ICE Arrests About 2,000 Illegal Immigrants

[hogwyld]

By ANDREW RYAN
Associated Press Writer


BOSTON


A swarm of federal immigration agents sped silently, headlights off, down a Boston side street early Wednesday and surrounded an apartment house.

"Police! Policia! Police!" yelled Daniel Monico, a deportation officer, holding his badge to a window where someone had pulled back the curtain. "Open the door!"

Moments later, agents led a dazed-looking Jose Ferreira Da Silva, 35, out in handcuffs. The Brazilian had been arrested in 2002 and deported, but had slipped back into the country. He now faces up to 20 years in prison.

In a blitz that began May 26, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested nearly 2,100 illegal immigrants across the country. Officials said the raids are aimed at child molesters, gang members and other violent criminals, as well as people like Da Silva who sneaked back into the country after a judge threw them out.

The crackdown is called Operation Return to Sender

By ANDREW RYAN
Associated Press Writer


BOSTON


A swarm of federal immigration agents sped silently, headlights off, down a Boston side street early Wednesday and surrounded an apartment house.

"Police! Policia! Police!" yelled Daniel Monico, a deportation officer, holding his badge to a window where someone had pulled back the curtain. "Open the door!"

Moments later, agents led a dazed-looking Jose Ferreira Da Silva, 35, out in handcuffs. The Brazilian had been arrested in 2002 and deported, but had slipped back into the country. He now faces up to 20 years in prison.

The rest of the story:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/06/14/D8I84S980.html

[closeupready]

1. I can't believe this has happened to my country, America.

:(

EDIT: Sorry, missed the part that these are violent felons. Oops.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bacchus39]

4. yeah, and with the National Guard on the border now

there is less illegal immigration. duh!! there is no need for a stupid wall if we properly enforce our laws and patrol our border and actually regulate immigration.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. Hey good luck with that plan

:rofl:

[Laughing Mirror]

3. They've hired all these homeland security people to arrest people

So they've got to go out there and make arrests. That's what has happened to our country. It's a militarized, police state, with a booming prison industry.

[hogwyld]

5. That's about the only growth industry we have n/t

[struggle4progress]

10. A perpetual boondoggle. If some millions undocumented, then

arresting 1000/month would allow Rs to scream about illegal aliens for next fifty years ...

[uppityperson]

6. "Operation Return to Sender"????

why do they even have to name these things?

[hogwyld]

8. But what if the "Address Unknown"?

Elvis has left the building.....

[Julius Civitatus]

53. Then it's a life of free slave work at a privatized penal institution

Ain't it grand?
:sarcasm:





--------------------

[lumberjack_jeff]

24. You don't have to name basic police work...

...but you do have to give names to marketing campaigns.

[coalition_unwilling]

54. It's the smugness of the title that really sets me off.

As if those workers were "sent" by anyone or are somehow defective merchandise to be "returned"

[bleedingheart]

68. makes me think of the Elvis tune...

and I have to agree naming these things is really childish.

[hogwyld]

70. Me too

See post #8

[endarkenment]

7. Please don't edit the actual headlines. nt.

[hogwyld]

9. Sorry, was trying to get the gist of the headline with some brevity.

Here's the actual headline:

ICE Arrests About 2,000 Illegal Immigrants

[endarkenment]

12. Right and 'illegals' is rightwing hate speech.

I have no idea what your position is here but that term sets my smoke detector off. In LBN it is highly suspect as it is not used by standard news sources.

[Daphne08]

15. "Illegals" is not rightwing hate speech. I'm a Democrat and

I have been a Democrat all my life, but even I recognize the fact that there are people in this country illegally.

That is the term which was used years ago (when the INS actually enforced the law by also arresting the employers), and that is the term which should still be used today.

[RebelOne]

39. How is the term "illegal immigrant" right-wing hate speech?

They are not here legally, so how else would you describe them?

