Posted on 08/20/2013 12:14:59 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
PHOENIX — Federal agents arrested 11 managers and supervisors of a local car-washing chain on immigration fraud and other charges in weekend raids that brought in more than 200 people, setting off fear among immigrants already on edge by years of relentless enforcement in a state at the core of the debate over illegal immigration.
The scene on Saturday resembled the workplace raids by Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County and operations by federal authorities here and elsewhere: heavily armed agents in bulletproof vests and ski masks surrounded the businesses, and then escorted workers outside single file with hands bound behind their backs.
In all, the agents rounded up 223 people, most of them in the United States illegally. Of those, 179 were released after questioning, under a policy that gives priority to the deportation of people with criminal records or a repeated history of immigration violations. Thirty immigrants fit this profile and were placed on a path to deportation, according to federal officials.
But officials said workers on the carwash floor were never the investigators’ target. From the investigation’s start two years ago, they said, they had their eyes trained on the people in charge, whom they accused of running a scheme that also included identity theft and financial improprieties, in part for evading taxes on wages paid to the unauthorized workers.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I hope they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Anyone who hires illegals is part of the problem
A BIG part
Darn Heisenger!
Catch and Release... foreign criminals being allowed to go free....
You mean “Heisenberg”. Have an A1 Day!
Sheesh, fair is fair, right..? NSA scoops up ALL our data, NOT ON PURPOSE, OF COURSE..! Heavens, no...! Nah, all our stuff gets sucked up just ALONGSIDE what they really want, which is baaaad, nasty terrorist stuff. So it's OK, yeah.
GOOD JOB SHERIFF JOE..! We know you would NEVER accidentally nab illegals cuz well, as we citizens have seen so often these days, SH*T JUST HAPPENS, right?
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK..!
Why not throw in a couple DHS MRAPs with .50 cals for good measure... pose that they're just there for a wash?
Why is the word illegal so hard to understand?
Owners must have missed their organizing for obummer donation.
Remeber some time back..Stand With AZ reported...Illegal aliens are stealing identities of U.S. citizens to gain employment which escalates our unemployment problems. I don’t believe we should tolerate this. Furthermore, I will continue to enforce all federal and state illegal immigration laws in the business sector through human smuggling and crime suppression operations, despite activists and the federal government who may not like it,” said the Sheriff.
There is not yet indication whether some of the illegal aliens were using the social security numbers of dead persons, as has happened many times in the past, including ones of murder victims.
Activists were livid, and demanded Joe be stopped by Judge Snow. ”Arpaio should not have conducted these raids in the first place,” said Sandra Castro, an organizer with Puente Arizona. “Why is he going after these folks based on ID fraud when you know it’s linked to immigration?” Castro asked. Uh, because it is against the law, Ms. Castro, but of course you and your illegal alien buddies have no respect for our nation or its laws.
We don’t know how Judge Snow will react to this raid that took place so soon after a ruling he intended to cut Arpaio off at the knees. The next hearing is August 30.
But Joe will NOT back down. And he is forcefully appealing the ruling in court. We stand with Joe and his steadfast adherence to the rule of law. Way to go, Joe!
Are the same supporters going to ask,why are the feds going after these folks based on ID fraud when you know it’s linked to immigration?”
Better call Saul.
...heavily armed agents in bulletproof vests and ski masks surrounded the businesses...
in part for evading taxes on wages paid to the unauthorized workers.
They could solve the problem or at least go a long way in that direction by just getting young Americans off of welfare and off of their ass,s and getting to work.
Sadly, the purpose of these raids is not to stop illegal immigrants (who were pretty much released to go find other jobs), but to put pressure on businesses to support amnesty.
As the Obama feds target the employers who are using illegals, those employers sign on to push Obama’s amnesty programs. I have little doubt that Obama’s administration will ease up on prosecution for those who are willing to pony up for the cause.
I agree they should be prosecuted — but it is clear that is not the primary motivation of this administration, but rather to forcibly enlist workers for their cause of amnesty.
Yep, you’re right.
It’s like ice water down my back, but you’re right.
...setting off fear among immigrants already on edge by years of relentless enforcement....
***
Oh, the horrors of that “relentless enforcement”. Hey, illegals, if you want to live without such fear, go back to where you came from and stop breaking into my country.
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