ICE makes about face: releases workers detained last month in Washington State

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ICE releases workers arrested in Washington raid

The Associated Press/Washington Post
Tuesday, March 31, 2009; 6:51 PM

SEATTLE -- Many of the 28 workers arrested by immigration agents last month in a northwest Washington raid have been released and given permission to work, in another sign of how the Obama administration is handling illegal immigration differently than its predecessor.

The raid at a Yamato Engine Specialists plant in Bellingham was the first mass arrest of immigrants since President Barack Obama took office and appeared to contradict his policy that federal agents focus more on employers who hire undocumented workers than on the workers themselves. Shortly after the arrests, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ordered a review of the raid...more