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| Home Front: Politix |
| L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa warns ICE to back off immigration raids |
| 2008-04-11 |
| Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is asking federal officials to rethink their policy on workplace immigration crackdowns that involve established businesses and to focus on employers that mistreat workers instead. You mean established business whose pockets are deep enough for you to get into? The mayor said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that work-site raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement could have "severe and long-lasting effects" on the local economy, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. They "could", but they won't. ICE made more than 4,900 work-site arrests nationwide in fiscal 2007, a 45-fold increase over the number in 2001, authorities said. And about 450 times less than the number they should be shooting for. More than 130 undocumented workers were arrested at a San Fernando Valley manufacturing company in February and over 60 workers were arrested for immigration violations at South Bay-area warehouses last week. Los Angeles companies such as clothing manufacturer American Apparel Inc. have reported being questioned by ICE officials about their hiring procedures. Villaraigosa accused federal officials of targeting "established, responsible employers" in industries that rely on "workforces that include undocumented immigrants." The word responsible in the above sentence fits in like an illegal worker in the US economy. "In these industries, including most areas of manufacturing, even the most scrupulous and responsible employers have no choice but to rely on workers whose documentation, while facially valid, may raise questions about their lawful presence," he wrote in the March 27 letter. Yeesh! Waders don't fail me now! He said ICE should spend its limited resources targeting employers who exploit wage and hour laws. No, ICE should go after employers who hire illegals and subvert the economy, not chase after your red herrings. Chertoff has not responded to the mayor's letter, but Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said the department believes its priorities are correct. So do most who aren't illegal aliens. Or under their control. She said work-site investigations focus on national security and public safety and that the agency also investigates companies it believes may have committed visa fraud, money laundering, and other violations. Mayoral spokesman Matt Szabo said Villaraigosa and Los Angeles business leaders hope to discuss their concerns with Chertoff in person next week during an annual business trip to Washington. The allusion in this conversation will probably be thick enough to cut with a knife. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #13 are they really braggibg about the total arrest .omg |
| Posted by: sinse 2008-04-11 17:16 |
| #12 Wonder what he'll have to say when he succeeds the Governator. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-04-11 15:26 |
| #11 Maybe he's worried that if too many illegal aliens have to leave LA he won't get reelected. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2008-04-11 15:19 |
| #10 Gosh, to hear Villaraigosa tell it, you'd think Bush was doing his job after all. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2008-04-11 15:17 |
| #9 L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa warns ICE to back off immigration raids We are in for a fight to preserve our full Citizen Status. The Oligarchs in Mexico have plenty of American competition up here. The poisonous effects of Multiculturalism and those fast tracked NA Corporate Treaties is beginning to gut our American Citizen Status. |
| Posted by: RD 2008-04-11 13:21 |
| #8 Go get a job in Olde Mexico without the proper paperwork and see how long they toss your ass in stir for, huh Tony? |
| Posted by: Chief Running Gag 2008-04-11 11:25 |
| #7 Maybe Absolut was right? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-04-11 10:44 |
| #6 Along that line, does "Made in Miami" now translate as "Made in Cuba"? |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2008-04-11 10:38 |
| #5 Stuff made in Los Angeles now qualify for the Hecho en Mexico label. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-04-11 10:30 |
| #4 "In these industries, including most areas of manufacturing, even the most scrupulous and responsible employers have no choice but to rely on workers whose documentation, while facially valid, may raise questions about their lawful presence," he wrote in the March 27 letter. So a scrupulous examination of the pay records will also show that they are in line with what 'legal' and commensurate local union rates would be in an similar environment in any other comparable major city? Don't bet on it. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-04-11 09:51 |
| #3 "In these industries, including most areas of manufacturing, even the most scrupulous and responsible employers have no choice but to rely on workers whose documentation, while facially valid, may raise questions about their lawful presence," he wrote in the March 27 letter. Oh. You mean the identity theft amigos? I'd have pulled the biggest LA ICE raid in history today after this bullshit. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-04-11 09:41 |
| #2 If you can augment the labor force with enough illegals and underpaid workers you can skew the entire pay scale, and they have. There is only one reason to hire illegals, and you're right, it's to exploit them. There is no philanthropic aspect there, only greed. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-04-11 08:15 |
| #1 illegal immigration is simply immoral. Those who support it should be ashamed. It is simply the allowing of an entire section of our society to remain a shadow class of labor that remains outside the realm of the law. All of the arguments that support illegal immigration are the same arguements that were used to support slavery: the economy relies on it and would collapse if we abolish it; the participants are the only ones willing to do the work; the little brown folk are better off for their affliction, etc. This is all about keeping a cheap source of labor outside the realm of society so that that businesses do not have to pay them a fair wage for their efforts. It has NOTHING to do with anything altruistic or high minded. It is all about keeping a labor class down. |
| Posted by: Woodrow Slusorong7967 2008-04-11 07:31 |