ICE that Burns: Raids in Los Angeles

"Only ten minutes left ... and I'm off the clock."

There is a terror in Los Angeles and a version of it goes like this: A woman is working and all of a sudden armed men and women bust through the doors and tell her and her co-workers to remain still. Her heart pounds a million miles per minute but her legs stay put.

The authorities yell at her to line up and begin prodding her and the others with verbal questions and comments. She and her co-workers are as scared and humiliated as cattle being herded to slaughter. Before she knows it, she's in a detention cell. Hours later, she emerges and her life will never be the same.

This is the story of one of the persons involved in a Los Angeles area Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Raid on Thursday where up to 100 people were moved from the San Fernando valley to an LA detention center for processing. Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, states that ICE raids are are an example of a failing immigration policy because they terrorize families and workers. She continued by stating that until Congress passes policy that appropriately responds to the complex nature of immigration processes, ICE should stop terrorizing these families.


Brief points of Note:

1) The ACLU and others state that only 2 counsel windows were provided for the 100+/- people that were detained -- If ICE is going to continue with these types of mass round ups, then it should abide by this country's legal concept of due process and provide adequate resources for all people to receive mass counsel in a timely fashion. It is unlawful to hold someone without counsel. All detainees must have quick and reliable access to counsel regardless of assumed legal status. If not, they must be let go.

2) In this particular case, families of the detainees came to post bond but were told to wait until Monday the 11th. ICE must also provide adequate resources for quick and accurate processing.


One woman's story ... The story of Thousands:
These workers were sent to a Federal detention center, not for murder or even the embezzlement of millions, but because they may or may not have crossed a line by crossing a line. And although they are tax-payers in this land, they do not reap all of its legal protections. They purchase thousands of items per year and pay millions in rent annually to landowners, which in turn contributes to the US economy and various social programs they often do not have access to. They are tax-paying, hard-working men and women that contribute to and sustain the US workforce and economy and they should be treated with dignity.