[ProudDad]

83. How about "the people whose country this was

until it was stolen in a pre-emptive war caused by the U.S. in the mid-1800's"... That would cover the large percentage of these demonized folk who happen to be from Mexico. Remember Mexico? That country whose indigenous economy was DEVASTATED BY NAFTA!!?!??!?

Or you could try the "undocumented". That's descriptive and un-inflamatory...

We're all citizens of Earth although the current crowd would have you believe differently.

[w4rma]

92. Neither is accurate. (nt)

[endarkenment]

42. Fine then please refer to illegal immigrants, not 'illegals'.

The term 'illegals' is used as a trigger word by the coordinated rightwing hate campaign against hispanic immigrants. I have no problem with the term 'illegal immigrant'. I have a big problem with the term 'illegals'. Editing a headline to replace 'illegal immigrant' with 'illegals' is furthering the cause of anti-hispanic xenophobia and, in LBN, it is against the rules.

The fact that people here on DU naively participate in the hate fest does not make them bad people or willing agents of the right, it makes them naive.

[951-Riverside]

77. Dear endarkenment:

I always refer to "THEM" as "illegals", "illegal aliens", "illegal immigrants", "migrant worker" just doesn't cut it for me. I HATE those who support the continued exploitation of some (not all) immigrants who come here to work for low wages. The freeps like to call people who stand against Bush and the war "un american" and now the illegal exploitation "activists" are calling those who are against illegals "racists".

You can't seriously believe all hispanics are "illegals" ** :mad:

You own words: **Editing a headline to replace 'illegal immigrant' with 'illegals' is furthering the cause of anti-hispanic xenophobia

[coalition_unwilling]

56. I'm a Socialist and even I recognize the fact that the

U.S. stole Texas and California from Mexico in 1848. In fact, much of our current Southern borders were set at the conclusion of the Mexican War, which most historians view as a sop to slave-holding states who wanted territory to expand slavery.

So the next time you support enforcing the sanctity of the Southern borders, remember that you're supporting borders set to serve the interests of slave holders to expand the reach of their vile insitution.

[trogdor]

60. Texas earned its own independence in 1835.

You know, that whole thing with "remember the Alamo" and all? They then annexed themselves with the US on their own initiative.

As for the rest of it, why not set Germany back to its pre-1918 borders while we're at it? Think Poland and France would go along with that? By the time you get finished resolving all the conflicting land claims that have ever existed, who knows what the map would look like. Maybe we'd all be speaking Cherokee by then.

[coalition_unwilling]

61. If we all were speaking Cherokee, I'm sure the

world would be a much better place :) (I'll respond more seriously later this afternoon. I think you raise a really valuable point, especially as is might apply the Israeli-Palestinian irredentist struggle over whose claims to the land have more historical merit.)

[knight_of_the_star]

82. Just to point something out

Most land that is occupied by humans has been stolen so many times at one point or another by so many groups that griping about us stealing land from Mexico, who stole said land from Spain by rebelling against the Spanish, who stole that land from the native tribes c/o the Conquistadores, and some of said native tribes ie the Navajo and I think the Apache as two of the bigger examples stole the lands they lived on from other tribes, and so on and so forth, so quite frankly if someone wants to make the whole argument of "we stole their land" guess what, they were never the original owners to begin with! Furthermore, we own the land by the oldest right of controlling property in human history that has been established since you had organized societies and upheld ever since: by right of conquest.

[ProudDad]

84. The relevance is that

the U.S. is still stealing land and resources by proxy.

I don't see a great deal of difference between the way we stole Mexico and the way we're now ripping off the Middle East with that 'preemptive' way; and neither does most of the rest of the world's people.

[w4rma]

91. No it's not. And defending illegal acts is a non-starter. (nt)

[HuffleClaw]

11. exactly as predicted by many

[DrDan]

13. only 11,998,000 left

[JesterCS]

26. actually....

here in Southwest Ohio, specifically Butler County.. our sheriff is on a role, rounding up illegals, and handing out fines to businesses

[ny_liberal]

35. Employers who hire them should be punished

and prosecuted for tax evasion

[apple_ridge]

14. One small step....

[laureloak]

16. Well, if they're here illegally shouldn't they expect to be arrested?

[DrDan]

19. but isn't it more expedient to go after the employers

if the jobs dry up, then the illegals will soon follow

right?

