Posted on 01/31/2004 5:56:03 AM PST by SheLion
Their boss insists that they're not trying to act like jerks. It's just that the border patrol agents who descended on Portland last weekend are new to Maine and, this being the dead of winter and all, they apparently can't help themselves.
"A lot of our agents are just off the southern (U.S.) border and there's a different atmosphere down there," said Monte J. Bennett, assistant chief patrol agent for the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection in Houlton. "There are a lot more numbers down there. Things are more aggressive."
In other words, if you're an immigrant in Maine these days, you'd best double-check your papers before you go anywhere and learn to say "Yes, sir" and "No, sir" to anyone in a black uniform and boots. And oh yes, try not to look suspicious.
"My business is down 80 percent since Saturday," lamented Juan Gonzalez, owner of La Bodega Latina Grocery Store on Congress Street. "Customers call me on the phone saying, 'Is it clear? Can we come down?' People are really afraid."
According to bureau spokesman Bennett, what happened Saturday in Portland was a typical "transportation sweep" in which federal agents - many recently transferred here as part of a south-to-north shift in homeland security forces - visited Portland's airport, train and bus stations in search of illegal aliens.
They netted 10 people whose papers failed to pass muster. At the same time, they left Portland's hard-won reputation as an immigrant-friendly city in tatters.
Nasir Ahmed was behind the counter at Amei Halaal Market on St. John Street when agents walked in and told everyone, employees and customers alike, to get out their passports and green cards. Ahmed said some patrons eating lunch in the Somali market bolted out the back door - not because they were undocumented, but because they were scared to death.
"How would you feel if you went to McDonald's and got asked for ID while you were eating your food? That's what happened here," Ahmed asked. "Now, less people come in. We lost a lot of customers."
Mohammed Barre, who was in the store at the time, said much of the anxiety could have been avoided if the agents had clearly identified themselves (several eyewitnesses said they didn't) and, before coming through the door, had taken the chips off their shoulders.
"Unfriendly," Barre replied when asked to describe the agents' demeanor. "Very unfriendly."
Bennett insisted that the operation targeted only Portland's "transportation hubs," not its immigrant enclaves. He added, however, that the agents will investigate anything "that needs investigating."
Would two stores with foreign names, frequented by people with dark skin, each a block or two from the Vermont Transit bus station "need investigating"?
"Based solely on that, no," Bennett replied. "They go more by people's mannerisms."
Thus, we are asked to believe, it was a citywide outbreak of "mannerisms" that attracted agents to Amei Halaal Market, La Bodega Latina and even the Preble Street Resource Center, where director Mark Swann has vowed that the next time agents show up, they'll be asked for a search warrant.
(Lest we all think the agents' attitudes began and ended with immigrants, consider my daughter's welcome Saturday upon arriving in Portland by bus from Boston: After she gave a border agent her license, he demanded her passport. She correctly told him that U.S. citizens don't need passports for interstate travel. "Let me give you a word of advice," he replied tersely. "You need to learn to watch your mouth.")
Where all this tension goes from here is anyone's guess.
Meetings are already being held among Portland's immigrant elders and leaders. And the Latino Health and Community Service has called off its Feb. 14 health fair because, director John Connors explained, "I'm not going to put up posters telling these guys we're going to have a bunch of minorities and immigrants showing up at a particular time and place."
Bennett calls such fears unfounded. If confronted by a federal agent, he said, all anyone has to do is "be friendly, be straightforward and answer their questions."
And above all, watch your mannerisms.
Columnist Bill Nemitz can be contacted at 791-6323 or at: bnemitz@pressherald.com
I agree with that, but it is because our resources are being misdirected, even wasted. I am afraid that if we don't deal with the illegal alien problem, we will never be able to enjoy freedom OR security again. If, however, we took agressive and extraordinary means of addressing that problem, there would be little need for the ongoing measures we endure now in the name of security because we would have eliminated the source of 95% of the problem. All we're doing now is temprorarily relieving symptoms, but until we remove the cancer the body is still threatened.
