspending the policy while it is reviewed, and a more "logical, common-sense" set of rules can be developed. The future of thousands of people hangs in the balance.

But wait...there's more...even if Immigration decides on a fair, common-sense set of rules, we have a couple of particularly egregious federal laws that codify the stupid in the federal statures.

The Patriot Act and Real ID Act both specifically spell out that opposing the government - any government - is enough to bar permanent residency.

The catalyst for yesterday's decision, Scharfen and other officials said, was a Washington Post article last weekend about a translator for U.S. forces in Iraq. Saman Kareem Ahmad, 38, arrived in the United States under a special visa program for those assisting the nation's war effort, after his life was threatened in Iraq. He had received commendations from the secretary of the Navy and then-Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, now the top U.S. commander in Iraq, as well as strong support from Marine and Army officers with whom he had worked. Ahmad was later granted political asylum, but his application for permanent residence was denied last month on grounds he had once served with Kurdish military forces that fought against Hussein.

The USCIS letter denying Ahmad's petition said that the Kurdistan Democratic Party forces fit the definition of terrorist, based on information it had gleaned from public Web sites, because KDP forces "conducted full-scale armed attacks and helped incite rebellions against Hussein's regime, most notably during the Iran-Iraq war, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom."

The KDP, a U.S. ally, is now part of the elected Iraqi government, and Ahmad teaches Arabic language and culture at the Marine Corps base in Quantico and other military facilities, working with Marines who are about to deploy to Iraq. Although the letter said the denial could not be appealed, Scharfen said yesterday that Ahmad's case is now "under review" and should be resolved "in a matter of days."

Yes - the US was fighting Hussein, and Ahmed was fighting Hussein. He helped us fight Hussein. He was admitted to the country because he fought Hussein. And then, he was denied status...because he fought Hussein. WTF???

I'm not sure what it will take to fix this - or even if it can be fixed so long as aWol is in office, but this demands justice. For everyone, not just the occasional Saman Kareem Ahmad who has enough juice to get a hearing.

Because Taking Away Rights is What They're All About

Update--From ThinkProgress.org

Huckabee flip-flops on birthright citizenship. Yesterday, the Washington Times reported that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee would “amend the Constitution to prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizen.” The paper relied on Minutemen founder James Gilchrist for it’s scoop, but Huckabee disputed the claim, saying he had “no intention” of denying the right of “birthright citizenship.” But the Times reports today that Huckabee told it in August that he “would support changing” birthright citizenship:

But he previously had taken a position in an interview with The Times on his campaign bus in Iowa in August.

“I would support changing that. I think there is reason to revisit that, just because a person, through sheer chance of geography, happened to be physically here at the point of birth, doesn’t necessarily constitute citizenship,” he said at the time, according to the audiotape of the interview. “I think that’s a very reasonable thing to do, to revisit that.”

Birthright citizenship is explicitly laid out in the 14th amendment, which begins, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”


The Moonie Times has a little blurb about what Mike Huckabee is willing to say in order to get elected:

Mike Huckabee wants to amend the Constitution to prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizens, according to his top immigration surrogate — a radical step no other major presidential candidate has embraced.
Mr. Huckabee, who won last week's Republican Iowa caucuses, promised Minuteman Project founder James Gilchrist that he would force a test case to the Supreme Court to challenge birthright citizenship, and would push Congress to pass a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to remove any doubt.

Brilliant! Every time a Republican runs for office, they do so by claiming that they want to "amend" the Constitution to take away rights from the American people. This is a brilliant strategy, one that should guarantee a generation of Republicans at least 33% of the total vote in future elections.

Just some background on the people who are supporting Huckabee--the Minutemen--their website has interesting articles like this one, by a "protected" writer:

-------------------
Citizens Being Silenced - Illegal Aliens Trying To Sew Our Months Shut!
Saturday, December 22, 2007 - Silenced Writer

From: deleted to protect writer
Sent: Friday, December 21, 2007 4:26 PM
Subject: illegal immigrant harassment
Dear Minuteman Project:



I am a [housewife and concerned neighbor] who just moved to the Glendale, Arizona area and moved into my apartment without the opportunity of checking the area out first.

My next door neighbors consist of what appears to be at least 12 non-English speaking Mexican nationals [witches? Magical Spell Casting Fairies?] living in a small 2 bedroom apartment. Some drive inconsistent vehicles and there is a constant flow of traffic all day. They all appear to either stay home all day or leave in shifts or constantly go in and out the door to the front of their patio all evening long. Sometimes there are up to 8 cars parked for that one apartment. They seem to change up vehicles sometimes. [Is this magic?]

Even though I have never said anything to them, especially when they play super loud Mexican fiesta music, they constantly harass me by throwing trash in my yard, knocking on my door all times of the night, slamming doors, shocking me with floor thumping when I try to sleep. This happens on a daily basis. [Plus, I can't get any vacuuming done.]

I live alone and do not have family nearby. [My husband always claims I'm seeing things! Bah!] I have never done anything to them. I have always been against illegal immigration and now I know why. The latest wave of immigrants is trying to take over and claim this country as their territory. They are ignorant, rude, and jealous of Americans who are legal. They are not interested in assimilation like the older wave of immigrants who just wanted to work hard and try to make it.

I just wanted to know if you or someone associated with your organization could share some advice for me. [I am desperately in need of someone to pay attention to me]

Even though they stare at me and act as though they dare me to come out when they do something, I do not know if the police would be able to stop them from terrorizing me unless they physically assault me, which I would like to prevent because I am afraid of that.

If someone can help me, refer me or give me advice, I would be forever grateful, At the end of my rope! [I can't watch them as much as I would like, what with my blackouts.]