[DerBeppo]

20. not when those arrested

are suspected child molesters and violent felons, no.

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. And we all know the vast majority of undocumented immigrants

are dangerous criminals!!

:sarcasm:

[Critters2]

48. No one said "the vast majority"...but if some are,

shouldn't they be deported?

[DrDan]

52. no

they should be arrested and tried - not deported

[Critters2]

74. Arrested, tried, and if convicted deported

If they've already been convicted, they should be deported. They would be in any other country.

[DrDan]

85. after a conviction, an appropriate punishment should be

administered - like a prison sentence

after that, of course, deportation

[primavera]

86. "In any other country" they would have due process

My main concern with these sorts of raids is not that it's never appropriate to deport anyone - deportation is, as you say, an accepted practice in certain circumstances in virtually all countries.

However, in most countries, and in this one as well before 1996, deportation is acknowledged as different from simply deciding not to admit a person at the border. Once the alien is in the country, whether they entered illegally or not, they may have set down roots, raised a family, own property, whatever, so deporting them involves uprooting them from their lives, possibly separating them from their families and their livelihood. As such, it's no longer just a matter of denying someone a benefit they never had, you're now stripping them of life, liberty, and/or property. That doesn't mean you can't still deport them, but it does make it a form of punishment for which a person is entitled to due process of law and the opportunity to explain their side of the story in court. Even if they are here illegally, there may be extenuating or mitigating considerations: perhaps they're a legitimate victim of political persecution and would face mortal danger if they were forced to return to their country of origin - the US and most countries are signatories to a variety of international human rights treaties which expressly bar us from doing that. Maybe they have a US citizen spouse and it would pose an undue hardship on the US citizen for his or her family to be split. Maybe they're engaged in working on the cure to cancer and it's therefore in the national interest that this person continue doing that work. Who knows? The point is, there are a variety of circumstances which can justify allowing someone to remain even though they may not presently be here legally.

Ultimately, though, the main point is that the alien, lawfully present or not, is undeniably physically present on the soil of that country, which means that the laws and constitution of that country apply. Our constitution stipulates that no "person" - please note, it does not say no "citizen" - may be denied life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Whether one likes it or not, an alien qualifies as a person. If one doesn't like it and can convince enough legislators to re-write the constitution, so be it, but, until then, aliens are entitled to due process even as are citizens.

In 1996, though, we changed 200 years of our own legal prescendent and what is a universally accepted legal norm by granting the then INS power to deport people without first giving them a day in court. The INS at the time argued that they weren't challenging the constitution, that this wasn't deportation, no, no, no, of course, everyone agreed that deportation warranted a day in court, no, they would never "deport" anyone, what they were asking for was authority to "remove" illegal aliens, or people they thought were illegal aliens, see, so that was of course entirely different. Okay, so they were still arresting people and putting them on busses or planes and sending them out of the country, but as long as we called it "removal" instead of "deportation," then everything was just fine. Besides, it was only going to be used in the rarest and most extraordinary of circumstances, when national security itself was at stake. Since the public was all up in arms at the time over the perceived costs of illegal immigration, Congress actually fell for this spurious rationale. And, predictably, within months of the '96 Act's passage, summary removal had become the INS' favored method of getting rid of aliens and it accounted for nearly three quarters of deportations. So much for "only in the rarest of circumstances."

Initially, there was tremendous secrecy surrounding summary removal - nobody was allowed to observe summary removal proceedings, no figures were published on the number of people summarily removed, the UN offices charged with monitoring our compliance with our international human rights treaty obligations were denied access to any information on the procedure, as were our own Congressional oversight committees. Nowadays, though, it's become routine and an accepted part of our new legal landscape so ICE does it routinely and out in broad daylight.

