SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA: Immigration raids at 11 El Balazo restaurants - 63 seized

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 5/3/8 | Heather Knight

[SmithL]

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Friday stormed 11 El Balazo restaurants around the Bay Area, arresting 63 illegal immigrants - and drawing the outrage of immigration advocates who had marched the previous day to call for the legalization of undocumented workers.

The raids began at 10:30 Friday morning in San Francisco, San Ramon, Lafayette, Concord, Pleasanton and Danville and involved 62 people from Mexico and one from Guatemala.

Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for the immigration agency, called the arrests "a targeted enforcement action" that is part of a continuing criminal investigation she couldn't discuss further.

Immigration officials photographed, fingerprinted and interviewed all of those arrested. Ten women and one man were quickly released on humanitarian grounds, including pregnancy and medical concerns, pending future immigration proceedings, Kice said.

The rest were being processed, and the majority of them were expected to be released under supervision. Some of the illegal immigrants had prior criminal convictions or deportation orders and will be detained.

Evelyn Sanchez, advocacy coordinator for the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition, was trying to connect with the workers as they were released to ensure they knew their rights and were treated fairly.

She said the immigration agents got search warrants for the El Balazo restaurants, ordered the doors be shut and interrogated the employees inside.

"It was a gross violation of civil rights, and it's just unfortunate that this happened the day after May Day when literally thousands of immigrants throughout the Bay Area marched to have this type of activity stopped," she said. "It just goes to show we need new immigration laws."

[devane617]

"Life begins at conception. Citizenship, according to the Constitution, begins at birth."

So, the unborn have no rights according to our Constitution...Interesting.

[Haddit]

That’s the ticket. Advertise for Illegal Invaders and then invite ICE.

[VOA]

bump

[engrpat]

Go to the article and read the postings of the readers. There seems to a lot of people at agree with the ICE action and some of their comments are right on.

[Haddit]

The guy from Guatemala probably told his boss he was Mexican. The nerve of these Guatemalans.

[Haddit]

I always like to read the Readers Comments. All across the country people are fed up with this Invasion and are pro enforcement. If our policies were decided by reader responses, politicians would be hanging in the wind.

Leads me to wonder who is voting and why has not the news media figured it out yet.

[LiberConservative]

Election year posturing and pandering. It only pisses both sides off. Next year it will be business as usual - with even MORE illegals.

[taxesareforever]

"It was a gross violation of civil rights

Whose civil rights were violated? Illegals have no civil rights.

[Shermy]

“The rest were being processed, and the majority of them were expected to be released under supervision”

Catch and release is still the Bush policy, apparently, despite Chertoff’s claims.

[Fresh Wind]

We need to have the same immigration laws that Mexico does, and we need to enforce them with the same vigor that Mexico does. Of course, that would be a “civil rights violation”.

[HighlyOpinionated]

I am incensed that ICE failed to contain ALL of the protestors at the various May Day Rallies throughout the USofA, question each of them for documentation or citizenship papers, arrest those who had no papers, take their DNA, and then transport them over the Mexican border to Mexico City and deliver them to Mexican President Felipe De Jesus CALDERON Hinojosa without delay.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

Sixty-three more McCain votes -- poof! -- GONE! Just like that! ;)

[Publius6961]

BUMP!

[Liz]

Nah----McC still has the names of their various identities and the several precincts where they each registered to vote.

Those 63 magically mushroom into some 300 votes when ringers are bussed in on election day (with lists of fakes names under which to vote).

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

On a related note: if you haven't seen this picture yet, over at Michelle's place... you just gotta, is all. ;)

[Tennessee Nana]

Bad reporting...

NO immigrants marched ...

just a few illegal aliens rioted brazenly on our streets..

[unlearner]

"So, the unborn have no rights according to our Constitution...Interesting."

Not so interesting as the absence of logic by which you infer your statement from mine.

Amendment 14 - Citizenship Rights:

1. ALL PERSONS BORN or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are CITIZENS of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive ANY PERSON of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to ANY PERSON within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The sentiment is shared in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

There are rights and privileges for citizens - such as voting - which do not belong to other PERSONS, such as legal resident aliens, and illegal aliens. However, all PERSONS have certain inalienable rights. So a person cannot steal from or kill an illegal alien without violating the same laws that protect citizens. They are also, under our Constitution, guaranteed the right to due process for any crimes for which they are accused.

As I said before. Unborn children are not yet CITIZENS, but they are PERSONS.

This is a very reasonable distinction. At the time of the Constitution being written, the sex of the child was unknown until birth. Names were given at birth. Birth certificates were, and still are, important legal documents. This custom predates this nation and is ongoing.

Legalized abortion is clearly unconstitutional due to the fact that the unborn are being deprived of life without due process.

So, contrary to your convoluted reasoning, the unborn do have rights.

[devane617]

"absence of logic by which you infer your statement from mine."

When you can grow up enough to stop with the cheap I will read further.

[Ole Okie]

The dems can't wait until the anchor babies are old enough to vote.

What the heck? Are they discriminating on the basis of age?

Let the anchor babies vote! Now!!

/sarc

[nw_arizona_granny]

Ping.