There seems to be some confusion with regard to who ICE wants to know about and who local officials are arresting. There also seems to be some confusion about ICE's intentions as well.
Claudia Nunez was arrested during a routine traffic stop for driving without a license in the state of Tennessee. Her information was checked and the officer realized she had overstayed her tourist visa. She has been in jail for two weeks now.
According to an article by P.J. Tobia of the Nashville Scene, when Temple Black, a spokesman for ICE in the Southeast, was contacted he was surprised Claudia was arrested. "What we are focused on is aggravated felons…. We don't go down to the Shell Station and pick up [undocumented workers]."
Black, who lives and works in New Orleans, says that the average undocumented worker is not a threat. In fact, he cites them as a necessary part of the local economy. "All the illegal aliens that we have here in town putting sheet rock in housing…we don't want to arrest them," he says.
Black expresses surprise when told of Claudia Nuñez's case. "But this is like, nothing," he says of her situation.
Claudia Nunez is denied basic necessities at the jail commissary, such as clean socks and underwear. The guards tell her, "INS won't let you have that."
Other contrasts to Temple Black's statements that ICE only targets aggravated felons can be found all over the nation.
In Niagra County, New York, 28 illegal immigrants were arrested at a local farm. The raid left the farm with three harvesters and half its crops unattended. The New York Farm Bureau spokesman, Peter Gregg states that similar arrests may put some farmers out of business.
When ICE was contacted for an explanation as to why the workers were arrested, ICE stated the workers were using false social security numbers and false alien registration cards but contrary to popular belief, none of the farm workers were reported as felons or had deportation orders.
Many people were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time thus resulting in their arrests. Over 2,000 have been deported in Michigan and Ohio; Georgia, Florida, New York and other states have also been the sites of ICE raids.
What began as a round-up of gang members and murderers has obviously gone astray. ICE is a rather unstable weapon utilized to in many states where elections will soon take place.
The New York Times published an article in August explaining the decision to hold immigration hearings far away from the border, particularly in states where fall elections will soon take place. The Republican Party then gave way to the rather shrill minority of anti-immigrant constituents as a result, in an obvious attempt to gain political favor.
The majority, typically more quiet but resolved on the issue of immigration, is now more prone to voice an opinion as they watch farmers lose crops and business owners jailed.
Local police departments, most likely caught up in the hysteria of the moment, are setting up road blocks and vagrantly profiling any driver thought to be of Latino ancestry. Mothers have been separated from their children and fathers taken out of their cars while families watced, horrified.
Many people, who do not consider themselves pro-immigrant activists, are not in agreement with this latest federal action. The situation is further exacerbated by ICE's inability to firmly state its intentions with regard to neighbors, co-workers and family friends.
http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/News/2006/10/12/Small_Crime_Big_Time/index.shtml
http://www.9wsyr.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=D3B8AED9-C5DE-42A2-91C6-3C87D2CE0D07
http://www.workers.org/2006/us/immigrants-0928/
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/060925Topeka.htm
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Comments: 24
with employers, they submit tax information for their employees every 3 months. if a number doesn't match with a name, social security sends a letter. the tax money is set aside in a suspense fund. many employers ignore this letter, continues submitting tax information for the person that doesn't match.
so your article fails to make the distinction between these programs.
sometimes ice gives people a ticket to show up at court. there is a very high non-show for those cases.
rated a 10, worthy of discussion.
Our government, once again, takes advantage of the poverty stricken and desperate.
I think what bothers me most is this: Why go after 28 belonging to a farmer when you can go after 28,000 belonging to McDonald's?
Blows my mind on 2 counts:
1. More crops blown
2. Most farm workers are most likely either out-of-status or illegal immigrants at this point....Does that mean that ICE is definitely targeting growers and if so, what does this mean for other crops?
My take on this is that, with all that is happening in the world,..another way to strike fear into the hearts of people is to attack their food source.