The people being rounded up in these raids are, one and all, being deported without due process under this mechanism. They are being given no opportunity to explain their particular circumstances or petition for descretionary forms of relief. In many instances, the people being deported aren't even illegal aliens, but are legal immigrants, and, in some instances, even US citizens. But, at the time of their arrest, they weren't carrying identity documents ICE accepted as convincing, so ICE handcuffed them and chucked them on the bus anyone along with everyone else. And it is this sort of indifference to basic human rights and legal protections that separates our behavior from that which prevails "in other countries."

[proud2BlibKansan]

73. Of course

But are all of those rounded up really dangerous criminals?

A woman here in my city was just sent back to Mexico. The story was all over the news last weekend. I saw it on CNN and MSNBC. She had committed no crime. She was married to an American citizen and has a baby who was born here. Her 'crime'? She was accused of lying about her country of origin when she crossed the border 8 years ago on returning from a visit to Mexico. (She has lived in the US since she was a child.) She claimed it wasn't her but someone with the same name. She hadn't even been to Mexico that year. But because of this mistaken identity, when she applied for citizenship, she was deported.

So they are not just rounding up and deporting dangerous criminals.

[Critters2]

88. Could you post a link?

Sorry, but I'm skeptical.

[DrDan]

49. well - cerainly arrest them for that

my gosh

[pitohui]

66. right, no one is hiring these guys to molest children

they're doing that on their own time and they should be arrested, it is only right to take violent felons off the street so decent people can live their lives w.out fear

[lynne]

21. NO -

- It's not an "Either - Or" situation. We must go after both the illegal immigrant AND the employer's at the same time.

[DrDan]

22. but going after employers offers something more permanant

going after the immigrants just opens the door to other immigrants

it is no different than the ineffective war on drugs

[lynne]

41. Getting employers does offer something permanent -

- which is why we should go after BOTH. Eliminating employers only leaves us with nothing but unemployed illegal immigrants. We must work both sides of this problem.

Please explain how dealing with/returning illegal immigrants opens the door to other immigrants. Is there is an illegal immigrant quota that must be replenished whenever one is returned home?

[DrDan]

65. simple supply and demand

deport some workers and other will follow taking their vacated jobs

if the jobs are not available to them, why would they cross the borders?

No - obviously there is no quota. Why the attitude?

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. Or they could have just stayed in their home country and starved

After all, they are only human beings.

:sarcasm:

[Doremus]

34. A bit melodramatic I think.

proud2Blib, I love your posts and we normally agree on most issues, but this post is a bit glib.

The lower economic classes of Americans are struggling. Between fewer jobs, lower wages and cutbacks in most social programs, their days are far from a picnic. These are the people who directly compete the most with immigrants: unskilled, blue-collar, minority workers.

Your good heart is appreciated, but perhaps you could reserve a bit of your empathy for them? If they were able, I'm sure they'd echo your largesse, but they've got to get a decent paycheck first.

[Critters2]

50. The point I've tried to make time and again

Thank you

[proud2BlibKansan]

71. My empathy is definitely with the American workers

My point is that the immigrant is not the bad guy here, the employer who refuses to pay a living wage is. Yet some of us continue to demonize the workers.

[Critters2]

89. I've never seen you demonstrate any concern for American workers

I have, however, seen you accuse those of us who do of being racist, xenophobes, etc. Do you want to eat that cake, or save it for later? You can't do both?

[DeaconBlues]

17. good-bye and good riddance

"The operation has caught more than 140 immigrants with convictions for sexual offenses against children; 367 known gang members, including street soldiers in the deadly Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13; and about 640 people who had already been deported once, immigration officials said

Another man caught in the recent blitz was a Salvadoran gang member who was convicted in a stabbing that left a 13-year-old boy paralyzed. Agents caught him working at Budget Rental Car at Boston's Logan Airport..."

I'm sorry to see that some here think that its okay to have these people roaming our streets. Perhaps something can be arranged so that, instead of deporting these illegal immigrants, they can be given nice homes in the neighborhoods of these DU members?

