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Meat plant arrests near Amarillo leave families of 100 children separated
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL AUSTIN BUREAU ^ | Thursday, December 14, 2006 | ENRIQUE RANGEL

Posted on 12/14/2006 8:15:55 AM PST by WestTexasWend

First it was the chaos. Then it was the confusion as to who was arrested and where they would be taken.

Now, the Spanish-speaking residents of Cactus, Dumas and other neighboring communities who escaped Tuesday's raid because they either are here legally or do not work at the Swift meat plant, face an even bigger problem: what is going to happen to the more than 100 children whose parents were rounded up and arrested?

"Right now the children are being taken care of by relatives or friends of those who were deported," said Orlando Gajardo, spokesman for the St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Dumas.

The church is actively helping the families of the hundreds of suspected illegal immigrants who were busted Tuesday morning by U.S. immigration agents at the Swift and Company plant in Cactus, which is about 60 miles north of Amarillo.

"But we are worried about their future," Gajardo added. "We are afraid that if they are not reunited with their parents soon, some may end up in foster homes."

The children of those busted, whose ages range from a month to 18 years, are for the most part U.S. citizens, according to residents and volunteers helping the families of those arrested.

"Their parents may be here illegally, but those children are American citizens," said Eric Perez, a Dumas resident who owns El Jacalito, a combination of a convenience store and a Mexican fast food restaurant.

"Many of those children were left without their father and mother," said Lorena Adame, an El Jacalito employee who, like her boss, witnessed the early morning raid because the store is across the U.S. 287 from the meat plant. "There were many cases in which both parents were arrested."

Like others, Adame, Gajardo and Perez don't know for sure how many Swift workers were arrested Tuesday and how many children had a parent or both parents busted.

Some estimate that the number of workers arrested may be as high as 520, and the vast majority were either natives of Mexico or Guatemala.

"We don't have official figures but we are told that 220 Guatemalans were arrested," said Jose Barillas-Trennert, the Guatemalan Consul in Houston. "We're obviously worried because we don't know what is going to happen to our fellow citizens and because we don't know what is going to happen to their children."

Immigration authorities have been secretive about the number of arrested and where they were taken, Barillas-Trennert said.

In Cactus and Dumas it is widely believed that the arrested were bused to detention centers in Amarillo and Lubbock, the Guatemalan consulate has been told, also, that some of the detainees might be taken to New Mexico and other states, the Consul added.

Although the fate of the children of the detainees is the main worry for the immigrant community in Cactus, Dumas and surrounding communities, some fear another major headache - burglaries.

"We already heard stories that the homes of those who were arrested were burglarized Tuesday night," Gajardo said. "The thieves went looking for money, jewelry and other valuable objects."

Cactus Mayor Luis Aguilar and Police Chief Tim Turley could not be reached to comment on the unconfirmed reports.

An additional worry, though flatly denied by Gajardo and Perez, is that some immigration officers knocked on some doors looking for suspected illegal immigrants.

However, in Grand Island, Neb., where Swift also owns and operates a meat packing plant, The Independent, a sister publication of The Avalanche-Journal, filmed some agents going inside the house of a suspected illegal immigrants, said Editor Bill Dunn.

Dumas resident Socorro Rodriguez, whose wife Mercedes has been helping the families of those deported, said the immigrant community in the area was shocked and saddened by the massive immigration raid.

"I've been here for 47 years and I've never seen anything like this," said the 65-year-old Mexican immigrant. "And we are also very upset because the agents chose one of the most sacred days for Mexicans: the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

"If the (immigration) agents had been planning this raid for a long time, why couldn't they wait a little longer, like January," he added. "They spoiled our Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe and our Christmas."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: aliens; amarillo; bordercontrol; cactus; crymeariver; illegalenablers; illegalinvasion; illegalproblems; illegals; illegalworkers; immigrantlist; immigration; nationalsecurity; swift; texas; tx; waaaaa
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1 posted on 12/14/2006 8:15:57 AM PST by WestTexasWend
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To: WestTexasWend
a) Yes, this is too bad and something should be done.
b) Here comes the Dem talking points on "those horrible republicans who want to split up families."
2 posted on 12/14/2006 8:17:51 AM PST by 50sDad (I respect other religions by allowing them the right to worship. But they still are wrong.)
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To: WestTexasWend

Cry me a river!!!


3 posted on 12/14/2006 8:18:24 AM PST by politicalwit (Freedom doesn't mean a Free Pass.)
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To: WestTexasWend

Come here legally and you wont be putting your children through this. Enough with the anchor babies. Time to change that ridiculous law.


4 posted on 12/14/2006 8:18:57 AM PST by Long Island Pete
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To: WestTexasWend
And we are also very upset because the agents chose one of the most sacred days for Mexicans: the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

HERE WE GO! Ethnic insensitivity for arresting them on a Mexican holy day? WHat is next? No counterterrorism operations during the ramadan?
5 posted on 12/14/2006 8:19:50 AM PST by steel_resolve (Do you know what a bigot is? Someone winning an argument with a liberal.)
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To: WestTexasWend
"And we are also very upset because the agents chose one of the most sacred days for Mexicans: the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe."