Yeah, and the battles in the courts to subjugate the children are underway. Homeschooling is just one more freedom on the political hit list.
I think that is essentially what we are doing when we don't provide first for our own.
Nope. Not at all. The politicians are busy serving their own agendas, NOT the American people. We are just suppose to pay the bills and vote as we're told.
That's why it's called "illegal." While profiling may have its drawbacks, it also works in many cases and for the ones who are doing nothing wrong and are legitimate immigrants, visitors or even citizens, they have nothing to worry about.
The old, if you aren't doing something wrong, you have nothing to worry about argument. As I posted to another FReeper, apparently you'd have no problem with yearly inspections of your home by the federal government? What you are missing, is that what is considered illegal/socially acceptable changes over time. Your views are fine until the things you do or say become the target of the government's wrath. People in this country have the right to be different, and they have the right to be left alone. Now, that doesn't mean I believe in amnesty for illegals, but there are many ways to solve the problem. Giving the government the power to randomly question people who are minding their own business is not the answer. Ending taxpayer funded social benefits (health, education, etc.) for illegals is a start. In this case, if the government is aware of specific abuse by an individual, then the government should get involved. (I am not conceding that the government should be providing social services in the first place, but I am working in the system). While I wouldn't like to see these tactics in widespread use, in areas where there are known concentrations of illegals, I think there is validity to it unless and until we find better ways.
There are better ways.
That said, I don't think fear should be the primary motivator for these people to leave though. In the first place, it really doesn't work. It just drives them farthur underground and in many cases may serve as an encouragement to them to commit other crimes. No; what we need is to remove their reasons for wanting to be here so that they leave on their own. I would like to see severe penalties imposed on employers who hire them, removal of ALL freebies to illegals beyond emergency medical (followed by immediate deportation), the elimination of anchor baby citizenship and the denial of any special consideration to those who are already here. I Agree with these points.Employers who hire those who "do work that Americans won't do" must be required to pay a competitive wage and if he then is unable to employ an American after a reasonable period of time, he may employ a non-American from a pool of registered and approved workers who are still IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES WAITING FOR WORK, Why exactly should the government be able to impose its will on privately owned business? What right do you (acting through the government) have to tell me how much I have to pay a worker? and then only for a brief period of time. He should be required to extend the position to Americans at least once a year. A guest worker should also have absolute limits on the length of time he can be here and must sign documents stating that he understands that not returning to his home country upon expiration of his permit subjects him to criminal penalties and deportation and furthur, as a condition of his acceptance into the guest worker program, he would be required to waive any access to the American courts for the purpose of contesting removal or to bring any type of civil rights action against either his employer or immigration officials. While such guidelines might impose some uncomfortable restraints on guest workers, if their claim is legitimate and they only desire to work jobs Americans won't do and send money home, then compliance shouldn't be overly burdensome. If, however, their intention is to get here, stay here, bring their entire families here and take whatever they can get, or if their intention is to import more crime to our streets and communities, then this should serve as a potent deterrent, which is exactly what it should do. In the end, you are very comfortable with your neighbor being able to dictate your daily life. A direct democracy is very dangerous to liberty.
The future is now. Do you think they wait for legal status to vote?
Almost none of these "boys" have ever driven a car before and most of them are in excess of 6'5" tall, so they make quite a sight tooling the roads of middle Tennessee in a little Subaru at speeds that would frustrate the bluest-haired lady you've ever met.
Unfortunatley, all of these events have happened as a result of government agents. In the end, I have nothing against government, however, a blind trust is foolish. Most of our founding fathers had a great understanding of the problems of maintaining liberty under a large and powerful federal government. Please don't misunderstand my position, we have a pretty decent and good government right now compared to "many places". I just don't want us to become like "many places".
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"What right do you (acting through the government) have to tell me how much I have to pay a worker?"
Slavery was abolished in the 1860's. We have minimum wage laws. Those who hire Americans are subject to it. Those who hire illegals are trying to avoid it. Are you suggesting that it is fine for employers to break the law....twice, and that no penalty should be imposed for doing so?
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