[Booster]

23. Your post reminds me of a question I've had for a long time. Do

they have the same type of crimes in Mexico that we have here caused by Latino gangs? In Mexico, do you get shot for wearing a certain color that "belongs" to another gang; is there graffiti all over those old buildings marking the gang's "territory". Some people have told me they do, but I've been to Mexico many, many times and I don't recall seeing the problems we have here. Anybody know?

[noshenanigans]

30. That's interesting..

I wish I knew the answer. Kind of on a different angle, I guess, but is gang activity an American thing? Of course organized crime has existed in all different countries, but are there Crips and Bloods and that sort of thing in the UK or Europe? My knee-jerk tells me that gang violence would be greater here because of the greater availability of fire-arms, but I honestly don't know about these things. Can anyone help my sheltered American soul out?

[Booster]

33. My knee-jerk tells me that other countries would not put up with

their shit the way we do - going to jail is a honorable thing for gang members, and they learn so much more from each other while in jail. It's kind of like school; a place to hang out with each other til you become a real badass. I also have a feeling parents in other countries have a lot more to say about what their kids are really doing.

[RebelOne]

40. Because in Mexico, they probably couldn't get away with

the shit they do here.

[hogwyld]

45. Yes they do have grafitti

I have been to Mexico City many times, and the grafittie is everywhere. They try to keep the touristy areas clean, but go out to the barrios, and it's everywhere.

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. I have already welcomed many undocumented immigrants

And I have yet to be a crime victim or catch a disease from any of them.

Wow maybe it's a miracle!!

[DeaconBlues]

36. I'm not talking about the average illegal immigrant

I'm talking about the one's that are being rounded up in the OP's article - the one's that have been arrested for child molestation and gang activity. But nice try at redirection.

[endarkenment]

43. Ah so now the undocumented are gang bangers and child rapers.

Good then the conversation has gone straight into the crapper. Congratulations.

[Posteritatis]

47. Uhh, the grandparent specifically says otherwise. (n/t)

[DeaconBlues]

78. I was talking about the people who were rounded up in the article

presented by the OP. You know, the child molesters, gang members, and people convicted of previous felonies? That is why I brought up child molesters, etc.

Good God! What has happened to reading comprehension at DU?! Maybe we really do need English as an official language!

[proud2BlibKansan]

72. All 2000 are gang members or child molesters?

Somehow I doubt that.

[Critters2]

75. 2000 gang members, of any nationality, is not hard to imagine

Visit any large city--Chicago, LA, wherever.

[proud2BlibKansan]

76. See this post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2338339&mesg_id=2340594

[Critters2]

87. Not relevant

She was not one of those arrested in the group discussed in this thread.

Keep trying to change the subject, though. I find it amusing.

[DeaconBlues]

80. Yes. The vast majority are gang members, child molesters, and people

who have been deported previously by a court (meaning that they were involved in some crime in order to get the court's attention).

Prove otherwise. If not , just go on like you have, defending child molesters and gang members who stab children with your own particular brand of dissembling. I guess, to you, your open borders agenda is more important than the psychological and physical well-being of children. No surprise there.

[proud2BlibKansan]

81. Nice sense of justice you have there

Who cares if a few non criminals are caught up in these raids. You must have attended the Edwin Meese school of law.

[Critters2]

90. Being here without documentation is a crime

If they are all undocumented, they have all broken the law.

[Doctor Venmkan]

94. Exactly.

I would have a hard time believing that all 2,000 were "hardcore" criminals. But like it or not, they have all broken our immigration laws.

Still, if there were people there who had ONLY broken the law by coming here, I'd be offering them some deals in exchange for employer info, document forgers, ect....

[cantstandbush]

18. They (Bushbots) are pulling out all the stops to get those poll #s

up before the election. I think they are going to pull it off folks!

[noshenanigans]

28. Crafty!

The ABC news angle on this focused on security and how these undocumented workers had such access to sensitive targets. It was then I realized that this is what's going to happen- undocumented workers are a national security issue! Don't you care there are terrorists out there? Well, maybe not terrorists, maybe it's just a man from El Salvador trying to make enough money to send his family, but he could very easily be a terrorist and boy wouldnt you feel sorry then!

