Government Raids -- Imitating the Soviet Union
Bush's Heavy-Handed Big-Government Thugs
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Intrusive, paternalistic government is a bad idea. Here is a news announcement from the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker relief organization. |
MORE THAN 60 HUMAN RIGHTS, FAITH AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS CALL FOR IMMEDIATE END TO IMMIGRATION RAIDS
American Friends Service Committee Leads National Call to Stop U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Workplace Raids and Urges Congress to Develop Rational Immigration Policy
Calling the workplace raids excessive and inhumane, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), an international social justice organization and co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Quakers worldwide, and more than 60 organizations and individuals urge the Bush administration to work with Congress to develop fair and rational immigration policies instead.
Citing human rights violations and humanitarian concerns, the organizations call for an immediate end to community and work site raids that target immigrants.
Organized labor, legal, faith-based and civil and immigrants’ rights organizations and individuals across the country are condemning the strong-arm tactics and excessive use of force employed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during recent raids at Swift meatpacking facilities in six states in mid-December. During the Swift raids, more than 1,200 workers were detained at gunpoint, yet less than 5 percent of these workers will actually face any criminal charges.
Raids only serve to sow fear and uncertainty in immigrant communities while perpetuating the intimidation of documented and undocumented workers and their families, the organizations emphasized.
“Raids do little more than polarize communities and perpetuate a campaign of terror that criminalizes workers only seeking jobs and a better life,” states Esther Nieves, national coordinator of the AFSC immigrant rights program, Project Voice. “They do nothing to address the real problem, which is fixing the nation’s broken immigration system.”
The groups called upon the U.S. Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Inspector General of Homeland Security to immediately investigate allegations of civil rights violations and racial profiling of workers who were apprehended. During the raids workers who appeared to be of Latino heritage were forcibly separated from other workers and interrogated.
“These raids weaken the social and economic fabric of every community and threaten the basic civil and human rights of immigrant and non-immigrant communities alike,” stressed Gabriella Flora, immigrant rights organizer, AFSC Denver regional office. “All human beings in this country have a right to be treated with dignity and respect, even in situations of detention and arrest.”
Of added concern is the administration’s refusal to provide timely information on the whereabouts or well-being of detainees to family members, clergy or legal counsel. In some cases ICE agents even threatened to arrest those seeking information about their loved ones.
Congress will likely address immigration reform in 2007, making the timing of the raids particularly troublesome.
“If the administration is truly committed to a fair immigration policy and justice for the nation’s families, raids on workplaces and in communities should be stopped now while we develop legislation that adequately addresses the immigration crisis,” Nieves concludes.
The Swift raids were conducted on a day of important religious significance for many migrants, many of whom gathered in church services earlier to pay tribute to the Patroness of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe. Organizers feel that targeting Latin American immigrants on this family-oriented day shows a grave disrespect for religious beliefs.
Organizations calling for an immediate halt to workplace raids include the American Civil Liberties Union - Massachusetts; the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Massachusetts Chapter; the Asian Legal Defense and Education Fund; The Brazilian Immigrant Center; the Haitian-American Initiative Toward Integration (H.A.I.T.I.); the Immigrant Rights Network of Iowa and Nebraska; Interfaith Worker Justice; Jobs with Justice, Atlanta; the National Immigrant Solidarity Network; and the National Lawyers Guild, Massachusetts Chapter.
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The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.
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Also see: Calm Truth About Immigration
Fourteen Amazing Victories Without Violence
Have Peace Activists Ever Stopped a War? |
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