"The bankrobber was very upset because agents chose the sacred day of Christmas to apprehend him."

The second one soumds silly, huh?

6 posted on 12/14/2006 8:20:09 AM PST by 50sDad (I respect other religions by allowing them the right to worship. But they still are wrong.)
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To: WestTexasWend

I used to have a lot of friends who smoked pot. Over the years those friends got older, had children and stopped smoking pot.

The reason they stopped smoking pot?

They put their children first and aren't going to risk getting arrested and imposing that situation on their children.


7 posted on 12/14/2006 8:20:15 AM PST by cripplecreek (Peace without victory is a temporary illusion.)
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To: politicalwit
If the (immigration) agents had been planning this raid for a long time, why couldn't they wait a little longer, like January," he added. "They spoiled our Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe and our Christmas."

Boo-frickin-Hoo.

8 posted on 12/14/2006 8:20:49 AM PST by Ronaldus Magnus Reagan (Pennsylvania-Home of the Flat Tax w/ no deductions)
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To: WestTexasWend
"I've been here for 47 years and I've never seen anything like this," said the 65-year-old Mexican immigrant. "And we are also very upset because the agents chose one of the most sacred days for Mexicans: the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe.".

It's something Mexicans celebrate in Mexico. Maybe ICE wanted to make sure these Mexicans got back to their country on time for the celebrations?

9 posted on 12/14/2006 8:21:03 AM PST by isthisnickcool (If you can't light a fire in the vacuum of space what's the deal with the Sun?)
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To: WestTexasWend
Man I wish I could get away with these sorts of excuses the next time I get a traffic ticket!

"But it's my saint's day!"

"If I don't speed I won't be able to make it to work on time!"

"Who will care for my kids who I purposefully endangered by breaking the law?"

Pathetic. Deport every last one of these illegals and prosecute everyone who knowingly hires them to the fullest extent of the law.

10 posted on 12/14/2006 8:21:19 AM PST by pnh102
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To: WestTexasWend
...what is going to happen to the more than 100 children whose parents were rounded up and arrested?

Perhaps this is one of the things they should have thought about when they decided to sneak into this country illegally. The bad news is the you and I will likely end up paying for their support one way or the other.

11 posted on 12/14/2006 8:21:28 AM PST by econjack
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To: WestTexasWend

Leave my country, please. That includes the future gangbangers you got at home.


12 posted on 12/14/2006 8:23:33 AM PST by FormerACLUmember
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To: WestTexasWend

No agenda here /sarcasm


13 posted on 12/14/2006 8:24:36 AM PST by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: econjack
How about a simple suggestion.
Sell all your stuff at a garage sale
buy a ticket to Mexico
Celebrate saints day in mexico with your family
14 posted on 12/14/2006 8:24:46 AM PST by txroadhawg ("To compare Congress to drunken sailors is an insult to drunken sailors." Ronald Reagan)
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To: WestTexasWend

so they're from Dumass?


15 posted on 12/14/2006 8:25:15 AM PST by Rakkasan1 ((Illegal immigrants are just undocumented friends you haven't met yet!))
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To: WestTexasWend

We really need to do something about birthright citizenship so these children can be reunited with their parents in Mexico.


16 posted on 12/14/2006 8:25:37 AM PST by 3AngelaD (ic.)
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To: steel_resolve
" the agents chose one of the most sacred days for Mexicans: the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe."

Well it is obvious then. It's the evil capitalist meat packing plant that forced them to work on a sacred holy day. Death to America!

Didn't the feds warn them they were coming? Sounds like a setup so the media can push its amnesty agenda on us.
17 posted on 12/14/2006 8:25:54 AM PST by MPJackal ("If you are not with us, you are against us.")
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To: WestTexasWend
Boo-hoo, you've got me crying for you (not)
You broke the law and now you're boo-hoo-hooing, too (tough)

Leni

18 posted on 12/14/2006 8:26:46 AM PST by MinuteGal (The Left takes power only through deception.)
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To: WestTexasWend

This is Rudy Guliani's approach to crime in NYC: arrest even the smallest offenders, and pretty soon everything gets cleaned up. The point about immigration all along was that we didn't have to deport 12 million. Just deport a few, and the rest will get the message; and put a few employers in jail, and the rest will comply with the laws.


19 posted on 12/14/2006 8:26:56 AM PST by LS
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To: WestTexasWend

I think this is hilarious! This is typical of the MSM. Let's just blow past the whole 'Here illegally' part, and the part about STEALING SOMEONE ELSES IDENTITY.

It's all about the kids of the criminals that got sent away. Here's a tip, send them home too.


20 posted on 12/14/2006 8:27:23 AM PST by RinaseaofDs
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