Mississippi ICE Raid: "no company executives detained"

People clapped when those arrested were taken away.  WHAT IS THAT?  At the least it shows how much hatred and resentment is around.

And again, as always, the company executives were not arrested.  As far as I know the only time there have been arrests is if the company administrators were foreigners.  

Does this mean that ICE only wants the low wage workers who are "breaking the law."  What about the high paid bosses who are also "breaking the law" by hiring undocumented people?  Are they immune?  It appears this is so.

All this betrays reason... but then, our present administration (Bush & Co.) has never shown the ability to reason as their strong point.

An added note.  Now that the Democrats are all together, the "party of the people" could use this opportunity to make a strong statement against raids.  I am not holding my breath. 

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Sun Herald -Biloxi/Gulport
Posted on Wed, Aug. 27, 2008
Fear grips immigrants after Miss. plant raid
By HOLBROOK MOHR

...Nearly 600 immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally were detained, creating panic among dozens of families in this small southern Mississippi town.

...The superintendent of the county school district said about half of approximately 160 Hispanic students were absent Tuesday.

Roberto Velez, pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Peniel, where an estimated 30 to 40 percent of the 200 parishioners were caught up in the raid, said parents were afraid immigration officials would take them.

"They didn't send their kids to school today," he said. "How scared is that?"

One worker caught in Monday's sweep at the plant said fellow workers applauded as immigrants were taken into custody. Federal officials said a tip from a union member prompted them to start investigating several years ago.

Fabiola Pena, 21, cradled her 2-year-old daughter as she described a chaotic scene at the plant as the raid began, followed by clapping.

"I was crying the whole time. I didn't know what to do," Pena said. "We didn't know what was happening because everyone started running. Some people thought it was a bomb but then we figured out it was immigration."

...John Foxworth, an attorney representing some of the immigrants, said..."There was no communication, an immediate loss of any kind of news and a lack of understanding of what's happening to their loved ones," ...

..."We have kids without dads and pregnant mothers who got their husbands taken away," said Velez's son, Robert, youth pastor at the church. "It was like a horror story. They got handled like they were criminals."

...[Barbara Gonzalez, an ICE spokeswoman]...said agents had executed search warrants at both the plant and the company headquarters in nearby Ellisville. She said no company executives had been detained, but this was an "ongoing investigation and yesterday's action was just the first part..."

Associated Press Writers Shelia Byrd in Hattiesburg, Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson and Eileen Sullivan in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

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