The Pottsville, IA immigration raid and the further destruction of Due Process

[arendt]

I heard this on Tom Ashbrook's "On Point" radio show on NPR yesterday. I would guess you can download the entire show. The most important part for me was not the horrible labor law violations or the immigration issues. It was the DELIBERATE and MASSIVE machinery put in place OUT OF PUBLIC VIEW to take away the Due Process rights of these lowly private people. Folks, this is exactly how the fascists did business. Round em up, lock em up, and deport them.

July 14, 2008

INTERPRETING AFTER THE LARGEST ICE RAID IN US HISTORY

A PERSONAL ACCOUNT

Erik Camayd-Freixas, Ph.D.
Florida International University
June 13, 2008

On Monday, May 12, 2008, at 10:00 a.m., in an operation involving some 900 agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed a raid of Agriprocessors Inc, the nation's largest kosher slaughterhouse and meat packing plant located in the town of Postville, Iowa. The raid ...officials boasted... was "the largest single-site operation of its kind in American history." At that same hour, 26 federally certified interpreters from all over the country were en route to the small neighboring city of Waterloo, Iowa, having no idea what their mission was about. The investigation had started more than a year earlier. Raid preparations had begun in December. The Clerk's Office of the U.S. District Court had contracted the interpreters a month ahead, but was not at liberty to tell us the whole truth, lest the impending raid be compromised. The operation was led by ICE, which belongs to the executive branch, whereas the U.S. District Court, belonging to the judicial branch, had to formulate its own official reason for participating. Accordingly, the Court had to move for two weeks to a remote location as part of a "Continuity of Operation Exercise" in case they were ever disrupted by an emergency, which in Iowa is likely to be a tornado or flood. That is what we were told, but, frankly, I was not prepared for a disaster of such a different kind, one which was entirely man-made. I arrived late that Monday night and missed the 8pm interpreters briefing. I was instructed by phone to meet at 7am in the hotel lobby and carpool to the National Cattle Congress (NCC) where we would begin our work. We arrived at the heavily guarded compound, went through security, and gathered inside the retro "Electric Park Ballroom" where a makeshift court had been set up. The Clerk of Court, who coordinated the interpreters, said: "Have you seen the news? There was an immigration raid yesterday at 10am. They have some 400 detainees here. We'll be working late conducting initial appearances for the next few days." He then gave us a cursory tour of the compound. The NCC is a 60-acre cattle fairground that had been transformed into a sort of concentration camp or detention center. Fenced in behind the ballroom / courtroom were 23 trailers from federal authorities, including two set up as sentencing courts; various Homeland Security buses and an "incident response" truck; scores of ICE agents and U.S. Marshals; and in the background two large buildings: a pavilion where agents and prosecutors had established a command center; and a gymnasium filled with tight rows of cots where some 300 male detainees were kept, the women being housed in county jails. Later the NCC board complained to the local newspaper that they had been "misled" by the government when they leased the grounds purportedly for Homeland Security training.

Echoing what I think was the general feeling, one of my fellow interpreters would later exclaim: "When I saw what it was really about, my heart sank..." Then began the saddest procession I have ever witnessed, which the public would never see, because cameras were not allowed past the perimeter of the compound (only a few journalists came to court the following days, notepad in hand). Driven single-file in groups of 10, shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles, chains dragging as they shuffled through, the slaughterhouse workers were brought in for arraignment, sat and listened through headsets to the interpreted initial appearance, before marching out again to be bused to different county jails, only to make room for the next row of 10. They appeared to be uniformly no more than 5 ft. tall, mostly illiterate Guatemalan peasants with Mayan last names, some being relatives (various Tajtaj, Xicay, Sajché, Sologüí...), some in tears; others with faces of worry, fear, and embarrassment. They all spoke Spanish, a few rather laboriously. It dawned on me that, aside from their nationality, which was imposed on their people in the 19th/20century, they too were Native Americans, in shackles. They stood out in stark racial contrast with the rest of us as they started their slow penguin march across the makeshift court. "Sad spectacle" I heard a colleague say, reading my mind. They had all waived their right to be indicted by a grand jury and accepted instead an information or simple charging document by the U.S. Attorney, hoping to be quickly deported since they had families to support back home. But it was not to be. They were criminally charged with "aggravated identity theft" and "Social Security fraud" ...charges they did not understand... and, frankly , neither could I. Everyone wondered how it would all play out.

