[migrawatch-public] The Anatomy of an Immigration Raid

The Anatomy of an Immigration Raid

New America Media, News Analysis, Mary Holper, Posted: May 21, 2007

/Editor's note: ICE's raid on a New Bedford factory underscores the
inhumane way the federal agency operates in enforcing immigration laws
says Mary Holper of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. The raid
left scores of families without a breadwinner or legal recourse./

When federal immigration agents raided a factory in New Bedford, Mass.,
the workers were producing safety vests and backpacks for the U.S.
military. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) moved to detain and
deport most of the workers almost immediately. Many of their families
were left behind to wait for news about their loved ones and judicial
decisions.

In the early March raid, ICE agents arrested 361 people, most of whom
were women. ICE released only 25 of the women that day, and
approximately 25 the following day. All of the others were taken to Fort
Devens, Mass., for temporary detention at a decommissioned military
fort. ICE loaded detainees onto buses and flew them across the country.
Most of the detainees were transferred to facilities in south Texas,
where they were far from their families, communities, and the fleet of
pro bono lawyers who were willing to represent the group who came to be
known as "the New Bedford detainees."

After the raids, immigration lawyers immediately sought access to the
detainees. ICE did not grant full access to them. It denied Ondine
Galvez Sniffen of Catholic Social Services when she asked to speak with
the workers at the factory on the day of the raid. Greater Boston Legal
Services coordinated teams of lawyers, paralegals and students to
interview the detainees at Fort Devens. ICE granted access to only those
detainees the lawyers could name. In two long nights spent at Fort
Devens, the legal teams interviewed a mere fraction of the detainees.
ICE transported most of the detainees out of Massachusetts, so the
lawyers' efforts to meet with all of the New Bedford detainees prior to
transfer failed.

Approximately 200 detainees ended up in south Texas, far from their
families and advocates. A group of immigration lawyers filed a lawsuit
in federal district court in Massachusetts to prevent this transfer.
However, as papers for the lawsuit were being prepared and filed, ICE
moved the last of the 200 detainees out of Massachusetts, where the
federal district court would lose jurisdiction over them.

Despite ICE's efforts, the federal district court ruled that ICE was
temporarily prevented from deporting any New Bedford detainee who had
given up her rights to a hearing and agreed to voluntary departure or a
stipulated deportation order following the raid. The court ordered that
a group of immigration lawyers fly to Texas to interview the detainees
to determine if their rights had been violated. However, the goal of the
lawsuit, that ICE would be forced to transfer the New Bedford detainees
back to Massachusetts, was not realized. To date, none of the Texas
detainees have been transferred back to New England. Many of the Texas
detainees were denied bond or granted unaffordable bonds.

It took some time and a lot of coordination to arrange legal
representation for those kept in Texas. The Political Asylum/Immigration
Representation (PAIR) Project and the American Immigration Lawyers
Association (AILA) coordinated lawyers to help some of the detainees in
Texas.

Approximately 90 detainees remained detained in New England after ICE
transferred the rest. The PAIR Project coordinated pro bono
representation for the remaining detainees. PAIR Project and the
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., (CLINIC) trained the lawyers
on how to represent detainees in a bond hearing before an immigration
judge. Catholic Social Services of Fall River, the PAIR Project, and
Greater Boston Legal Services agreed to represent all of the New Bedford
detainees who remained in New England.

ICE released some of the detainees who remained in New England on bond.
Approximately 50 are still in detention in New England. The detainees
are housed in local county jails, where ICE rents space. ICE detainees
are often housed with U.S. citizens who are facing trial for criminal
charges or serving sentences for criminal convictions.

Meanwhile, New Bedford is left with the families of those who remain in
detention. With a breadwinner in detention, many turned to a church in
New Bedford for aid and support. Social workers and other community
members help them sort out their affairs. Family members can receive,
among other things, diapers, food, and, at least, a friendly smile from
volunteers at the church. The New Bedford detainees who were released
await decisions from immigration judges in Boston. They will decide
whether the detainees must be deported from the U.S.

The New Bedford raid had a high human cost, both with the torn families
and the suffering of those detained and their children. It also sent
undocumented workers a message that they should live in constant fear
for seeking subsistence through unauthorized employment. This raid only
reflects an immigration system out of step with the social and economic
realities of the country we live in.

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