Hmmm? Just food for thought.
Good article. My complaint with INS and now ICE/CBP/CIS for YEARS has been an UNCLEAR MISSION. I guess it all depends on who is running for office. The "wink and nod" has gotten us into this predicament. You know my feelings on the whole issue. And I know yours. At least we can agree to disagree on some points, and agree on some others. With ICE, who knows? I can't tell which end is up! (And neither can they, apparently!)
bush has slowed investigations bigtime. he's starting to reprioritize and move investigations of employers up (might be for the election, who knows), and so they have decided to prioritize which employers they will investigate based on the nonmatched %.
oh, i think they will give them social security benefits. either that or they will refund the $ paid.
Great article ! You get a 10 from me.
I've dealt with ICE personally, so I know how they operate. When I was providing information to them, which was back in January of this year, the political climate was very much different than it is now. Nowadays, the political climate is VERY different, and the moves that ICE is making seem to be politicaly motivated.
If ICE wants to deport illegals, then I'm all for it, but for Christ's sake why aren't they prosecuting those who hire them ? I still don't see very much evidence of that.
in arizona, the state legislature passed a law that said that people who come here illegal smuggled themselves (possibly with help) over the border so they are guilty of conspiracy. that's how joe is arresting them and that's how they're being tried. but i think i read a recent article that the prosecutor is letting most of those arrested off the hook. i just can't remember if he is or not. don't know the reasoning.
and bill, the illegal immigrants are making much more than $5/hr. they're generally making $24-30k. it's just that some jobs are "under the table".
When did ICE ever claim they only arrest illegal aliens that are convicted felons? Did I miss that policy memo? Where do you get such nonsense? Do you make this stuff up as part of your job to advocate for illegal aliens?
I've personally arrested at least 500 illegal aliens this year. Although gang members, convicted felons, and sex offenders are at the very top of my list, what type of work illegal aliens do is not a factor.
When you break the law you have to expect to deal with the consequences. Illegal aliens and their advocates absolutely refuse to acknowledge that. When you build your house in sand, it is easily washed away.
I love your stories Jackie, they are so funny. You deliberately spread disinformation and rely on the general public's lack of knowledge of the immigration system to make outright false statements. It is so obvious that you know nothing about the immigration system.
Joe T.
"Illegal alien" is the official term used in legislation and by the border patrol for a person who has entered the country illegally or is residing in the United States illegally after entering legally.
Illegal alien is a legal term. Knowledge is power.
READ....LOL....and you can negate all you want.
FACT IS FACT.
Where did ICE say that? Please be specific and don't spin as usual. Refer me to the official press release or official ICE statement.
Still spreading your disinformation to the uniformed.
Black, who lives and works in New Orleans, says that the average undocumented worker is not a threat. In fact, he cites them as a necessary part of the local economy. "All the illegal aliens that we have here in town putting sheet rock in housing…we don't want to arrest them," he says.
Black expresses surprise when told of Claudia Nuñez's case. "But this is like, nothing," he says of her situation.
WHO IS TEMPLE BLACK? SHEESH...
So you mean to tell me that you based your article on another article written by a pro-illegal alien leftist liberal "reporter" who claimed an ICE spokes person made those comments? Yeah, BJ Tobia is a credible source for ICE policy statements.
Wow, I sure hope my boss doesn't find out about all the non-felon illegal aliens I've arrested in the past year. Oh wait a minute, he already knows because he has to sign my reports. I guess he didn't get the memo either. Why don't you try calling Temple Black and see what he has to say about the article?
The "Nashvillescene" is a joke and that article was full of the same kind on disinformation about the immigration system you constantly spread. The workers.org article was also a real hoot. Try going to the official ICE website and finding anything similar to what PJ Tobia claimed was said. http://www.ice.gov.
Let's take a look at the article from the "Nashvillescene". First, it should be pointed out that it was deliberately written to deceive taxpaying Americans. The only intention of the article is to generate sympathy for illegal aliens.
