Citizens sue after detentions, immigration raids

[sabra]

Source: USA Today

LOS ANGELES — Nitin Dhopade, the chief financial officer for Micro Solutions Enterprises, was headed toward the accounting department on the afternoon of Feb. 7 to deliver checks he had just signed. Suddenly, he says, he encountered armed men and women wearing bulletproof vests and uniforms branded with "ICE," which stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Dhopade, 47, says he and 30 other administrative workers for the Van Nuys, Calif., company, which recycles used toner and ink cartridges, were marched down a stairwell lined by officers. The workers were ordered against a wall and told not to touch anything or use their cellphones. "There was no way you could leave. You were definitely detained," he says. "None of us were in handcuffs, but there was no way you could say 'I'm leaving.' "

That marked the beginning of a surprise raid that would result in the arrests of 138 suspected illegal immigrants, about one-fifth of MSE's workforce. Also swept up in the same raid were more than 100 U.S. citizens and legal residents, including Dhopade, a naturalized U.S. citizen from India. They say they were illegally detained at the factory for an hour when ICE agents blocked the doors and interrogated them, forbidding them to leave or go to the bathroom without an escort.

...

Increasingly, U.S. citizens and legal residents who work alongside illegal immigrants are being detained and interrogated, too. And some, such as Dhopade, are filing claims or lawsuits against the government.

Dhopade says he was a victim of racial profiling by ICE. An ICE agent questioned him about his immigration status and his ability to speak English "because of my skin color," he says. "None of the white folks in the office … that I know of were asked for proof of citizenship. To be asked for proof of citizenship, in this country, it's an insult. This is the United States of America. This country does not require that."

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-24-Immigration-raids_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

[flashl]

1. Good. ICE denies deporting legal U.S. citizens although their database proved to be error prone. nt

[bluerum]

2. Is it ok to use the phrase "gestapo tactics" here?

[libodem]

3. Papers, please

[bluerum]

4. I am sure that they used a similar phrase,,,,

[bean fidhleir]

5. If the 138 arrestees really are informals, Dhopade should be charged along with the CEO and

other top management.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

6. Some criticize the government for not enforcing the laws and

some complain when the laws are being enforced. I'm sure it was incovenient for Mr. Dhopade to be stuck there, but obviously ICE's intent is not to let anyone out. Did you know that if you are a green card holder you are supposed to carry it with you at all times BY LAW and that anyone can ask to see your green card?

How does he know if the "white folks" in his office were not asked for immigration status? It also sounds fishy that he was asked about his ability to speak English as that is not a requirement to be in the US legally (if that were, I wouldn't have made it back when I moved here in 1987).

An employer who employs people who cannot prove they can work lawfully in the US is subject, as per US immigration law, to ICE raids. If an employer wishes to avoid such raids, then it needs to make sure its I-9 employment verification forms are filled out correctly and - guess what! - not hire people who cannot prove they can work unlawfully. ICE does not just go inside businesses to conduct raids. Perhaps, someone in the company snitched or perhaps they had received complaints. We do not know the whole story.

[Q3JR4]

7. If I were caught up in an ICE raid

and they held me for an hour or even thirty minutes without charges you know I'd be filling a lawsuit as fast as I could find someone to represent my interests in court.

I can understand the rational of enforcing the law, but ICE raids conducted on the basis of racial profiling and illegally holding citizens captive are wrong and the actions should (and will) be settled in a court of law.

Q3JR4.
Q3JR4 has been unemployed for 3 months but will still fight for the rights of the working class.