Hearing on Devastating Impact of Workforce Raids

The American Civil Liberties Union held a hearing before Chairwoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and the Workforce Protection Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committeeon immigration raids and their impact on families and communities. Since late 2006 the Department of Homeland Security Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) section has undertaken an unprecedented campaign of immigration raids in homes, and worksites. The ACLU has challenged the legality and constitutionality of many of these raids including worksite raids conducted in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Van Nuys, California. Witnesses stated that recent immigration raids have a devastating impact on local communities:

“Even though ICE put into place voluntary guidelines to ensure the humane treatment of people being detained when conducting raids, they are not being followed in a consistent fashion,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the subcommittee. “As a result, we are still hearing heartbreaking stories of the impact on children. Unless ICE follows humanitarian procedures in conducting these raids, we are still left with traumatized children and communities." The American Immigration Lawyers Association expressed appreciation "to the leadership shown by the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee for holding a hearing on the impact of immigration raids, which helped shine a long overdue light on the harsh consequences these raids visit upon American children, families, and communities."

In letter dated May 16, 2008 Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) urged DHS Secretary Chertoff and HHS Secretary Leavitt to adopt an interagency agreement, issue guidelines, and take other appropriate steps to reduce the impact of ICE enforcement actions on children participating in Head Start and other federally-assisted child development programs.

The following are some the the ICE raids executed during the first half of the month of May 2008. On May 15, 2006, ICE executed a federal search warrant at a French restaurant and catering service in San Diego, California, arresting 18 workers on administrative immigration violations. The same day, the agency arrested 25 foreign nationals working on an expansion project of the Lee County jail in Ft. Meyers. However, ICE's biggest operation was held on May 12, 2006: a total of 306 people who were originally arrested on administrative immigration charges at Agriprocessors Inc., in Postville, Iowa, and were charged criminally on May 15th. Charges in complaints vary by individual and include allegations of aggravated identity theft, falsely using a Social Security number, illegally reentering the United States after being deported, and fraudulently using an alien registration card. In a May 20, 2008 News Release, ICE announced that 85 of the foreign nationals arrested in this raid were sentenced on federal felony charges.