To Be Announced...

The NY Times has a story linked to day at Land & Landscape (don't ask) involving an update on the Swift raid of a few months ago. Not much new information, but a few observations.

As you know, many of the illegal aliens were immediately deported...others (148 of them) are being charged with identity theft. Someone found the real person attached to the phoney documents these "undocumented immigrants" used to get jobs. It's a very long piece and you should read the whole thing, but here are some highlights:

Illegal Worker, Troubled Citizen and Stolen Name

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa — The two women named Violeta Blanco have never met. But for a long time they shared not only a name, but the same birth date and the same Social Security number.

One is an illegal immigrant from Mexico (Eloisa Nunez Galeana) who went to work slicing pork in a meat-packing plant here after her husband left her with three children. The other is a single American mother in California (Violeta Blanco) who has never held a job, struggles with drug addiction and is fighting to keep the state from taking her children.

...the Mexican worker admitted that she had used the California woman's identity to get her job. Now she is in jail on felony charges of identity theft, her trial set to begin in Des Moines on March 26.

Interviewed in jail in Des Moines, Nuñez said she used Ms. Blanco's documents — which she had purchased from a woman she did not know — in 2003 to apply for her job at Swift, but that she never used them again.

She had hoped to work at the plant for many years, she said, perhaps long enough to see her children, who range in age from 2 to 15, graduate from high school (two were born in Iowa and are American citizens).

That alone says everything you need to know about the lack of immigration enforcement in the United States. An illegal alien almost expects to work illegally in the United States long enough for her children to graduate.

"What's the harm," I hear illegal immigrant advocates say. They didn't use the illegal documents to raid bank accounts, apply for credit cards or anything. All they did was pay taxes and never file...

Still, Matthew C. Allen, the senior investigations official at Immigration and Custom Enforcement, said that 326 Americans had reported financial complications and tax liabilities from having their identities used at Swift. "The victims have suffered very real consequences," Allen said.

148 charged with identity theft from the Swift raid...but 326 Americans affected. I'm assuming there were duplicates of duplicate Social Security numbers.

Complications in this case, like being on disability and having the Social Security Administration cut off your aid because the records show the person attached to the SS number is making payments through a job. And the IRS showing income, but nobody filing for taxes. Anyone want to say that illegal aliens are still harmless?

Nuñez said she was reluctant to use identity documents that did not belong to her, but she said she did not know that she could be committing a federal offense, since buying documents was routine among illegal immigrants here.

Routine. She apparently didn't think entering the country illegally would be a problem either. That's become fairly routine too.

At the mention of her children during an interview in Des Moines, Nuñez, hunched in a gray-and-white striped jail uniform, began to cry.

"I risked everything so they could grow up in the United States," she said. "I'm only asking for permission to do honest work."

Try doing honest work honestly. You never asked permission to begin with. Sorry...but I don't feel a bit sorry for you or your children.

Nuñez and several other immigrant women detained in the Iowa raid who have children who are American citizens say they have resolved to fight the charges against them rather than make a deal with prosecutors that would lead to their deportation with no chance of legal return.

"She's a mother who cut my pork chops and gave Social Security a lot of money," said Michael H. Said, a lawyer representing Nuñez. "She deserves a medal, not an indictment."

Yeah. A medal for screwing up someone elses life? Sadly, the article doesn't say in the actual American victim of this sad affair has a lawyer helping her clean up the mess created by Nunez...

Waving a file of wrinkled papers that she keeps in a cellophane bag, she said thatNuñez's employment under her name was only a small part of problems she attributed to identity theft.

She said she had difficulty renewing her driver's license because someone else using her identity had taken out a license in Arkansas. A bank where she tried to open an account told her that it already had one in her name in another state — not Iowa.

"I know that when I get ready, I'm going to get everything all filed up, and I'm going to try to take care of it," Blanco said. "I don't know how, but I'm going to try."

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Labels: illegal aliens, swift

The reviews are in on the Marshalltown Immigration Summit...and they're mixed.

Oops. Better make that mixed diverse.

That travesty of a newspaper, Marshalltown Times-Republican is first...

Conversation is diverse at immigration summit

Paul Gregoire, vice president of global human resources at Fisher Controls...said of raids such as the one at Swift & Co., that some companies probably bring it on themselves, while some do not.

Still, he echoed what others during the morning had said: Iowa is going to be losing much of its work force in the coming years, making it imperative that the country accept and train and keep workers, regardless of how it happens.

Regardless of how it happens, eh?

How is that any different than a guy keeping the money from a wallet he found on the street?

It's a good thing he isn't in charge of ethics at Fisher Controls.