My lease will be up in the near future and I am moving, but don't know what to do until then as they are causing me unwarranted aggravation and discomfort every single day. It's bad enough that I can't be with my family at Christmas but instead with this.

XX [Mrs Kravitz],
Glendale, Arizona
-------------------

You know, if Mike Huckabee wants to permanently link the Republican Party to this freak show, I'm all for it.

So Much For Goodwill Towards All...

The Story of Erla Ósk Arnardóttir Lilliendahl, an Icelandic Woman who figured she could come to this country for a visit during the holiday season and enjoy the best of what America has to offer:

* * *

During the last twenty-four hours I have probably experienced the greatest humiliation to which I have ever been subjected. During these last twenty-four hours I have been handcuffed and chained, denied the chance to sleep, been without food and drink and been confined to a place without anyone knowing my whereabouts, imprisoned. Now I am beginning to try to understand all this, rest and review the events which began as innocently as possible.

Last Sunday I and a few other girls began our trip to New York. We were going to shop and enjoy the Christmas spirit. We made ourselves comfortable on first class, drank white wine and looked forward to go shopping, eat good food and enjoy life. When we landed at JFK airport the traditional clearance process began.

We were screened and went on to passport control. As I waited for them to finish examining my passport I heard an official say that there was something which needed to be looked at more closely and I was directed to the work station of Homeland Security. There I was told that according to their records I had overstayed my visa by 3 weeks in 1995. For this reason I would not be admitted to the country and would be sent home on the next flight. I looked at the official in disbelief and told him that I had in fact visited New York after the trip in 1995 without encountering any difficulties. A detailed interrogation session ensued.

[...]

I was exhausted, tired and hungry. I didn't understand the officials' conduct, for they were treating me like a very dangerous criminal. Soon thereafter I was removed from the cubicle and two armed guards placed me up against a wall. A chain was fastened around my waist and I was handcuffed to the chain. Then my legs were placed in chains. I asked for permission to make a telephone call but they refused. So secured, I was taken from the airport terminal in full sight of everybody. I have seldom felt so bad, so humiliated and all because I had taken a longer vacation than allowed under the law.

They would not tell me where they were taking me. The trip took close to one hour and although I couldn't see clearly outside the vehicle I knew that we had crossed over into New Jersey. We ended up in front of a jail. I could hardly believe that this was happening. Was I really about to be jailed? I was led inside in the chains and there yet another interrogation session ensued. I was fingerprinted once again and photographed. I was made to undergo a medical examination, I was searched and then I was placed in a jail cell. I was asked absurd questions such as: When did you have your last period? What do you believe in? Have you ever tried to commit suicide?

I was completely exhausted, tired and cold. Fourteen hours after I had landed I had something to eat and drink for the first time. I was given porridge and bread. But it did not help much. I was afraid and the attitude of all who handled me was abysmal to say the least. They did not speak to me as much as snap at me. Once again I asked to make a telephone call and this time the answer was positive. I was relieved but the relief was short-lived. For the telephone was setup for collect calls only and it was not possible to make overseas calls. The jailguard held my cell phone in his hand. I explained to him that I could not make a call from the jail telephone and asked to be allowed to make one call from my own phone. That was out of the question. I spent the next 9 hours in a small, dirty cell. The only thing in there was a narrow steel board which extended out from the wall, a sink and toilet. I wish I never experience again in my life the feeling of confinement and helplessness which I experienced there.

I was hugely relieved when, at last, I was told that I was to be taken to the airport, that is to say until I was again handcuffed and chained.Then I could take no more and broke down and cried. I begged them at least to leave out the leg chains but my request was ignored. When we arrived at the airport, another jail guard took pity on me and removed the leg chains. Even so I was led through a full airport terminal handcuffed and escorted by armed men. I felt terrible. On seeing this, people must think that there goes a very dangerous criminal...

* * *

This is a person--and no, it doesn't matter what color she is or how much she weighs or whether she's young or old--who came to this country, presented their passport at the airport, and was caught in the so-called "Homeland Security" dragnet that is supposed to stop people from coming to this country who should not be coming to this country. Her crime was that she committed a minor offense twelve years ago that amounted to what, exactly? She overstayed her visa, but left the country. Did she commit any felonies here? More importantly, did she shoot and kill anyone with a firearm? Use explosives? Take partial flight lessons? Try to attend a Republican political rally wearing an Obama t-shirt?

It doesn't matter what she looks like--and I post her picture here for a reason. If YOU don't look as good as she does, just wait til you see what they do to you when they think YOU'RE a threat. And that's what is so startling about putting a face with the crime. If you hear that some Eurotrash was accosted at the airport and chucked out of the country, you can tut-tut and go about your business. But when you see what that person looks like and read what was done to them, it's a whole different ball of wax. And nothing strikes me as sensationalized about this, which is why I tend to buy what she is saying. Nothing about it strikes me as being out of line for spending time in a big city lockup or jail, does it?

Anyway, I think the American people need to read about this type of story this Christmas. YOUR government is waging an all out battle of ridiculous proportions with tens of thousands of incompetent, misguided bureaucrats to keep people with Irish surnames from getting through airports, making sure no one takes the wrong kind of fluid on a plane, and jailing people for nothing.

There is, and there was in this case, NOTHING that would have prevented this government from seizing that person and putting that person in Guantanamo. Nothing. No Habeus Corpus, no right to a lawyer, nothing in the way of accountability. They could have rammed things into this person and taken lurid videos of it and no one would have ever found out about it.

As the political season ramps up, I try to be optimistic. Then I read stories like this and all I'm trying to do now is check my E-mail once in a while and just avoid the news. I mean, what the fuck?

What the fuck is this country coming to?