Children stranded after immigration raid

[n2doc]

Children stranded after immigration raid

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. -- Dozens of young children were stranded at schools and with baby-sitters after their parents were rounded up by federal authorities who raided a leather goods maker suspected of hiring illegal immigrants, authorities said Wednesday.

About two-thirds of the 500 employees of Michael Bianco Inc., mostly women, were detained Tuesday by immigration officials for possible deportation as illegal aliens.

As a result, about 100 children were stuck with baby sitters, caretakers and others, said Corinn Williams, director of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts.

"We're continuing to get stories today about infants that were left behind," she said. "It's been a widespread humanitarian crisis here in New Bedford."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Immigration_Arrests.html

No Children left behind, indeed...

[Selatius]

1. If Michael Bianco, Inc., knowingly hired illegal aliens, they should've fined them

And they should've gone after the illegal aliens individually with a plan to deal with the children rather than round them up and leave everybody else to deal with the kids.

[dkofos]

5. fined who??

[IndyOp]

33. Bianco - go after the illegal employers - not the immigrants who

have often been lured hear by employers who have broken hiring laws for decades and who should be fined and imprisoned.

[robinlynne]

34. the company owner.

[hippiechick]

2. A raid in northern Indiana today, too ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=151&topic_id=5899&mesg_id=5899

[Pugee]

48. And in state buildings in Missouri, too.

http://www.komu.com/satellite/SatelliteRender/KOMU.com/c261de75-c0a8-2f11-0163-66f433d41528/2ecefea8-c0a8-2f11-00f2-9b87abef555a

[brer cat]

3. And further,

these women were being exploited to fulfill military contracts:

"During the federal raid Tuesday, company owner Francesco Insolia, 50, and three top managers were arrested. Authorities allege Insolia oversaw "sweatshop" conditions so he could meet the demands of $91 million in U.S. military contracts."

What a nightmare! Once again the children are made to suffer.

[dkofos]

4. Not good for the kids, but when parents act illegally they put the

children at risk also. Shame on them!!

[matcom]

6. what about the kids who were born here?

[dkofos]

7. If you broke the law and were arrested at work do you think

your kids would be treated differently??

NO they wouldn't.

Because the people doing the arresting don't care that you have kids.
They only came to arrest YOU.

[matcom]

10. actually they would

because I wouldn't be held immediately and indefinately without a trial and shipped across the border. at least I would be able to make arrangements

[dkofos]

12. You have obviously never been arrested

[matcom]

14. have you?

were you held in a warehouse for days while you were processed and then sent 2,000 miles away from your child?

damn! how did you cope and how did your kid(s) survive?

[dkofos]

19. Not me personally.

But you don't seem to understand the point I was making.

[dysfunctional press]

39. have you ever been arrested...?

it doesn't quite work that way.

[enfield collector]

8. their parents should have come here legally in the first place. as a parent

my first loyalty is too my children. I would not put my children at risk like that.

[matcom]

9. their children are U.S. Citizens

if they were born here.

[dkofos]

15. And they weren't arrested. Your point??

[matcom]

16. well I suppose since they are citizens

the U.S. will find them all good foster homes.

it's all good

[dkofos]

20. Wouldn't be my first choice, but that is how the system works.

[annabanana]

11. And if the only way you could feed your children was to

break the law? Same priority?

[Beaverhausen]

13. They were working to feed and house their children

It is the employer who is at fault here.

[dkofos]

17. Not the only one at fault.

If one of those illegal aliens was using your SS # would you feel differently??

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. If they're using my social security number, then they're contributing

to my eligibility without ever being able to collect. :shrug:

[BonnieJW]

26. How about

if they use your SS# to buy a car and you get the bill??

[Lydia Leftcoast]

32. Then I would simply dispute the bill

:shrug:

as I did when I was a victim of identity theft before. (My wallet was pickpocketed.)

[Critters2]

43. I've known people in this situation

It isn't as good as it sounds. After a while, the IRS comes around asking why you haven't filed returns showing the wages on your W-2's. It gets very messy and unpleasant.

And then there's the little matter of forgery being a crime.

[Horse with no Name]

25. Except that this particular DEFENSE CONTRACTOR EMPLOYER

set them up to get their Social Security numbers.
Seems they were simply utilizing something that was illegally obtained by someone else.
Don't tell me you REALLY thought that all this personal information that gets "lost" is by accident?
Did you also know that this particular DEFENSE CONTRACTOR fined these poor people $20 if they took longer than 2 minutes in the bathroom?
These people were exploited to the max by this employer who SOUGHT illegal workers.
The only criminals I see are the DEFENSE CONTRACTORS. I wonder how long they will be shut down? I'm guessing their doors will be open again tomorrow with another set of illegal workers.
And the people they exploited?
Who knows where their kids will be.
Truly sad you can't pick out the real criminals in this situation.

[judaspriestess]

31. you are soooo right

its just that easy :eyes: You are not them ok, they have to feed their children in the first place and obviously they cannot do that in their homeland.

unreal

[BeHereNow]

35. Would you risk it if it meant FEEDING your children?

OUR government has made it necessary for people to risk arrest
by their foreign and global economic policies.
I work in a school- PLENTY of my students are illegal-
The majority of them have parents who work gladly work their
asses off in jobs that pay next to mothing.
Why? Because it's more than they could ever hope for
if they had stayed home.
Why?
Because the US, the Federal Reserve and World Bank have
systematically destroyed the rest of the world's
chance to survive.