Here is what PJ Tobia failed to report. In order to obtain a non-immigrant tourist visa, Claudia Nunez had to fill out a visa application and go to an interview at the US embassy in San Salvador. So in order to obtain the visa, she lied on her application and lied to the embassy officer who interviewed her. She lied about why she wanted the visa and why she wanted to go to the US. A non-immigrant visa does not allow anyone to live or work in the US. Tourist visas are very difficult to obtain in El Salvador because of the large number of Salvadorans living illegally in the US. She probably was granted a visa because she comes from a wealthy family in El Salvador.
For more info about visas, go to this website: http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html.
Claudia Nunez then lied to the Immigration Inspector when she arrived in the US. Everyone with a tourist visa must fill out a form (I-94) and write the address they are going to be staying at while visiting the US. They must also tell the Inspector what the purpose of their trip is. Do you think that she told the Inspector that she was coming to the US to live and work? If she had, he would have immediately processed her as an expedited removal and sent her back the El Salvador with a cancelled visa.
Claudia Nunez obtained her visa and entry into the US by the use of fraud and misrepresentation. Think about it folks, how many people have you ever known that went on vacation and never came back?
So based on a pack of lies, Claudia Nunez set up an illegal domicile in the US. She worked by obtaining counterfeit government documents (fraud) and when she was unable to legally obtain a driver's license, she drove anyway because that is what illegal aliens do. Anything goes as long as they get what they want.
The "reporter" says that she entered the US on July 4, 2001, yet also claims that Claudia Nunez has an 8 year old US citizen daughter. Do the math, and try to figure out how that is possible.
The "reporter" then states that she didn't apply for "protective status" and goes on to claim that she would "probably" be eligible for it. The "protective status" Tobia is referring to is actually called "Temporary Protected Status" or simply TPS. It simply means that they will not be deported for as long as they are eligible for TPS.
In order to qualify for Salvadoran TPS, you must have entered the US prior to February of 2001. You are also disqualified from getting TPS if you have been convicted of 2 misdemeanors or one felony. So the actual truth is that Claudia Nunez would probably not be eligible for TPS.
Tobia describes her husband as having "legal status". It is a sure bet that Tobia means TPS. TPS does not lead to permanent resident status, but I'm sure that Tobia did not want the general public to know that.
The "reporter" does not say that Claudia Nunez has not committed a crime, only that she has not committed a "violent crime" and constantly down plays her criminal record throughout the article. Tobia claims that she did not pass a fake Social Security number, and then later refers to her as a "working mother who overstayed her visa". So how did she get work without passing a fake Social Security number?
Nor does Tobia mention that violating the terms of your visa gets you deported and banned from returning to the US for 10 years. Must have slipped his mind.
The article goes on to repeat the usual pro-illegal alien propaganda aimed at generating sympathy for illegal aliens. The bottom line is that when you break the law, you will eventually be held accountable and have to deal with the consequences. Claudia Nunez made a whole series of decisions in her life that ended her up in jail. She is a dishonest person who has no one to blame but herself for being in jail.
If anyone out there is interested in how ICE really operates, follow this link and you can see for yourselves. http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/index.htm. It is very interesting to note that the vast majority of these news releases are not published by the media in the US. Guess your news media types don't want the public to know what is really going on.
Jackie Beltran does not want you to know the truth either.
I lived in Phoenix 7-1/2 years.
If it is the first offense, illegal entry (8 USC 1325) is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $250, six months in jail or both.
Reentry after removal (8 USC 1326) is a felony with much larger fines and/or a long prison sentence. An extremely large percentage of illegal aliens that are deported come back – especially if they are from Mexico or Central America.
Whether it is a felony or misdemeanor depends on how many times they have been caught.
I've already taught this to Jackie, I'm not surprised that she didn't tell you herself.