Outside of that little exciting piece of info, the rest of the story was pretty boring. Strangely, the Marshalltown version didn't include some of the diversity of the Des Moines Register's version...

Immigration expert: Raids to continue

Marcy Forman, director of investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told the group...

"We're still going to enforce the law," Forman said. "Yes, it will continue. People will see raids on small, medium and large companies who are egregious immigration law violators."

Paul Gregoire, vice president of global human resources for the Fisher Division of Emerson Process Management in Marshalltown, said the raids have made area employers nervous.

"My company in this area is working very hard to integrate the Hispanic population into our work force. The Swift (raid) threw a wrench into this," he said.

Good. That "wrench" is the flashlight of ethics shining on your antics.

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Labels: illegal aliens, swift

Make no mistake, the newspaper has an agenda here. As the managing editor earlier stated:

Marshalltown editor: immigrations raids don't work

“We want to do two things — to make sure the higher officials we invite can walk away educated knowing that we’ve been doing immigration raids for how many decades, and the population continues to rise, so (the raids) are not working,” Larson said.

This is the Cedar Rapids Gazette version of the story on the summit:

Marshalltown plans immigration summit

MARSHALLTOWN (AP) — A meeting that is billed as a National Summit on Immigration is scheduled today in Marshalltown, and organizers say they hope it sparks a national grass-roots discussion on reform.

Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, has agreed to attend the forum, and Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Chuck Grassley, D-Iowa, may have representatives attend. The event will include sessions on the rights and responsibilities of individuals and employers, and immigration enforcement and policy. It is scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Dejarden Hall at Marshalltown Community College. Community leaders say local opinion on immigration varies.

Marshalltown Police Chief Lon Walker said he received a flood of calls from people after the raid saying it was about time someone did something about illegal immigration.

He said people are afraid to go public with their thoughts out of fear of being labeled a bigot or to have their business boycotted.

Ken Anderson, president of the Marshalltown Chamber of Commerce, was part of a group that traveled to Mexico where many of the illegal immigrants came from. He said the group found a bleak educational system with little opportunity for people to improve their lives.

Remember, that visit in 2001 was not only to see where they came from, but to solidify a better relationship with their "sister city" and help bring more to Marshalltown. See Cato Institute story link below:

(then) Marshalltown Mayor Harthun was eager to learn more about them — in part, because he wanted them to stay. “I was being self-serving,” he admits. “We need people.”

Get your tissues ready...Now, for the "softer side" of the story from the Marshalltown paper (with comments in bold-italics inserted by yours truly):

Immigration Summit to look at federal policies

It happened Dec. 12, 2006.

It was a typical day for early December. Cold and wet, trying to decide whether it wanted to rain or snow.

Fog shrouded the countryside and protruded into the city. Kids went to school, saying goodbye to Mommy or Daddy — never knowing that some of those parents would never return home that night.

("It was a dark and stormy night..." - Snoopy)

No more than an hour later, some of those very same children were yanked out of school by concerned relatives, fearing that the children would share the fate of their parents, perhaps both of their parents.

That fate was detainment by federal officials.

(Yanked out of school. Fear. Fate. Uncertainty. Concern. Better get some more tissues. The objective, fair, and balanced coverage continues...)

The morning of Dec. 12, 2006 was the morning much changed in Marshalltown for many families. It was the day federal officials with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement decided to raid the Swift and Company facility in Marshalltown, along with a handful of others across the nation.

The scene of the fog against the gray backdrop of the Swift plant created an eerie monochrome as federal agents escorted workers out of the building in small groups.

Some of those detained were later charged with criminal offenses as part of a large-scale identity theft operation. Others were charged with a civil offense, working and being in the country without the proper documentation.

(Otherwise known as BREAKING THE LAW. If I sell drugs on the street, can I be an undocumented pharmacist? Selling drugs...just not with the proper documentation)

All were taken to Camp Dodge near Des Moines and then later transferred to other facilities around the country.

For many who read about the incident or saw it on the evening news, that was the end of the story. But not for the families involved.

School teachers and other district officials note that it has taken time for some of the children to feel safe enough to return to classes. Others still have not returned.

Hundreds of families locally were thrown into crisis mode, because of something the federal government did.

(Al Capone felt the same way. Have you gotten the message yet? No wonder Tom Harkin isn't going to be there. He doesn't need to be there. He's got the newspaper serving as a representative of his views. What's the point?)

In the wake of that, the editorial board at the Times-Republican felt the time had come for a serious look at the federal policy on immigration and the thought of an immigration summit with federal officials here in Marshalltown was conceived.