Naturally, the best option is to allow the government to simply detain these folks and eventually maybe get around to returning them to their families. As for the sub-sub-sub contractors hiring them and in some cases forging their documents.. well.. that's just the free market.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go bang my head on my desk until 2008.

[Porcupine]

32. Not one employer arrested? Not even one?

That tells you how serious they are about solving the problem. This excercise was just a headline grab. They could do the same thing every day for years with exactly zero results as long as the people who employ illegals get a free ride.

Another day in the War on The Poor.

[w4rma]

93. 2000 potental leads to employers of illegals. And none appear to have been

followed.

[fasttense]

37. The bushes are finally doing something about this?

I wonder why they waited six years to do anything about these felons and criminals? Could it be they are simply making it look like they are doing something? You and I know these felons are coming back in the next three days. These felons have no qualms about killing innocents what's to stop them from crossing back?

It is all show. Just so the bushes can pretend they are tough on security. They don't know how to do anything but spin, spin, spin.

[raccoon]

44. Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner.

"Could it be they are simply making it look like they are doing something? "

[4dsc]

38. What about European illegal's??

It's my understanding that there may be millions of illegals from Europe living here. So when do we start rounding them up??

[hogwyld]

46. Right after they leave the tanning booth

While their skin is dark brown. This is just another extension on bushco's war on brown people.

[LifeDuringWartime]

51. more to come?

there are many immigrants on my street and in my apartment building. I have no idea of their visa/citizenship status. are the feds gonna be crawling around my neighborhood? :scared:

[Julius Civitatus]

55. It's likely. FYI, we've been living in a police-state for a while now

so you shouldn't be surprised about police doing massive roundings and mass arrests.

I wonder if these actions will continue after the '06 elections. Am I too cynical?



--------------------------

[yojon]

57. JC - I think you are right[

There will be no need for it after the elections!

[hogwyld]

58. They'll stop after November

This is all a big show for their xenophobic base to actually show up in November. After the elections, it will all go back to normal for his big business buddies. Screwing the American working poor once again!

[yojon]

63. Those (wetbacks, Jews, Hollywood Liberals) are taking all our jobs and bre

so it makes perfect sense to deport them and send them to

http://www.alternet.org/rights/32647

These are the concentration camps Cheney had Halliburton build for 'immigration emergencies'. I wonder what they will do with them when they determine it is to expensive to 'return them to sender'...

[hogwyld]

69. This is another step to the purification

of the master race repukes :sarcasm:

[nellre]

59. Once caught we can do anything to them

"A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled yesterday that the government has wide latitude under immigration law to detain noncitizens on the basis of religion, race or national origin, and to hold them indefinitely without explanation"

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/15/nyregion/15detain.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

We are looking more like a primitive culture every day.

[Julius Civitatus]

64. We are way past the "slippery slope." We plunged into police state mode

Just think about all the shit that has come down since November 2000.
Tell me you wouldn't have laughed if someone had read to you five years ago that very article you posted.

Every day we are closer and closer to a "soft dictatorship." By that I mean you don't see the tanks in the streets or the ugly business of those taken away, while the general public obsesses about Brangelina, American Idol, and the Hilton Ho. Depressing.



-----------------------------

[yojon]

67. I wonder if this extends to incineration

or vaporization or like that...

[Sgent]

62. This is a media stunt

2,000 illegals / day X 365 days a year = 730,000 illegals a year.

It would take 27 years to deport all illegals at that rate -- assuming another never entered the country. We also aren't averaging 2,000 / yr.

Get a real policy and stop with the media stunts.

[wizdum]

79. It's just a show for the midterm elections. It will be back to business...

...as usual after November.

I can't believe that Brazilian snuck back in here without detection. I hope he wasn't a criminal of some sort. We can't even keep track of our own citizens, let alone those of other countries. This is scary. Particularly since our wages are being driven down now to third world levels. Thanks to dubya and our corporate government.