Immigration Enforcement Machine Rolls On

Published July 27, 2009 @ 10:29PM PT

But has it changed under Obama?

We've not had workplace raids on the scale of Postville. But home raids continue apace. Many (not all) ICE attorneys continue to fight to win cases rather than to see justice served. Immigrants are still dying in detention. TRAC reports that immigration enforcement under the Obama Administration is returning to the unusually high levels seen under President Bush.

And Obama says things like this:

One of the things that was said around the table is the American people still don't have enough confidence that Congress and any administration is going to get serious about border security, and so they're concerned that any immigration reform simply will be a short-term legalization of undocumented workers with no long-term solution with respect to future flows of illegal immigration.

without seeming to understand that the "illegal immigration" problem is one that Congress largely created. Criminalizing immigrants already here and removing lawful avenues of entry for low-income workers was a sneaky way of reducing immigration levels without appearing to support nativism directly.

But the heavyweights in the Democratic Party have bought into the crimmigration storyline manufactured by conservative think tanks. Which would help explain my concerns about ICE under Obama, and my fear that he is a long way from the Con-Law classes he used to teach at U Chicago.

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Comments (9)

"Immigration Enforcement Machine Rolls On"....and why shouldn't it?   Did our laws change overnight?   It isn't criminalizing illegals by deporting them which is in accordance with our laws today.

Yes, the American people do not trust our government to secure our borders just like they didn't in 1986.   Is this is a surprise or an unreasonable way to feel? Yes, our government did create this mess but we Americans who expect our laws to be respected are not going to cower and say "well ok you messed up so we are just going to have to suck it up".   Sorry, it doesn't work that way.   They need to correct this problem according to our laws and in the best interests of the majority of Americans.

As I said, there are reasons why we have to limit legal immigration, have fair quotas from all ethnic groups and favor skilled workers.    Our immigration policies should reflect the best interests of Americans not foreigners.

Posted by Mark Lindley on 07/28/2009 @ 09:12AM PT
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Yeah, the laws haven't changed ... yet.

Posted by Wire Paladin on 07/30/2009 @ 02:00AM PT
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Kyle blogged about the home raids on Citizen Orange:

http://www.citizenorange.com/orange/

Please sign the petition everyone:

http://americasvoiceonline.org/page/content/enough/

As much as I would love to support Obama, it looks like he is just Bush warmed over.

Posted by a d on 07/30/2009 @ 07:14PM PT
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So...what's the problem?

Posted by Neal Tody on 07/31/2009 @ 12:29PM PT
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I believe the "home raids" you refer to are those intended to apprehend criminal aliens, not just people who are here illegally. I find it very difficult to justify letting felons run loose just because they also violated immigration law.

Posted by Thomas Tharp on 08/02/2009 @ 01:44PM PT
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The government said they were going after dangerous criminals with special Fugitive Operations Teams, but in fact three quarters of the people the FOTs arrested had no criminal record and three quarters of those who did had been convicted of nonviolent crimes like shoplifting.

http://immigration.change.org/blog/view/dhs_pursues_dangerous_fugitive_gardeners_nannies

But it's no surprise that the misinformation DHS has consistently put out has had the effect of misleading the public.

Posted by Dave Bennion on 08/02/2009 @ 02:31PM PT
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Supporting comprehensive immigration reform will benefit Americans as well! ! ! Currently, our government does not provide enough legal space for the amount of immigrant labor our country depends on. Therefore, the INS & ICE are currently overloaded.

For example, when a citizen of Guatemala goes to apply for a US visa, he/she needs to have a certain quantity of money in the bank, to prove that he/she is not entering the US for financial gain. However, if we allowed poorer people to enter, they will have the opportunity to work themselves out of poverty (the American Dream), and Americans will be able to learn from a different culture, as well as receive workers who are hard working. These people, by and large, want very much to follow the law and to earn a living for their family, because the situation in their home countries is often very desperate. Many immigrants who come from poorer countries earn in a hour here what they earn in a day in their home countries.

There is enough space for immigrants, especially in rural areas, like Iowa, for example, where the economy suffers because young people are constantly moving away. By allowing immigrants to enter, our small rural towns can become more diverse, and economically sustainable communities.

By creating a temporary worker program with paths to legalization, we are benefitting all. American citizens gain the benefits of intercultural exchange and we support and validate workers who already power huge sectors of our economy. By building a bridge of trust with other nations, we are securing our economic future. We can learn as a nation from our past mistakes of exploiting other people in other nations - this breeds resentment, fear, and misunderstanding that leads to insecurity. We can build a bridge of trust by creating a program that recognizes immigration as a natural and inevitable part of life (Most people do not live in the same place they were born!).

We can treat immigrants as fellow human beings, rather than calling people "illegal" - People can DO illegal things, but people cannot BE illegal.

Our laws need reform, because they don't allow for the number of immigrant workers our country can support.

Why is this so? In part because Congress has not dealt with the issue. It is time we encourage our representatives to learn more about the causes of immigration, the reason for "illegal immigration," and the best way that immigrants and American citizens can both benefit from the natural and inevitable trends to move to new opportunities.

We can change our immigration laws so that they are current with our situation, allowing for immigrants to enter legally. We can especially ensure that immigrants are treated as fellow humans, and that raids and searches do not continue to scare and confuse immigrants, and disrupt, confuse, and destroy American communities. American communities were created originally by immigrants. We can strive to be the "melting pot" of cultures, a place where all people can work for and live the American dream.

Posted by Kate Blair on 08/03/2009 @ 04:18PM PT
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Kate entering the U.S. other than through a legal port of entry is a Federal Felony.

And it's not "our country" that depends on "immigrant labor" it's GREEDY businesses and big corporations that do it and undercut wages for working class people in this country.

The *last* thing we need in this country is anymore unskilled labor.

It makes no sense at all that Change.org would support illegal aliens when so many Americans want our laws enforced in this area after eight years of neglect by Bush and Clinton before him.

Are you a recruiter for the "Young Republicans?"

Posted by Thomas Porter on 09/21/2009 @ 10:13AM PT
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While illegal immigrants from dangerous countries, especially Muslim ones will always be a problem, witness the Ft. Hood Massacre, when it comes to our next-door neighbors in Mexico the situation is far different. Mexicans are not the Huns.

The whole U.S.-Mexico problem is plagued by the de facto apartheid imposed on Mexico by the U.S. back in its white supremacist days in 1848, when they took half of its territory for its whites-only homeland and left the sawed-off country eternally doomed to subsistence agriculture and lawlessness, with no lebensraum for future pop. growth. 160 years later and the chickens are coming home to roost. White supremacy is kaput, yet the legacy remains, skewing the debate.

Instead of continuing the old paradigm based on apartheid, it's time for a new paradigm. It's time Congress ended apartheid by officially inviting the people of Mexico to dissolve their ever-corrupt fatcat and cartel controlled federal govt. and join the U.S. as 10+ new states, allowing the border to go poof and Mexico's 760k sq. mi. of territory and 5.8K mi. of coastline to finally be developed as a U.S. sector, alleviating the root causes of poverty, after which all 313 million American citizens can work to share the New World in peace and prosperity.

Learn about the Megamerge Dissolution Solution at http://go.to/megamerge

Posted by TL Winslow on 11/09/2009 @ 03:44AM PT
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David is an attorney in Philadelphia, PA, where he helps immigrants to the U.S. navigate the complex immigration legal system. Views he expresses at change.org are his alone and don't represent the views or opinions of his employer, Nationalities Service Center. The information contained on this site is intended for educational and advocacy purposes only.