Posted on 10/22/2005 12:06:44 AM PDT by dennisw
Murders of immigrants help prompt lawsuit against Homeland Security By ROSA RAMIREZ Hispanic Link News Service October 20, 2005
- The recent murders of six Mexican workers in Georgia underline various social issues facing immigrants, including inadequate housing and a lack of trust of financial institutions and local authorities.
Responding to these and other atrocities, a class action lawsuit was filed Oct 18 in Los Angeles on behalf of hundreds of undocumented immigrants living throughout the United States. The suit was directed at Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, pressing them to issue visas to immigrant victims of violent crimes who have cooperated with investigations or prosecutions of such crimes.
Five years ago, congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, which permits some undocumented immigrants who were crime victims to remain lawfully in the United States for humanitarian reasons.
To date, Chertoff has "flouted and violated this important law," according to the suit.
Gabriela Lemus, policy analyst for the League of United Latin American Citizens in Washington, says there is increasing evidence that crimes against immigrants are not being reported, particularly in emerging communities where a Hispanic infrastructure has not developed.
"The overarching immigration policy is very confusing. People don't know what their rights are," Lemus contends.
According to Luz Marti, a Hispanic advocate in Georgia's Tift County, where the latest killings occurred, inadequate housing likely contributed to the immigrants' vulnerability.
"The doors (of the trailers where the victims lived) were not strong. There were no working windows. In some trailers, windows were (covered) with towels or sheets," she says.
Marti says the crimes, which police maintain are not racially motivated, should serve as a wake-up call to Hispanics, law enforcement and the public about the challenges facing immigrants.
A series of mobile home invasions at four Tift County trailer parks Sept. 30 resulted in the six Mexican men being beaten to death, one woman raped and six other men wounded.
The victims have been identified as Mateo Gomez, 54; Jose Luis Tias, 20; Felipe Mauricio Esparza, 32; Armando Perez Martinez, 25; Mauricio Florindo and Guadalupe Sanchez. The ages of the latter two are unknown.
"We think these people were targeted because they carry a lot of cash," Marti says, adding that some immigrants keep their savings at home and usually pay with cash.
Four people have been charged with six counts of murder each, according to David Haire, public information officer with the sheriff's office in Tift County.
While the murders have shocked the local immigrant community, the Southern Poverty Law Center has produced several intelligence reports detailing attacks against Mexican immigrants throughout the country.
Can't believe you're so base to ask in such a manner, but yes and NO. Yes. The drain on our medical system through NONPAYMENT by illegals (and indigents), not necessarily immigrants - certainly not those who are legal, directly results in higher costs for all - and helps justify those $100 medications. Someone MUST pay for the R&D PLUS allow reasonable recovery of debt for the non-payment. It's simple economics.
NO. The misuse and whoredom of the word "immigrant" confers a false sense of legality, which not one illegal can claim. They are ILLEGAL ALIENS. They broke the law to be here, and continue to do so with each moment they remain.
You are aware those people enter the US from points OTHER than those designated points of entry, right? You are aware this is why they're called ILLEGAL aliens, right? Anyone not bright enough to understand the need to restrict entry to those designated points via a wall or linear structure is welcome to attempt the same by leaving their possessions in the wide open and see just how long they can keep them.
Would you care to be the first? Walls and fences exist for a reason.
If you're an advocate of open borders and illegals, because you assist the deterioration of the sovereignty of these United States, I respectfully decline to consider you a "fellow conservative" and call your reasoning into question for it. Your reasoning may be valid - but the motives are questionable from a Conservative standpoint.
Thanks for the link - bookmarked!
Mark Krikorian is one of my favorites!
Him and John L. Sullivan had a devastating refutation of Tamar Jacoby's pro-amnesty argument in the most recent issue of NR.
Did you catch it?
-good times, G.J.P. (Jr.)
Are the immigration laws of the United States not laws in your eyes? If you want the United States to be a country of laws, then you should want our immigration laws to be strictly enforced.
What about our law enforcement people who have been killed in the line of duty by illegal aliens???? I care more about them, and this article does not clarify if these immigrants mentioned are ILLEGAL.
A series of mobile home invasions at four Tift County trailer parks Sept. 30 resulted in the six Mexican men being beaten to death, one woman raped and six other men wounded.
It's a safe assumption.
hmmm, I guess it would be that they are all here illegally. Again I pose the question? What about our law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty by ILLEGAL ALIEN Trespassers???????????????????????????????????
The reason you don't hear about the border patrol agents and law enforcement officers murdered by illegal aliens is because the dominant media organs care more about preserving the politically correct status quo than they do about uncovering the truth.
Did you happen to read post #91 from anti-liberal ?. This post relates very closely with what is so terribly wrong with our current immigration laws in this country. Are you suggesting that I agree with this system of Law ?. If you are I would suggest you go jump in a lake !
hmmm, I guess it would be that they are all here illegally. Again I pose the question? What about our law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty by ILLEGAL ALIEN Trespassers???????????????????????????????????
I respectfully decline to consider you a "fellow conservative" and call your reasoning into question for it. Your reasoning may be valid - but the motives are questionable from a Conservative standpoint.
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