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270 Illegal Immigrants Sent to Prison in Federal Push
NY Times ^ | Published: May 24, 2008 | By JULIA PRESTON

Posted on 05/24/2008 7:20:20 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin

WATERLOO, Iowa — In temporary courtrooms at a fairgrounds here, 270 illegal immigrants were sentenced this week to five months in prison for working at a meatpacking plant with false documents.

The prosecutions, which ended Friday, signal a sharp escalation in the Bush administration’s crackdown on illegal workers, with prosecutors bringing tough federal criminal charges against most of the immigrants arrested in a May 12 raid. Until now, unauthorized workers have generally been detained by immigration officials for civil violations and rapidly deported.

The convicted immigrants were among 389 workers detained at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in nearby Postville in a raid that federal officials called the largest criminal enforcement operation ever carried out by immigration authorities at a workplace.

Matt M. Dummermuth, the United States attorney for northern Iowa, who oversaw the prosecutions, called the operation an “astonishing success.”

Claude Arnold, a special agent in charge of investigations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said it showed that federal officials were “committed to enforcing the nation’s immigration laws in the workplace to maintain the integrity of the immigration system.”

The unusually swift proceedings, in which 297 immigrants pleaded guilty and were sentenced in four days, were criticized by criminal defense lawyers, who warned of violations of due process. Twenty-seven immigrants received probation. The American Immigration Lawyers Association protested that the workers had been denied meetings with immigration lawyers and that their claims under immigration law had been swept aside in unusual and speedy plea agreements.

The illegal immigrants, most from Guatemala, filed into the courtrooms in groups of 10, their hands and feet shackled. One by one, they entered guilty pleas through a Spanish interpreter, admitting they had taken jobs using fraudulent Social Security cards or immigration documents. Moments later, they moved to another courtroom for sentencing.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government; US: Iowa
KEYWORDS: aliens; ice; illegals; immigrantlist; meatpacking
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Quality control is really low in the New York Times on a weekend. They use the term illegal immigrants -- in a headline!
1 posted on 05/24/2008 7:20:21 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
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To: DeaconBenjamin

Its the layoffs.


2 posted on 05/24/2008 7:21:55 AM PDT by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: DeaconBenjamin

If there could be headlines like this every day for a few years it would solve so many problems.


3 posted on 05/24/2008 7:22:28 AM PDT by MarineBrat (My wife and I took an AIDS vaccination that the Church offers.)
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To: MrEdd

Count on the Des Moines Register to kick into full weep mode Sunday.


4 posted on 05/24/2008 7:23:34 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: DeaconBenjamin
Claude Arnold, a special agent in charge of investigations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said it showed that federal officials were “committed to enforcing the nation’s immigration laws in the workplace to maintainrepair the integrity of the immigration system.”
5 posted on 05/24/2008 7:24:15 AM PDT by TADSLOS (The GOP death march to the gravesite is underway.)
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To: DeaconBenjamin

So, are they going to be deported? Set free after time?


6 posted on 05/24/2008 7:25:28 AM PDT by devane617
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To: DeaconBenjamin

270 down, 19,999,730 to go.


7 posted on 05/24/2008 7:27:54 AM PDT by tvdog12345
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To: TADSLOS

One thing missing from the prosecution...the CEO of Agriprocessors.


8 posted on 05/24/2008 7:30:11 AM PDT by Be_Politically_Erect (Conservative from birth...Republican no more.)
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To: Be_Politically_Erect
One thing missing from the prosecution...the CEO of Agriprocessors.

He's hard to track down. The McCain Straight Talk Express bus is constantly on the move.

9 posted on 05/24/2008 7:32:07 AM PDT by TADSLOS (The GOP death march to the gravesite is underway.)
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To: Be_Politically_Erect
One thing missing from the prosecution...the CEO of Agriprocessors.

No charges have been brought against managers or owners at Agriprocessors, but there were indications that prosecutors were also preparing a case against the company. In pleading guilty, immigrants had to agree to cooperate with any investigation.

10 posted on 05/24/2008 7:34:16 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
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To: DeaconBenjamin; 1_Inch_Group; 2sheep; 2Trievers; 3AngelaD; 3pools; 3rdcanyon; 4Freedom; ...

Ping!

Good - now these folks will have committed a felony the next time they cross the border.

That’ll show ‘em who’s boss.


11 posted on 05/24/2008 7:35:30 AM PDT by HiJinx (~ Support our Troops ~ www.americasupportsyou.mil ~)
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To: devane617
So, are they going to be deported? Set free after time?

prosecutors had denied them probation and insisted the immigrants serve prison time and agree to a rarely used judicial order for immediate deportation upon their release, signing away their rights to go to immigration court.

12 posted on 05/24/2008 7:36:12 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
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To: DeaconBenjamin

I sure hope they follow through. Start handing down steep fines and jail sentences to the employers and the illegals will find the job opportunity pool has dried up virtually overnight.


13 posted on 05/24/2008 7:42:19 AM PDT by Be_Politically_Erect (Conservative from birth...Republican no more.)
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To: DeaconBenjamin
Now juan will have to rewrite his amnesty bill to exempt these criminals.
14 posted on 05/24/2008 7:43:11 AM PDT by org.whodat (What's the difference between a Democrat and a republican????)
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To: tvdog12345
270 down, 19,999,730 to go.

I personally believe you're off by some 15-20 million.

Still, for now it's a handful fewer until they get out of jail and then come waltzing back across the border in a few months.
15 posted on 05/24/2008 7:45:24 AM PDT by Dr.Zoidberg ("Shut the hell up, New York Times, you sanctimonious whining jerks!" - Craig Ferguson)
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To: DeaconBenjamin
The IRS reported more than 1000 Social Security number discrepancies from 2002-2005 at Postville, IA. How hard would it be to make a case ?
16 posted on 05/24/2008 7:46:23 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

Not just the Register. Pretty much all the Iowa media coverage I’ve seen of this weeps enough to need sandbags. Everybody in town is reportedly scared the Feds are coming. What do they have to be scared about if they’re legal? There were a bunch of support meetings scheduled in the area. They easily could have picked up more illegals by raiding them, but then the press would really have gone ballistic. I don’t expect their editorial coverage to change until the Register, etc. imports some inexpensive illegals to take over some reporting jobs and they turn out to be conservatives.


17 posted on 05/24/2008 7:53:50 AM PDT by JohnBovenmyer
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To: tvdog12345

270 down, 19,999,730 to go.
:::::::
Exactly. It is all tokenism. The border is not fixed. The mass of illegals is not fixed. The cost to the country’s REAL CITIZEN taxpayers is not fixed. The Border Patrol is not allowed to do its job properly. The list goes on.

Pure TOKENISM.


18 posted on 05/24/2008 8:07:18 AM PDT by EagleUSA
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To: DeaconBenjamin

Does any US citizen doubt they’d be nailed to the wall for identity theft? The majority of illegals have been using fake docs or stolen ID’s for years with impugnity. It’s time they got what was coming to them.


19 posted on 05/24/2008 8:13:55 AM PDT by umgud
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To: umgud
..and do you think US citizens would get only 5 months for the same conviction?

No!...we would be left to rot in jail like Ramos and Campean.

Think about this...

..these illegals stole identities and lied to authorities....5 months in jail.

Ramos and Compean tried to protect & defend against lying, thieving, stealing, smuggling crooks...

..and they're left to rot in jail.

No 5 months for them.

This is only a spit in the bucket....it's not Bush getting tough at all.

20 posted on 05/24/2008 8:29:40 AM PDT by Guenevere (If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.)
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