A 'Crackdown that Wasn't (last weeks immigration arrests)

[maxrandb]

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/67461.htm

Very interesting. Check out the last paragraph that I bolded, and feel free to cut and paste to any wing-nuts that try to tell you Bush did a better job enforcing our immigration laws than Clinton did.

April 25, 2006 -- It happened last Wednesday, and it was nicely timed. One week later - about now, in fact - the U.S. Senate was scheduled to reconvene to discuss an immigration bill. The bill proposes to amnesty most of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. and to admit millions more legally as guest-workers. The controversial measure is strongly promoted by the White House and both party leaderships in the Senate - but opposed by most Republican congressmen and a large majority of voters. Something was needed to break the log-jam of opposition.

And last Wednesday federal agents "swooped" on plants in 26 states belonging to IFCO, a U.S. subsidiary of a Dutch firm supplying wood pallets and plastic containers to industry, and arrested 1,187 illegal immigrant workers. Seven former and current IFCO managers were also charged with employing illegal aliens. The next day, Homeland Security czar Michael Chertoff held a press conference to stress that such tough enforcement of immigration law, internally as well as at the border, would now be the rule.

(snip)

I recently suggested - wrongly - that there had been little or no enforcement of employer sanctions since the passage of the 1986 amnesty law; that, once an illegal reached a major city such as Los Angeles, Phoenix or Chicago, he was safe from official interest and could work unmolested. That was not quite accurate. The Clinton administration in fact managed some (albeit patchy) "internal" enforcement of employer sanctions. For instance, the period 1995-1997 saw 10,000 to 18,000 worksite arrests of illegals a year. Some 1,000 employers were served notices of fines for employing them.

Under the Bush administration, however, worksite arrests fell to 159 in 2004 - with the princely total of three notices of intent to fine served on employers. Thus, worksite arrests under President Bush have fallen from Clintonian levels by something like 97 per cent - even though 9/11 occurred in the meantime.

Sing it loud!!!

enforcement of immigration laws under pResident Bush has fallen by 97% from the level under President Clinton - even though 9/11 occurred in the meantime

Don't tell the "minutemen"...their heads would explode!!

[maxrandb]

1. Self-serving kick, cause this is HUGH!!!

[Sparkman]

2. U.S. immigration policy doesn't need to be NAZI-ized!! NO terrorists work

for car-washes, gardeners or road crews. Only those of you in the American Nazi party are worried about the 11 million Mexican nationals working the fields and the resaurants! Why has the problem come to the fore front?! Not because of the "war on terrer", but the economic devastation and the draconian attack on education, services and LOCAL law inforcement. Wake up DU anti-undocumented, a Mexican crossing the border for work is only a threat in the minds of the American Nazi. imo

[maxrandb]

5. I agree, but we also have laws that need to be followed

Bushco and his corporate cronies don't give a rats-ass about "freedom, or liberty". They don't give a rats-ass about people coming here seaking the American Dream.

- They care about being able to exploit cheap labor
- They care about being able to avoid health care costs
- They care that they know there is no chance that any labor laws are going to be enforced
- They care that they can pay an immigrant $4 an hour with no benefits
- They care taht they can avoid paying unemployment compensation and worker comp

Read the article. In the entire time Bush has been in office there have been a total of 4 charges, or fines brought against employers that hire illegal immigrants.

Just so you know, I am in favor of expedited citizenship for those immigrants that are here illegally and have been working. I'm not in favor of people coming through our borders illegally. There needs to be enforcement, or we simply don't need a border. I have no problem calling them illegal, because what they did was illegal. Do I support a draconian measure to round them up and deport them?...NO!, NO!, NO! a thousand times NO!, but I do support strict enforcement and fines for businesses that hire them. The more fines the corporations have to pay for the laws they are breaking, the less they have to bribe Republican politicians.

[Sparkman]

10. Fascism BEGINS with "they hire ILLEGALs!" These are victimLESS crimes!!

why not concentrate on the REAL crimes of corporations or employers...polluting at the public expense and public health, paying non-livable wages to undocumented, denying health care to employees by skirting the full time employement loop hole...THESE ARE CRIMES WITH REAL VICTIMS, not just xenophobic American Nazi sympathies. imo

[maxrandb]

11. Exactly

Punishing illegals that come here looking for work and a better life, is like dangling a steak in front of a dogs mouth, and then beating him when he take a bite.

