http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061213/D8LVTD7O0.html

Outside a meatpacking plant fence here, a frustrated Tony Garcia watched as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swarmed inside.

"We need help," he yelled to them. "We need answers."

There were few of those Tuesday as agents began their initial sweep through Swift & Co. plants in six states, arresting illegal immigrants who had bought or stolen other people’s identities to help them get Swift jobs.

I don’t get it.  Why support and defend companies that violate the law and in effect enable identity theft.  I bet if his identity got stolen he might feel different.

Garcia, who said he has friends who work at the Greeley plant, was worried about the fate of schoolchildren whose parents were arrested. "Who is going to pick them up?" he asked.

Maybe their idiot parents should have considered that before involving themselves in activities they had to know were ilelgal.

I feel compassion for the kids, I really do, but no sympathy for the parents.  Period.  This is an issue all over the country where parents commit crimes and don’t think about the impact of their children until they get caught, and then suddenly the mean old police are the bad guys.  It’s completely twisted.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061213/D8M03JPG1.html

More than 1,200 people were arrested in meatpacking plants in six states during raids that federal officials said amounted to the largest-ever workplace crackdown on illegal immigration.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday the investigation uncovered a "disturbing front" in the war against illegal immigration, in which illegal immigrants are using the identities of U.S. citizens to obtain jobs.

"Violations of our immigration laws and privacy rights often go hand in hand," he said. "Enforcement actions like this one protect the privacy rights of innocent Americans while striking a blow against illegal immigration."

And about bloody time.

Advocates of stricter immigration control praised the raids, pointing out they targeted people suspected of committing other crimes in addition to entering the nation illegally.

"I’m glad that ICE is enforcing our immigration laws in light of the illegal immigration crisis we face across the country," Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said in a statement.

What boggles my mind is this:

Immigration officials last month informed Swift that it would remove unauthorized workers on Dec. 4, but Swift asked a federal judge to prevent agents from conducting the raid, arguing it would cause "substantial and irreparable injury" to its business.

The company estimated a raid would remove up to 40 percent of its 13,000 workers.

And they felt no concern that they were drawing on illegal resources, and their emplyees may have been involving them in identity theft.  No, they were concerned about production:

After a closed hearing, a judge on Thursday rejected Swift’s request, clearing the way for Tuesday’s raids at the plants in Greeley; Grand Island; Cactus, Texas; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minn.

I can’t beleive it.  They sued to stop enforcement of immigration laws and in essence protected identity theft criminals.

The worst part:

No charges were filed against Swift.

Why the hell not?  Maybe if companies had to face consequences for their hiring illegals, they would be disinclined to do so.

If nothing else this raid does one thing.  It moves the debate from the strawman of Racism to the reality of Criminal Identity Theft.

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