Hispanic Lawmakers Denounce 'Inhumane' Immigration Raids

WASHINGTON — Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Tuesday accused federal agents of conducting "inhumane" immigration raids that hurt children, including many U.S. citizens.

Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., president of the caucus, said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency conducting the raids, is tearing families apart.

"It's not ICE's job to intimidate individuals, regardless. It's not ICE's job to humiliate individuals. It's not ICE's job to leave hundreds of children without parents," he told a Capitol Hill press conference.

The event was prompted in part by a raid last week at Agriprocessors Inc., a meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa, where 389 workers were arrested. It is the latest in a string of enforcement operations around the country.

Sister Kathy Thill, a nun with the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas who works with the Latino community in Iowa, spoke emotionally about the raid and its aftermath. She said she found "hundreds of people in shock and distress" at a church that became a shelter for many who feared being arrested.

Hundreds of men, women, children and babies slept on the floors and pews in fear of going home and being arrested, she said with tears in her eyes. Thill also said that ICE agents would not give out information about several minors arrested in the raid after inquiries from terrified parents. It seemed as though she was living in a different country that did not respect the dignity and rights of all people, she said.

"Our nation's immigration policies and practices are broken and inhumane," she said, at the press conference.

ICE denied the accusations.

"ICE conducts its law enforcement operations lawfully, professionally, and humanely," said James C. Spero, deputy assistant director of ICE's Office of Investigations.

Spero made the remarks at a House hearing earlier in the day. He said that ICE takes "extraordinary steps to identify, document, and act appropriately" regarding humanitarian concerns of people encountered during the raids, including cooperation with public health and social service agencies.

He also said that ICE was "first and foremost a federal law enforcement agency with the mandate of protecting national security and public safety by enforcing the nation's immigration and customs laws."

At the hearing of a House Education and Labor subcommittee, witnesses criticized ICE's actions in other immigration raids, saying that children were "traumatized" and absentee rates at schools skyrocketed following the raids because children, including many U.S.-born citizens, were afraid to go to school.

Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights organization, said that ICE agents have conducted activities near schools and Head Start centers for low income children, including following school buses and parking near the centers during pick up and drop off times.

"These actions on the part of ICE are having a chilling effect on the participation of migrant children in Head Start," she said.

Spero said he is not aware of any ICE agents entering a Head Start facility.

Lawmakers also assailed the Bush administration for focusing its immigration security efforts on workers instead of employers.

Spero said that the ultimate goal is to go after employers, but that those cases are "comprehensive full scale investigations" and take time to develop.

During the Postville raid, only workers were arrested.

Rep. Howard McKeon, R-Calif., said that ICE agents are trying to uphold immigration laws that have been ignored for a long time and are not to blame for the impact of the raids on families.

"A person who chooses to come illegally or overstays their legal status, they are really the ones putting those children in jeopardy," McKeon said.

In Postville, 306 people were charged with various criminal offenses including aggravated identity theft, falsely using a Social Security number, illegally reentering the United States after being deported, and fraudulently using an alien registration card. Others were charged only with immigration violations.

On Tuesday, ICE announced that 85 of the defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced on federal felony charges. All admitted they were in the United States illegally.

"This is the greatest number of defendants ever to plead guilty and be sentenced in one day in the Northern District of Iowa," U.S. Attorney Matt M. Dummermuth told a press release.

Additional hearings are scheduled through Thursday.

On the Web:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: www.ice.gov

National Council of La Raza: www.nclr.org