You can't deny, however, that there are some illegals that come here for nefarious reasons.

You can't be saying that if I want to enforce our immigration laws, and have people "lawfully" come to this country that I am a Nazi? Please tell me your not suggesting that.

If you read my post above, you will see that I too place the blame for the immigration issue squarely at the feet of the employers that are exploiting this source of cheap labor.

[maxrandb]

12. Folks. This is huge.

Please don't let this post die.

THIS IS THE ISSUE THAT THE REPUKES ARE GOING TO COME AFTER THE DEMS ON IN NOVEMBER.

They will use this issue to appeal to the fears, bigotry, and hatred of their base, and will try to drive a wedge between Dems and hispanic voters.

This proves that Clinton had a sensible and compassionate immigration enforcement policy, while Bush did nothing...NOTHING!!!!

Even after the attacks of September 11. BUSH DID NOTHING!

They can't win unless they blame Democrats. If we don't use the facts in front of us to chop them off at the knees, it's going to be another disappointing November.

[Sparkman]

13. MINISCULE, Mexican national criminal types. It's like the welfare myths.

The real costs in wealfare go to single WHITE women who are abandoned by their babies DEAD BEAT DADs.
Mexican crime here is a JOKE, the real criminals are the white collar corporate executives figuring our ways to EVADE TAXES that are due the IRS! Criminalizing the poor (undocumented or pot smokers or petty theives) is the real ethical shorcoming in the U.S., the prison industrial comples is ripping us off just like the war profiteering, multi-national corporations. we are on the same page.

[maxrandb]

14. Yep. Imagine what would happen to you or I

if we were caught buying Oxycontin from the trunk of a car at Denney's.

We'd still be trying to put our lives back together.

[Sparkman]

18. Or telling the media about Brewster Jennings employee's are undercover CIA

That would saddle any Democrat with a TREASON charge and impeachment, Cheney, Rove & Bush just make it legal by proclamation.

[TygrBright]

19. So did Britain during the 18th Century.

As I recall, a comparatively small number of Crown citizens in the Colonies decided they didn't like following some laws...

Also, so did Germany in the 1930s. Unfortunately, almost all Germans were extremely law-abiding types.

blandly,
Bright

[Supersedeas]

3. almost like the post was trying to hide that lil nugget

[underpants]

4. Oh that needs some attention

DING!

[walkon]

6. I think the math

is more like enforcement has fallen by 99.7%. There really is NO enforcement and I'd have to wonder if what little there is isn't some retribution for not making regular payments to the BFEE or something.

[warrens]

8. I think actually the math is

"Enforcement has fallen several thousandfold". Or "dropped to near zero." 99.7 percent is correct, but it just doesn't get at the enormity of the difference. Maybe "Bush has been 0.3 percent as effective in enforcing laws against employment of illegal workers...."

[maxrandb]

9. It's either retribution for the check to bribe Republicans bouncing

or an attempt to prop up Bushies poll numbers by giving the appearance that he's doing something.

In either case, it's pretty damn cynical.

I said when this story first broke that someone needed to look at who IFCO gave political contributions to.

[warrens]

7. If someone has an account at FRetard City

You could start a beautiful flame war over there, and probably personally suppress the GOP vote. They are NOT going to want to hear this, and there are enough Bush-immigration haters there that it will be spread all over the site in a matter of minutes.

Great find.

[leftstreet]

15. k&r

Interesting article.
Thanks for posting.

[helderheid]

16. K & R!

[Disturbed]

17. "11 million Mexican nationals working the fields

and the resaurants" It seems to me that the issue didn't become alarming until it was discovered that "Illegal Immigrants" were working in the Construction and Mfg. Industries and actually replacing American Citizens in for lower wage scales without any worker's rights.

[berni_mccoy]

20. This should BE ON THE FRONT PAGE

So those STUPID F#*&@!G RWers can TAKE A GOOD F#@*&$G LOOK! Maybe they'll start WAKING UP! But that would require that they had BRAINS.