(And I guess you already know some of their other "feelings" on the issue. No agenda here...move along, nothing to see here people.)

“Having key decision makers here and having them listen to what the Hispanic community, city/county government, the schools, the hospital, the business community, the chamber, MEDIC and other agencies have to say about immigration should prove to be valuable for those making policy,” said Times-Republican Publisher Mike Schlesinger. “This would also give those leaders a chance to hear from those who are directly impacted by the kind of ill-advised raids like was done here and what they hear could help formulate an immigration policy that would stop splitting families, provide workers for businesses and implement a procedure for workers who are here without proper documents to arrange for some type of retribution but still be able to obtain necessary documents through legal means that ultimately leads to citizenship.”

(Ill-advised raids, huh? What was "ill-advised" about it? Are they supposed to consult with objective journalists like you guys first?)

So Monday the event takes place. Beginning Tuesday, the Times-Republican will review the highlights of all the major sessions and relay the thoughts from those who were in attendance.

(Fair and balanced...of course.)

Wow.

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Labels: illegal aliens, swift

Funnily enough, while we're on the topic of illegal immigration...The Marshalltown Times-Republican is planning on conducting a "summit" on immigration issues following the Swift raid a while back...

Tickets will be required for immigration summit

Those wishing to attend the National Summit on Immigration taking place in Marshalltown Feb. 26 will need a ticket to do so.

Because of very limited space and extremely high interest, the Times-Republican is instituting a ticket policy. Tickets are free and on a first come, first served basis.

Requests for tickets will only be accepted through the U.S. Mail. This means absolutely no tickets will be granted over the phone or via e-mail.

Each ticket request needs to include a name, address and phone number and a self-addressed, return stamped envelope. Those without the self-addressed, stamped envelope will not be considered.

Requests should also include whether the person seeking tickets will be coming as an independent party or will be representing a group or organization.

Do you think I could send one in a phoney name, address and phone number and call myself an UNDOCUMENTED Marshalltownian? It sounds a little like an attempt to limit speech. I'm naturally suspicious especially considering the editor's words recently:

Marshalltown editor: immigrations raids don't work

Ken Larson, the managing editor of the Marshalltown Times-Rebublican, said a summit is scheduled for Feb. 26 at Dejarden Hall at Marshalltown Community College.

“We want to do two things — to make sure the higher officials we invite can walk away educated knowing that we’ve been doing immigration raids for how many decades, and the population continues to rise, so (the raids) are not working,”

And that last part about having to identify myself as an individual or part of a group or organization...if I'm a member of the Minuteman Project, do you think they'll give me a ticket?

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Labels: illegal aliens, swift

You know, I sent a letter to the Marshalltown Times-Republican outlining my viewpoint on illegal immigrants. After following up on why it wasn't published, I was told by a source that the reason it wasn't was because the Editor thought it was a little too harsh. Figures...

Marshalltown editor: immigrations raids don't work

The Dec. 12 raid at the Swift & Co plant in Marshalltown has left immigrants in the central Iowa town with a lingering sense of uncertainty and fear, said an official with a statewide Hispanic group.

The fallout from the raid has also prompted the local newspaper to organize a community summit to address immigration issues.

I don't know about you, but when I find myself somewhere I don't necessarily belong (which is rare), I would expect to have a little uncertainty and fear. You should when you break the law. When my drivers license or vehicle registration sometimes goes beyond the expiration date, I have a legitimate sense of uncertainty and fear that I will get pulled over. Shouldn't they? They're breaking the law. Why is it that is so hard to understand?

Ken Larson, the managing editor of the Marshalltown Times-Rebublican, said a summit is scheduled for Feb. 26 at Dejarden Hall at Marshalltown Community College.

“We want to do two things — to make sure the higher officials we invite can walk away educated knowing that we’ve been doing immigration raids for how many decades, and the population continues to rise, so (the raids) are not working,”

As you well know, Ken...they worked in Marshalltown. So let's just give up, eh?

Meanwhile, that "uncertainty and fear" might be contagious..

Swift & Co. considers selling out

Swift & Co., the nation’s third largest meatpacker, is considering selling its $9 billion worldwide operation after receiving several unsolicited inquiries in the past six months.

Swift, who has one operation in Marshalltown, came under fire recently after the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided six Swift meatpacking plants in December based on a number of illegal immigrant claims. The raids are thought to have damaged the name of the company and the products it produces.

Smithfield Foods, the nation’s largest meatpacker, has expressed interest in owning a portion of the company.

I think we all know that Smithfield Foods wouldn't possibly carry on the tradition of hiring illegals to work at meatpacking plant.

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Labels: illegal aliens, swift