These stories make me sad

[Rosie the Riveter]

They took a breastfeeding mother from MA to TX!! Assholes! Baby suffers dehydration at the hands of the feds.

________________________________________________________________________________

By David Weber, Associated Press Writer  |  March 8, 2007

BOSTON --Gov. Deval Patrick urged federal authorities to not move any more factory workers detained in an immigration raid out of state until their children are located and arrangements are made for their care.

More than 300 people were detained for possible deportation as illegal aliens in a raid at a New Bedford leather maker. About 150 of them have been flown from the former Fort Devens military base to a detention center in Texas, the governor said.

"I urged the federal government to stop all flights out of Fort Devens immediately until we can be assured that all parents have been identified and appropriate arrangements made for their children and dependents," Patrick said at a Statehouse news conference.

Federal authorities postponed a third flight that was scheduled to depart at noon Thursday after Patrick twice called Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff seeking better cooperation from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at Fort Devens.

"What we have never understood about this process is why it turned into a race to the airport," Patrick said. "There are families affected, there are children affected."

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Julie Myers said ICE agents asked each of the those arrested if they were sole caregivers to children. Myers noted that 60 people were released as a result of that questioning. She said ICE was being unfairly criticized for allegedly not considering the needs of children affected by the arrests.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," she wrote in a letter to Patrick.

But Massachusetts Department of Social Services spokeswoman Denise Monteiro said one woman was still detained at Fort Devens on Thursday despite her infant requiring hospitalization Wednesday night in New Bedford for dehydration because she could not nurse from her mother. Monteiro said the nursing mother was expected to be released and reunited with her infant Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the Defense Logistics Agency said Thursday it was suspending the company, Michael Bianco Inc., whose owner and three managers face federal charges, from bidding on future contracts. No changes were made to the firm's current $83.6 million contract with the agency.

The company, which has made products including safety vests and lightweight backpacks for the military, has also done work for the Army.

The state has identified about 35 children whose parents were arrested, said JudyAnn Bigby, secretary of Health and Human Services. She said those children were staying with relatives or friends, but she added that it's important for state social workers to interview their parents to make sure the kids are staying with responsible adults. The state said it had found 29 foster homes in case they were needed.

There are other children who are either adolescents or had keys to their homes "and went home with no one there," Bigby said.

"They have not self-identified themselves. We have no idea how many that is," she said.

Patrick asked anyone with information about children in need of help to call 1-800-792-5200. He emphasized that the state has no role in turning illegal immigrants over to federal authorities.

At least 60 of the 361 people detained from Tuesday's raid have been released for humanitarian reasons, most related to child care issues, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Patrick on Wednesday expressed concern that the children of the detainees -- most of whom are from Guatemala and El Salvador -- might not be receiving proper care. But immigration officials insist they coordinated with state social service agencies in advance.

In the raid, company owner Francesco Insolia, 50, and three top managers were arrested. A fifth person was arrested on charges of helping workers obtain fake identification.

"They came in and swept up all these workers, most of them women," Patrick said. "The folks who run that plant? They're back at work today. And I think there's something wrong with that."

Authorities allege Insolia oversaw sweatshop conditions so he could meet the demands of $91 million in U.S. military contracts.

Investigators said the workers toiled in dingy conditions and faced onerous fines, such as a $20 charge for talking while working and spending more than two minutes in the bathroom.

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Associated Press writer Andrew Miga in Washington contributed to this report.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/03/08/patrick_wants_detainees_from_immigration_raid_kept_in_mass/

[CNHT]

Maybe Deval Patrick could have given them a ride in his new Cadillac that he just bought for himself on the taxpayer's dime?
And why did he not do something before this about the terrible working conditions in the factories if he was so worried about these people?
A $20 fine for TALKING or spending more than 2 minutes in the bathroom? I thought that stuff was illegal? Clearly these people were being taken advantage of.

[KBCraig]

If governors and sheriffs would just nut up and do it, ICE would be the ones sent out of state on an airplane in handcuffs.

They're too afraid of cutting those federal apron strings, and losing their suction on the D.C. teat.

[YixilTesiphon]

And those workers never would've faced those deplorable conditions had they been welcomed into the country like all who are willing to be productive ought to be and thus had bargaining power.

Besides, why are all these detention centers in Texas? They don't seem to be used for the massive amount of "illegal" immigrants streaming into Texas, thank goodness for the economy of my hometown (Dallas).

[CNHT]

And those workers never would've faced those deplorable conditions had they been welcomed into the country like all who are willing to be productive ought to be and thus had bargaining power.

Besides, why are all these detention centers in Texas? They don't seem to be used for the massive amount of "illegal" immigrants streaming into Texas, thank goodness for the economy of my hometown (Dallas).

Bargaining power? So you're a union guy?

[Rosie the Riveter]

I took his comment to mean bargaining power because they would then be "legal" workers and not part of the black market work force.

They would then have bargaining power because they would have the opprotunity to look for work else where because there would be a mirade of jobs available to them.

[cathleeninnh]

That's the way I took it too. I don't want to jump to any conclusions.

Cathleen

[lordmetroid]

If they become legal then they wouldn't have had the jobs they have now... They couldn't get those jobs because the salaries would become to high due to taxes and regulations.

[Rosie the Riveter]

If they become legal then they wouldn't have had the jobs they have now... They couldn't get those jobs because the salaries would become to high due to taxes and regulations.

So true -- my husband's 92 yr old grandmother told me she once bought a job for $5, a lot of $$ back then, at a restaurant as a hostess. She then went on to get a better paying job, she got through a friend, at a wig factory in Lawrence, MA. Sometimes, I guess, any job is a good job when you have to feed your family.

[Nicholas Gilman]

   People who work under the table are treated like sub-humans.
The few immigrants who murder, rape, and steal ruin it for the
majority of folks who just want to work here and earn a living.
If homeland security was really worried about their namesake,
they'd be doing background checks and allowing peaceful
immigrants to stay.

[error]

If homeland security was really worried about their namesake,
they'd be doing background checks and allowing peaceful
immigrants to stay.

Michael Chertoff can only do what's written on those goddamned pieces of paper. And whatever is written there, no matter how good, bad, or horrible, he's going to order guns pointed at anyone who isn't following what's written on those goddamned pieces of paper. After all, he has said:

"We are going to enforce the law. We're going to do it as vigorously as we can."

[Lloyd Danforth]

I took his comment to mean bargaining power because they would then be "legal" workers and not part of the black market work force.

They would then have bargaining power because they would have the opprotunity to look for work else where because there would be a mirade of jobs available to them.

without worrying about the employer they leave 'turning' them in