Feds deny protests affected immigration arrests

Source: msnbc/ap



Updated: 2 hours, 52 minutes ago

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Neighbors of Elvira Carvajal sought refuge in her house so immigration agents wouldn’t arrest them. Friends of Herman Martinez asked him to bring them milk for their children because they were afraid to step onto the streets.

In the weeks leading up to the huge pro-immigrant rallies in the spring of 2006, rumors swirled that authorities were on the streets rounding up illegal immigrants across the country. Fear of being caught and deported kept many illegal immigrants, and some legal ones, in their homes.

Non-worksite arrests did indeed jump in the first half of 2006, up 75 percent over the previous year, according to Homeland Security data released to The Associated Press.


However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement insists the increase did not come from random sweeps but from its standing policy of making specific arrests, and that more than two-thirds of those detained already had deportation orders.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19389988/

Sure...if they hit the streets to demonstrate for some sort of answer to this 10-20 million population of undocumented persons living and working in this country, we'll just arrest them and deport their butts back to wherever they came from. Forget the effect it has on the remaining family, friends and business people left behind. We'll set a good example..and it will scare them back into the shadows even deeper.

The pundits claim the demonstrations have run out of steam. Try "we scared the steam out of them", and they are afraid to demonstrate. Bit of a difference. I'm not for open borders, but I'm not for uprooting just enough to scare the other 10-20 million into living in daily fear of being uprooted and tossed into the wind either.

And criminals' families (who have done nothing wrong) are torn apart when the the criminal is taken to prison.

Does that mean we should stop putting people behind bars entirely, just because it hurts the people around them?

Criminals (and that includes those who come here illegally) chose to put themselves and their families at risk. You can't stop prosecuting them, just because other people are involved. It's sad, but the criminals made that choice.

As for the demonstrations, it's not fear that has reduced their numbers. It's the fact that a huge number of them got their own butts fired, for not showing up to work in the "walkout". Many Mexicans who are here legally were furious about the demonstrations, and fired their employees who walked out. I'm sure employers of other races were equally angry, as well; you can't just tell the boss, "Screw you, I'm demonstrating," and expect to keep your job.

Concerning "living in fear", there are millions of people in this country living in fear because of high crime. Let's have a little sympathy for them, m'kay?