SEIU blasts Obama immigration enforcement policies - Washington Post

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

Deportation quotas?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/04/seiu-blasts-obama-immigration.html#more

One of the nation's biggest labor unions, a major backer of President Obama, is condemning his Department of Homeland Security's immigration enforcement practices, protesting the use of deportation quotas for agents and expanded workplace audits.

Eliseo Medina, international executive vice president of Service Employees International Union, said SEIU members want DHS "to stop these crazy, irrational policies," while seeking to turn up pressure on Congress to take up overhaul legislation. SEIU is holding vigils and demonstrations Thursday in Oakland and Sacramento, Calif., and then in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Boston, New York City and Minneapolis Friday.

While Obama and Homeland Security Janet Napolitano criticized the George W. Bush administration for emphasizing factory raids and neighborhood sweeps, and promised instead to focus on deporting the most dangerous illegal immigrants, immigrant advocates said that thousands of ordinary workers are still being forced into the underground economy by electronic audits of companies' hiring records.

"They said they were going after criminals. They need to do that. They said they were going after bad actor employers to take away the profit motive. They need to do that. But instead, they are still going after meatpackers, janitors and cooks," "There has been a failure with this strategy, and so there's a lot of anger within our union, because we look at and see the everyday impact of these policies, and it's the complete opposite of what they said they were going to do," Medina said.

[Go2Peace]

1. I love Unions, but they are wrong on this one

[John Q. Citizen]

3. Are you saying that these raids aren't taking place? That the article is factually

incorrect?

Or are you saying that the union is wrong to criticize the President for policies that they see as anti-labor, pro-corporate?

[Go2Peace]

5. I think we need to deal with undocumented immigration

and I think after two amnesties already it is clear that has not resolved the situation, but only made it worse. I don't see how anarchy is good as policy, which is essentially what pro-immigration groups seem to really want.

I understand the economic issues, but when 500k people are entering the country through illegal channels that is a problem, and I don't see these groups offering solutions, they just want the government to allow it to continue. Maybe there is more to the story and SEIU actually has a position that will truly stem illegal immigration. In which case you can educate me. But so far all I hear is people that want the government to continue to allow a system that is unsustainable.

So I am not sure that cracking down on illegal immigrants can be stopped. I blame that as much on the immigrant "rights" groups who are unrealistic in their expectations.

[Bluebear]

4. You favor "deportation quotas"??

Ugh.

[Go2Peace]

6. Not necessarily. But I am not sure the political players are leaving many choices

What that says is clear. The government thinks it needs to disincentivise illegal immigration.

I think people need to start asking themselves "how we got here", because that is as much the fault of the special interest groups. They have a hand in how things are ending up where they are. They fight every effort to reduce the problem and encourage illegal immigration. It is a setup. It is no different than saying we are trying to be "peacemakers" while being aggressive on the world front militarily. These groups say they want an answer while they continue to fight any real answer.

So what do you eventually end up with? Situations like this.

[Name removed]

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