Thursday, April 20, 2006

And the roundup begins!

U.S. nabs illegal immigrants after nationwide raid on firm


Immigration authorities arrested Chicago employees of a manufacturer of crates and pallets as part of a nationwide crackdown on the hiring of illegal immigrants, officials said Wednesday.

Authorities raided facilities of IFCO Systems in at least nine states in the culmination of a yearlong criminal investigation, law enforcement officials said....

One official, speaking on condition of anonymity because numbers were still being tallied, said the arrests at IFCO Systems were in the hundreds nationwide. Authorities in Buffalo said seven managers conspired to bring illegal immigrants into the country....

In response to the arrests, the Chicago Workers' Collaborative and other labor advocates scheduled a rally Wednesday night at a Department of Homeland Security detention facility in Broadview.

Labor organizers in Chicago accused federal authorities of timing the raids to intimidate immigrants who have recently joined massive marches in Chicago and other U.S. cities to support illegal immigrants.


I just happened to catch Barack Obama on Fox News denouncing the raid as an election year stunt. Fox reported the number arrested as "nearly 1200" and the raid extending to 21 states (the Chicago Tribune article above says at least nine).

A year long investigation to catch one company and 1100+ illegals also nets accusations of intimidation and stunts and the lawsuits should begin being filed by Monday at the latest. It would be interesting to discover, although I doubt I'll find it, how many of the 1100+ are already back on the streets.

Only 11,998,800+ to go. A cakewalk.


18 comments:

Doug said...

Never agreed w/anything Barack Obama said before, but now I can't say it anymore.
---
Jane Fonda was talking to Baa Baa Waa Waa about '08 possibilities, and totally botched his name.
Baa baa went on as if she did not notice the profundities had been interupted.

Doug said...

It's another long war!
...think we're paying for some past cheatin and procrastination on several fronts!
And we ain't done yet: Look at Oil and the GM-Sized future obligations of the gummint.

Rick Ballard said...

Now Knuck - those were potential Dem voters that got picked up. They had probably already been assigned the place of a recently deceased and given instructions on how to vote and directions to a precinct. You can't expect the Dems to give up without a fight. Next thing you know people in prisons and asylums will be disallowed the vote as well as the illegals and the dead. For the sake of the two party system this nonsense has to be stopped or there won't be a Dem legislator left in office in the entire country.

Doug said...

Rick, my man, the Dems just want a more OPEN voting system.
Doesn't make them wrong and GOP right, does it?
(I learn fast Syl)

Doug said...

Here's one for you Rick that I posted in the "Sweeping Up" thread.
Another one estimates Real ID would cost $12 billion/year!
(still be worth it imo)
---
""New Hampshire House Passes Anti-REAL ID Bill. The New Hampshire House of Representatives has just passed HB 1582, an act "prohibiting New Hampshire from participating in a national identification card system." If the measure passes the state Senate, New Hampshire will be the first state to reject the REAL ID Act, which sets federal standards for state driver's licenses, essentially making them national ID cards. According to a recent survey (pdf) of state motor vehicle administrators, the costs of implementation have been vastly underestimated by the federal government, which initially put the total price at $100 million. Pennsylvania alone would spend $85 million on REAL ID, the survey found. (Apr. 17) " "

Unknown said...

According to Michelle Malkin all this stuff from Bush is just a "political show". Bush's approval rating is down to 37.1 RCP average,with Fox showing him at a whopping 33%.

Maybe Michelle would be happier with the immigration policy of President Hillary Clinton. We might not have to wait that long. If the Democrats can impeach Bush and Cheney we might get a Demcorat in the WH by default before 2008.

BTW, they had a raid like this in Indianapolis today too.

Unknown said...

In a followup to my last post, it seems to me that if the Bushies go after the undocumented workers, it is a stunt...and if they don't they are aiding an invasion of the homeland by a hostile force of Mexican reconquistadars masquerading as roofers and nannies.

No wonder Bush's numbers are low. There is just no pleasing people.

flenser said...

You are still living in hope, Knuck. You might be better of learning to live without the supply of illegals.

Doug said...

There just aren't that many pleasing people.
(Maybe we could import folk to be pleasing in a way Americans just aren't willing to be anymore?)

Unknown said...

doug:

Maybe. But people do seem a tad contrary here of late.

The right says Bush is too far left and the left says he is Hitler and the middle just wants cheap gas and for everybody on the left and right to shut the hell up and stop bitching morning noon and night.

My problem is I am still stuck on the Islamists as the threat we have to deal with.

The people obsessing over illegal aliens have moved on, now it is the invasion of Mexicans they are concerned will bring an end to America. Right now, this minute.

I wonder who they will fixate on next?

Unknown said...

Let's see there are 365 days in a year. If we transport 30,136.99 people day we can be rid of the invaders in one year. That is all. Just find them,beat down their doors, and haul them off post haste. Rights? They have no rights, they are aliens. Why you could knock one in the head and steal his wallet if you like.

Anonymous said...

"I got. Enforce the immigration laws only on non-election years!"

That's what they're accused of, if you substitute "Don't Enforce" for "Enforce."


"Bush's approval rating is down to 37.1 RCP average,with Fox showing him at a whopping 33%."

After he was elected the second time, why would he care about his "approval rating"? Who's going to impeach him?

Unknown said...

jrh:

Well according to the Democrats they are going to impeach Bush when they win the midterms.

The problem with the low approval rating is that it weakens Bush and emboldens his enemies...and ours.

Doug said...

Wretchard linked this conservative bloggerLatino Issues, reacting to the arrest of IFCO Systems managers for employing illegal aliens.

Doug said...

As to whether it is an election year stunt or not, that will depend on what happens in the years ahead.
Enforcement in the Clinton/Bush years is way down from previous years, matched by an equal and opposite increase in the rush across the border in response.

Doug said...

The United States' inability to slow illegal immigration from Mexico is fueling a financial crisis in the 24 counties along the 1,951-mile Southwest border, according to a new study.
It says the counties are struggling to fund law enforcement, health programs and other necessities because they are spending millions of dollars a year to care for illegal immigrants.

In California, San Diego County spends $50 million a year to arrest, jail, prosecute and defend illegal immigrants, and is reimbursed about $2 million, says county Supervisor Greg Cox, president of the border counties coalition. The $48 million shortfall cuts into the $600 million a year the county has for discretionary spending, he says. "That's money that would support libraries, parks and public safety."

Dennis Soden, executive director of the Institute for Policy and Economic Development at UTEP, says the border situation "creates a burden on the court system, the jail system and the prison system.

"The fact that the border can't be controlled creates a law enforcement problem that falls on the local jurisdictions," he says. "There's no other place in the country in this situation."

Syl said...

Bush probably knows something we don't know.

More.Illegal.Immigrants.Than.Ever! yet unemployment is around 4.7.

I'd say whatever Bush wants, Bush should get.

I'm going to miss him when his term is over.

Anonymous said...

"Well according to the Democrats they are going to impeach Bush when they win the midterms."

Then Cheney becomes president. Why would they want that?