The Katrina gang hits New Bedford: Lowell Sun gets it

[Ian David]

by: Charley on the MTA
Fri Mar 09, 2007 at 21:57:10 PM EST

(bumped - promoted by Charley on the MTA)

While the Boston Globe ran a mostly wonky, chin-stroking Op-Ed on the grotesque abuse of human rights that immigration officials committed in New Bedford this week, the Lowell Sun -- yes, the Lowell Sun -- grasped the exceedingly harsh reality of the issue:

Massachusetts citizens and lawmakers can now put a face -- actually, hundreds of tear-stained, panic-stricken faces -- to the complicated problem of illegal immigration and the desperate need for reform.

More than 300 people were swept up and detained for possible deportation in a raid at a New Bedford leather maker Tuesday morning. Most of those working in the sweatshop were women from Guatemala and El Salvador, many also mothers and a few soon-to-be.

At this point, officials don't know how many children have been left alone in their homes, possibly on the streets, with no idea where their parents have gone or what they should do. Most of the children are U.S. citizens, and some may be too young to care for themselves. It is a deeply troubling situation.
http://www.lowellsun.com/editorials/ci_5397665


(Thanks to Mimi at Left in Lowell for the steer.)

Of course, even "deeply troubling" can't really describe the total disregard for human dignity that causes 7-month-old babies to be hospitalized for dehydration. I choose my words carefully: That is immensely fucked-up.

Terrorizing poor people and tiny children simply must not, cannot be the method by which we enforce our confused and conflicted US immigration law.

More:
http://www.bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6584

[bluerum]

1. And they were doing defense contract work. eom.

[wicket]

2. Great article

Thanks for the link.

[zippy890]

3. they are women, mothers,

this was so f**ked.

and I read in the Boston Globe the the owner of the factory was allowed (by fed judge) to travel to Puerto Rico on business when this happened.

How F**KED has our country become??

State officials are really pissed about this, so I'm proud of my state standing up to the feds. But how did this happen in the first place.?

:grr:

yeah these women are real threats to america, being 'illegal' - dont even go there.

[formercia]

8. How this happened

is a compliant US Attorney. Coming soon to your State.

[leftchick]

4. tell me again wtf is so great about america?

:grr:

[malaise]

5. K & R

This is madness.

[Ian David]

6. Even the Mass Repuke from GOPNewsBlog is outraged

From www.GopNews.blog.com :

Intelligent discussion from the GOP. Reach us at Gopnewsblog @ aol.com

March 06, 2007
Federal Immigration agents raid Michael Bianco factory in New Bedford

I can’t seem to get away from this blog.


Boston.com has just reported that the Michael Bianco factory in New Bedford has been raided and 90 illegal immigrants arrested. As many as 400 could be gathered up over the next day or two as federal agents swarm the area searching for the rest of the workers. The Michael Bianco factory has been known to use illegal immigrants from Guatemala and El Salvador.


I knew Michael Bianco and his factory, which is why I feel compelled to write about this story. Further, I am assuming he is still alive and still the owner. That being said, I was once a Buyer for a large Massachusetts retail operation. Infrequently, I would buy leather good products from Michael Bianco and even once visited his factory in New Bedford. That was many years ago - about 14 years ago is my guess. Michael seemed like a nice guy and was of strong Italian lineage. His accent was thick, but he was slight and unassuming. I could tell from his car and his clothing that he clearly lived an affluent lifestyle, but his factory was a mess. The bathrooms were broken and disgusting and the production area was archaic. Even back then his factory was filled with people who clearly did not speak English.


Here is what gets me – Michael lived on Beacon Hill and the markup and price on his product was huge. Don’t get me wrong, his product was well made and worth the money, but now that I realize he used illegal immigrants in poor working conditions I say lock him up. So many business people will argue that they are forced to use illegal immigrants in order to keep their businesses alive. You will hear them say “Gee, there is no margin left in my business” or “They do the jobs no one else will do”. That is all rubbish. Michael Bianco was making lots of money on his handbag line, but he wasn’t sharing any of it with the workers. If he was using illegal immigrants then he wasn’t paying for health insurance, pensions, overtime or any other little luxury of being an American worker. Nope, he was screwing every last one of them and now he should go to jail. If he could afford to live on Beacon Hill then you know he wasn’t using illegal immigrants to save a few pennies.


I am glad that factory was shut down. I am not so glad that some of the factory managers were arrested because they probably had no say in the commission of this crime. As strongly as I feel we should enforce the borders I also feel we should enforce the laws restricting the employment of illegal immigrants. People do not utilize illegal immigrants because they have to – they do it because they choose to - and anything else is a lie.


The laws that restrict the use of illegal immigrants are not there to disrupt businesses from making a profit. They are there to protect American workers and the future they can offer to manufacturing in America. The laws are also there to protect the illegal immigrants from being enslaved or turned into indentured servants, unable to run from the bosses for fear of being imprisoned. For everyone's sake, we need to stop letting companies use illegal immigrants as a cheap, slave-like alternative to American workers. Why Bush, Kennedy and McCain support illegal immigration I will never know.

More:
http://gopnews.blog.com/1588429 /



See prior threads:

Mass. Repuke is anti-capitalism & in favor of redistribution of wealth--glad Michael Bianco arrested
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=158x12081

Disilusioned webmaster of GOPNewsBlog has curled up into a sad little ball to cry. Waaah!
Topic started by IanDB1 on Feb-26-07 11:49 AM (6 replies)
Last modified by IanDB1 on Feb-26-07 04:44 PM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3134974

[TayTay]

7. This action was inhumane

This type of action would be an outrage if it happened to animals rounded up on the street. It is unthinkable that it happened to human beings. The degree of unfeeling self-righteousness you have to have to think that rounding up women without checking to see if their children are being properly cared for is astounding.