By the way, most of my illegal students work harder than their
iPod toting, Nike wearing legal classmates; they have so much more to lose
and realize how how much they have to gain by bettering themselves.
Being in Amercia is a life anddeath issue for some people
through no fault of their own.

BHN

[BeHereNow]

36. Would you risk it if it meant FEEDING your children?

OUR government has made it necessary for people to risk arrest
by their foreign and global economic policies.
I work in a school- PLENTY of my students are illegal-
The majority of them have parents who work gladly work their
asses off in jobs that pay next to mothing.
Why? Because it's more than they could ever hope for
if they had stayed home.
Why?
Because the US, the Federal Reserve and World Bank have
systematically destroyed the rest of the world's
chance to survive.

By the way, most of my illegal students work harder than their
iPod toting, Nike wearing legal classmates; they have so much more to lose
and realize how how much they have to gain by bettering themselves.
Being in Amercia is a life and death issue for some people
through no fault of their own.

BHN

[Beaverhausen]

37. Definitely a post worth repeating!

:hi:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

44. Exactly so!

If Bush (and, it must be said, Democratic presidents, too) were serious about halting illegal immigration from Mexico, he'd (they'd) put pressure on the Mexican oligarchs (including the president who just narrowly squeaked into office, most likely by cheating) to stop squirreling government money into their personal Swiss bank accounts and spending it on building infrastructure for their country so that people can having living wage jobs near their homes, which is where they would rather stay anyway, if it didn't mean starvation.

[Horse with no Name]

22. Yeah! Those damn kids were at greater risk eating in America

than not eating in Mexico.
Shame on those parents for feeding their kids!

[EFerrari]

41. Yeah! Shame on those parents trying to feed their families.

:puke:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

18. "Give me your tired, your poor,.....and lock 'em up."

Unless they happen not to be tired or poor, then throw out the welcome mat and invite them to the White House.

[wicket]

28. I like Lou Reed's version:

From "Dirty Blvd":

Give me your hungry, your tired your poor I'll piss on em
Thats what the statue of bigotry says
Your poor huddled masses, lets club 'em to death
And get it over with and just dump 'em on the boulevard

[zbdent]

21. hmm ... do "green-card" raids often happen

right before payday ... just wonderin' ...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. Do they happen where European immigrants are working illegally?

Or only where Latinos are working?

[scrinmaster]

27. Probably because there are nowhere near as many illegal immigrants

from Europe as there are from Mexico or Latin America.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

29. If you're not latino you can stay in your country and wait for the jobs to be offshored to you.

And then it's legal.

[piedmont]

38. Uh, if you're in Mexico you can do the same.

Here's a recent example: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17166014/

[EFerrari]

42. Hmmm. Who issued visas to the European invaders?

:shrug:

Once a thug, always a thug

[n2doc]

30. Pictures

Employees are escorted out after an early morning raid by federal immigration officials at the Michael Bianco Inc. textile plant in New Bedford, Mass., on Tuesday, March 6, 2007. New Bedford Standard Times photo by Peter Pereira




An unidentified child is held by her mother, Wednesday, March 7, 2007, at a news conference in New Bedford, Mass., the day after her father was among 327 of the 500 employees of Michael Bianco Inc., who were detained by immigration officials for possible deportation as illegal aliens. New Bedford Standard Times photo by Peter Pereira



An employee cries outside the Michael Bianco Inc. textiles plant in New Bedford, Mass., on Tuesday, March 6, 2007. New Bedford Standard Times photo by Peter Pereira



Orbelio Ayala, left-rear, appears with two nephews, left and center, and a niece, right, Wednesday, March 7, 2007, at a news conference in New Bedford, Mass. Ayala and his wife Maria Ayala, not pictured, find themselves responsible for the children the day after the children's parents were among 327 workers detained by immigration officials. Associated Press photo by Peter Periera

[wicket]

45. Heartwrenching

Especially the 2nd one - it's like a punch in the gut. :(

[n2doc]

47. I think people should look at the effects of our policy

There are a lot of folks who say- "they broke the law- so they deserve it". If they truely believe this they should be able to look at the pics and not have a problem.


The problems with our policies go way beyond not enforcing the current laws or having a too porous border. We just can't Police our way out of this and keep what is left of our soul. Telling people- "we will hire you if you can sneak up here and keep your head down, and toss you out when we feel like it" isn't a humane policy.

It is the same thing with the Iraq war- If people saw, day after day, the caskets, wounded US and Iraqis, and destruction I think there would be very few left (much less than the 1/3 or so) who would still be pushing for continued fighting.

[CoffeeCat]

40. This is exactly what happened in my state...

...in December.

Children were left behind. Families were torn apart.

Just what on earth is going on?

How can you "round up" a bunch of people because of assumptions?

What would have happened to me, if I had been working at this plant...and I was
a citizen of this country? Do they take you, then unearth the facts at a later
date--after you've spent months at a "detention camp"?

This is sick. Really sick.

Everyone in this country should fear what is happening right now. This administration
should not be allowed to "round up" people like this. Are we supposed to trust them
to do the right thing? This is a precursor to concentration-camp-like situations.

[matcom]

46. Man brought his 8 month old daughter to the emergency room last night - dehydrated

mother was 'detained' at the army base.

baby was dehydrated because she couldn't breast feed. near death.

heard on the radio this morning.

fuck.that.

[Beaverhausen]

49. good god

there's your good old christian values at work. NOT