Bishops decry 'heartless' fed feast- day raid targeting illegal immigrants 12/28/2006
Catholic Online
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Catholic Online) – U.S. federal immigration raids in a southern Minnesota city and other sites in six states served to heartlessly divide families, disrupt a community and undermine efforts made to bridge racial and cultural divisions, according to the state’s Catholic bishops, who called for an end of such actions.
In a strongly worded Dec. 21 statement concerning the Dec. 12 raids on Swift & Co. meat plants in six states involving about 1,000 federal agents, the seven bishops of Minnesota said that they were “distressed and disheartened” by the law-enforcement effort that targeted illegal immigrants, especially as it took place on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the Americas.
In Washington on Dec. 13, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Julie L. Myers, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras and Cache County (Utah) Attorney N. George Daines announced that an estimated 1,282 persons were arrested as part of an ongoing worksite enforcement investigation into immigration violations and an identity theft scheme.
Swift facilities in Greeley, Colo., Grand Island, Neb., Cactus, Texas, Hyrum, Utah, and Marshalltown, Iowa, were also raided, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), the largest investigative arm of the U.S. federal Department of Homeland Security.
Of the almost 1,300 illegal alien workers arrested at the six plants, 65 were also charged with criminal violations related to identity theft or other violations, such as re-entry after deportation, the ICE said in a statement. Countries of origin of those arrested, according to the ICE, in the ongoing investigation that began in February included: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Peru, Laos, Sudan and Ethiopia.
The Minnesota bishops questioned the value of the raids in combating identity theft. “In fact,” they said, “few of the workers arrested at the Swift plant in Worthington were charged as perpetrators of the identity theft scheme.”
“To add insult to injury, immigration officials chose the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” they said, “as the day to target these workers and their families.”
But according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Tim Counts said "the date was chosen only because, logistically, everything came together that day," reported the St. Paul-based daily Pioneer Press.
The bishops in their statement said that the raids "heartlessly divided families, disrupted the whole community of Worthington and undermined progress that that city had made toward bridging racial and cultural differences."
"We call for an end of such raids which violate the rights of workers and the dignity of work,” the Minnesota bishops said.
“These men and women are our brothers and sisters; as workers, they provide our food; as residents, they support our local businesses and communities."
“We must always remember that their dignity as human beings must be foremost in our thinking as we address the critical issues surrounding immigration,” the bishops said. “Our faith calls us to overcome all forms of discrimination and violence so that we may build relationships that are just and loving.”
Noting that “the raids did nothing to advance needed reform,” the seven Catholic prelates pointed to “criteria for reform” in overhauling the U.S. immigration system, proposed by the U.S. and Mexican bishops’ conferences, that includes:
- An “earned legalization program” toward permanent residency for the undocumented.
- Allowance for family members to be reunited with loved ones in the United States.
- Establishment of “legal pathways for migrants to come and work in a safe, humane and orderly manner.”
- Restoration of due-process protections for immigrants.
”Comprehensive immigration reform, including a broad legalization program, should be a policy priority when Congress meets in the new year,” the bishops said.
Bishop Bernard Harrington of the Diocese of Winona, in which Worthington is located, was joined in signing the statement by Archbishop Harry Flynn and Auxiliary Bishop Richard Pates of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and Bishops Victor Balke of Crookston, Dennis Schnurr of Duluth, John Nienstedt of New Ulm and John Kinney of St. Cloud.