<more>

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/crimprof_blog/2008/07/interpreting-af.html#more

The historian Niall Ferguson, in his "War of the World", says that pro-war sentiments always begin in ethnic hatred. Immigration has been allowed to become a festering, RACIAL sore on this country. Now, they pull a legal maneuver worthy of a Stalinist show trial - in secret, of course. Only because of this brave interpreter do we have a clear idea of the entire process. Trumped-up federal charges; jurisdictional irregularities; massive punishments; and, of course, deportation.

This story is more important than any of the BS that passes for campaign news. This story is about another pound of flesh being torn off our Constitutional rights. (Yeah, don't tell me that they won't try something like this on citizens. This is nothing but a trial run, something to get the bugs out of the program of mass incarceration they will need when they suspend the Constitution for some "emergency", whether financial, military, or terrorism.)

The night comes in a rush now. Time to wake up before it tears your throat out in the darkness.

arendt

[glowing]

1. Notice who they targeted in the raid initially.. Kosher meats.. a place that

probably provides better quality foods...

They are also making an example of what the govt can and will do... so, don't Fuck with us. This raid was and example only. They will not take down everyone. They won't mess with the large corporate hacks that bring us e-coli chicken and feed us mad cow disease... But the warning is stark, keep in line and keep the donations coming into the Republican machine.

[Cairycat]

2. I don't know about producing better quality meats

there are some real horror stories coming out about conditions and the treatment of the workers at the Agriprocessors plant. There was a department of Labor investigation going on and the raid disrupted that. One should also note that the owners of the plant are heavy donors to the Rethug party.

[arendt]

3. I don't disagree that it is a warning. But it is also...

1) a further assault on the Constitution.

The deliberate mixing up of Federal criminal jurisdiction with immigration proceedings is a another step towards using deportation as a tool for stripping rights from citizens. Note that some of the USA PATRIOT provisions call for loss of citizenship for vaguely specified "terrorist" support activities.

2) a trial run for massive, secret kangaroo courts.

Look at the way the proceedings here were run. It was a f*ing assembly line - a series of judges, none of whom saw the entire "sausage making process". Only the interpreter got the "big picture" view; and it set off massive alarm bells with him.

I swear to dog that if democracy is saved in this country, it will be by minorities who understand that "the man" can't be trusted. Until middle class white folks wake up and see that, to "the man", they are no different than slave labor from Central America, democracy will continue to wither in this once great country.

----

So, its a warning the same way that the shrapnel from bombing the power plant is collateral damage.

arendt

[arendt]

4. I'm keeping this kicked because its important. n/t

[arendt]

5. Due process? How quaint! n/t

[arendt]

6. Liberal shootings, immigrant roundups...brownshirts and police state tactics n/t

[arendt]

7. kick, because I don't want this kind of Constitution destruction to keep happening.

[arendt]

8. perhaps this topic was discussed previously, but its still important. Yet another instance of...

the deliberate destruction of our legal framework by an out-of-control executive.

Are there any hearings into this raid? I doubt it, because NONE of our craven politicians wants to go near the whole immigration "third rail". So, the Unitary Executive boys have chosen well again - they have created a brand new "gray area" of the law (mixing immigration and criminal law) in a political no-go zone.

Will the candidates talk about this? Not unless they want to commit suicide.

Will DU talk about it? I'm beginning to think not. Much easier to bash the obvious villains - church shooters, crooked bankers, greedy oil men.

This is a tough topic, full of complexities that invite people to "pick a side and start fighting".

For example, what is the takeaway from "nuking" these poor 400 souls? That we will do that to all 12 million illegals? That its open season for anyone to rip off illegals? That illegals have no rights at all? That illegals are the new "Muslims"?

How is responsibility for being an illegal employee divided? The NPR show said that some companies actually hand out plane tickets and meet the slaves at the airport. OTOH, the slaves know they are going to be illegal. Why don't we prosecute owners?

This whole thing is such a mess. And now, its a mess being used to further subvert the law.

arendt

[arendt]

9. crickets n/t

[onethatcares]

10. all of this is extremely important but the msm refuses to cover

things like this, the same way they turn their backs on the lies that led to war. The concentration camps built in the west weren't built for the hell of it, the curtain is coming down and in thirty years no one will recognize the united states of america and what it once stood for.

[arendt]

11. The cattle watch the ranchers put in the fence posts, but just keep grazing...

Patriot Act, Gitmo, Military Commissions Act, KBR concentration camps, FISA immunity, Free Taser Zones, and now the Pottsville secret trials and Federal criminalization of immigration violations

There isn't anything left that distinguishes this country from a police state except that those with all the power haven't yet manufactured the excuse to use it.

I think its time to leave America before they put up the barbed wire. The rigged November elections, in the face of an openly partisan corporate media, are too little, too late to fix things. I haven't seen anything good happen in months. About the best I hear is "we dodged bullet #1538. Too bad that we didn't dodge a hundred other bullets.

arendt

[warren pease]

13. Just waiting to flip the switch and go live with Amerika v2.0...

Here are some of the worst pieces of the puzzle that they've either brazened out or sneaked through when they thought nobody was watching.

We now have the Orwellian "thought crime bill" (HR 1955/S 1959) still awaiting passage in the Senate and Bushie's big red X; executive orders allowing them to steal everything you have if you express disagreement with their Middle East "policy," which they say would "undermine efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people." (So that's what it's called: economic reconstruction, political reform and humanitarian assistance. You just can't make this stuff up.)

Here's another one just like it for those who object to their policy re Lebanon and Syria (should anyone actually know what that is), a sin so apparently repugnant that our Czar feared that it would "...constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat."

Presidential directives like NSPD 51/HSPD-20 that blather on about "continuity of government" and how government agencies and private sector organizations will work together (only those named Blackwater need apply) "to ensure a comprehensive and integrated national continuity program that will enhance the credibility of our national security posture and enable a more rapid and effective response to and recovery from a national emergency."

Such an emergency might well be a presidential hangnail, since the catastrophes that trigger these directives include "… any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions." Vague enough for you?

Then come the federal invasions of privacy regarding medical and http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/23/washington/23intel.html?ex=1308715200&en=168d69d26685c26c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">financial records; monitoring US citizens' electronic communications; re-targeting spy satellites for domestic surveillance; the TSA cavity search specialists (for attractive young women only; the rest are presumed to pose no threat to the state); InfraGard, the new national system of vigilantes with the FBI's permission to "shoot to kill;" no-fly and terrorist watch lists; Halliburton/KBR's detention camps; RFIDs in all new passports and new national ID cards that may still be issued this year; new TSA "behavior detection officers" to spot those who don't "look quite right;" all this wonderful new stuff coming this year and next from the DHS; private armies featuring mercenaries from companies like Blackwater and DynCorp springing up like mushrooms after a light rain... All that and the Patriot Act, the http://www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/commissions.html">Military Commissions Act, http://www.aclu.org/safefree/extraordinaryrendition/22203res20051206.html">extraordinary rendition (whatever the hell that means) and torture, too. (Note: the torture link is graphic and disgusting, as it should be.)

No need to revisit FISA; we all know how our brave opposition party stood up for us against further interception of our private communications and slapped the Bushies down hard, repeatedly blistering the airwaves with devastating attacks on this pack of vile fascists and… What? Oh… They didn't? Hmmmmm. Must be time for a strongly worded letter then.

Also, see the blockquote in this post, which is a small part of H.R. 1585, the fiscal year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act. Note the orders to prepare to use regular troops -- as opposed to the Guard or Reserves -- to respond to "natural disasters and terrorist events." In other words, martial law.

You look at the destructive power the executive branch has acquired for itself since 2001 and it's hard not to come to the conclusion that all these pieces are there to lock this country down like a bank vault. They just haven't flipped the switch yet.

And maybe they never will. Maybe the implied threat is enough, although the Cheneys of the world don't strike me as the type to do stuff like this just for fun.

Rather, fun to them is shooting animals and, occasionally, each other. We need a lot more of the latter and far less of the former.


wp

[arendt]

14. Thanks. I'm saving that list of links - for the wall of my cell in the gulag. n/t

[arendt]

12. will kick for a 5th rec n/t