Tuesday's immigration raids on Swift & Co. meatpacking plants
Re: “Raids at Swift likely to echo in Congress; Targeting ID theft at Swift may be ‘deterrent’ to illegal workers,” Dec. 14 news story.
What a shame that The Denver Post uncritically accepted and chose to reproduce the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s “identity theft” pretext for its raids Tuesday. Immigration is a phenomenon caused by unemployment and other economic problems in the home country, and stimulated by perceived opportunities in the host country. Immigrants are people trying to do the best they can to support and better themselves and their families. In this particular wave of immigration, that can include obtaining false documents to present to a potential employer.
A raid that treats workers as criminals is a crude and cruel attempt to blame them for a much bigger, international problem. I’m disappointed that our major regional newspaper chose to promote this spin by ICE to portray workers as criminals.
Anne Becher, Boulder
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Re: “‘Unblinking reality’ dizzying for spouses, kids of detainees,” Dec. 14 news story.
Leave it to The Denver Post to show the “tragic” side of the illegal-immigrant raid at the Swift plants. If my husband or I committed a felony, no one would cry for our children, home or financial well-being. Those are the consequences of committing crimes.
Where are the sympathetic stories for the thousands in this country who are victims of identity theft by illegals? The ones at Swift are probably just the tip of the iceberg. What about their lost homes, jobs, ruined finances and destroyed families because the IRS took their money because of unreported income from a job held by an illegal? Where are those stories? Or are illegal immigrants the only ones who garner the media’s sympathy?
Lori Peters, Lafayette
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I feel it is unfair of the government to ship an illegal immigrant who broke the law by sneaking into the country, then broke the law by getting a false ID so he could work, back to their homeland and not give their loved ones a chance to join them. After all, their families should at least have the right to join them. Perhaps we could take up a collection to buy them tickets. Then we can all have a Merry Christmas and not have to worry about the kids.
G. Nance, Westminster
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What we are seeing is selective law enforcement at its best. If an American citizen was arrested for stealing IDs, they would do the time for the crime. An illegal alien simply gets to be deported, only to return again under another name. Yet the anti-American opposition seems to be in agreement with the illegal aliens who are guilty of ID theft by touting the same old story: “They’re just doing the jobs Americans won’t do.” What a country!
Jan Herron, Evergreen
I have watched the news reports and read the newspaper stories about all the families who have had their loved ones taken from them, how they are blaming Immigration and Customs Enforcement for being so heartless and cruel in making these arrests right before Christmas. One man even called it “government terrorism.”
Let’s be perfectly clear here. Not only are we talking about illegal immigrants but also the serious crime of indentity theft. Make no mistake – had the people arrested been white or black American citizens, we would all be praising law enforcement for the arrest. No one would be calling it “government terrorism” or questioning the timing of the arrest. I guess it must be OK to commit a felony as long as you are a poor “illegal immigrant.” Somehow that makes it OK and you should get special treatment, like not getting arrested until after Christmas. Give me a break.
Roy Wilson, Thornton
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Whatever the legal status of specific individuals rounded up in the recent raids, the events at the Swift plants raise some interesting questions. Workers in the meat processing industry do some of the most dangerous and poorly paid jobs in the American economy. I find myself wondering how many fully documented U.S. citizens will rush to take now-empty positions on the killing-cutting-gutting floors of the slaughterhouse. Perhaps some relatives of former Gov. Dick Lamm? Or some members of Tom Tancredo’s family? Don’t hold your breath.
Jon Richard, Denver
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Re: “Immigration issues bubbling,” Dec. 13 editorial.
The Denver Post and Sen. Ken Salazar agree that new “comprehensive immigration reform” from Congress is the answer to the illegal-immigrant problem.
We’ve heard that old song and dance before. In 1985, Congress promised us that if we only granted amnesty to the illegals already here, they would close the Mexican border and deal aggressively with illegal aliens. Twenty years and 12 million more illegals later, the Swift & Co. raids show us we still have a flood of illegal aliens who are not only stealing American jobs but stealing the identities of American citizens and costing taxpayers billions in welfare benefits.
We don’t need more “comprehensive immigration reform” from illegal-alien apologists like Salazar. What we need are politicians in Washington with the backbone to enforce the immigration laws of the United States, as seen in the Swift & Co. raids.
Richard J. Bowles, Woodland Park
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The news about the immigration raids in Greeley and across the country is disturbing. I can’t help but feel that the people arrested only want to work. Is that such a crime? I would appreciate The Denver Post looking at the reasons behind the failure of the Mexican government to provide at least a working life for the majority of its citizens. Why is there such an emphasis on the influx of immigrants to the U.S. from Mexico, with hardly a mention as to why this has occurred for so long? These are the stories that a good paper like The Denver Post can do best. Please consider tackling this difficult subject in the future.
Judith Barker, Denver
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A primary responsibility of business is to cut production costs for greater profit; surely, there is no quarrel with that. The only limitation is that production costs be cut legally. Illegal aliens, forced by their circumstance to work for extremely low wages (with no perks, etc.) have been a logical choice, especially because government at all levels seemed not to care. Some local governments even have allegedly provided sanctuary. And the people have apparently benefited from lower prices in supermarkets, restaurants and construction.
Still, business has had almost a free ride, hiring whom they chose, ignoring the legal status of their new employees and not worrying too much about the validity of their documents. So fake documents and identity theft have become the norm, and business complains their human resources departments now have to serve as “police officers.” They have a point, but not sufficient to make them free of the responsibility to know whom they hire. Yes, they will spend more money doing so and perhaps prices in general will go up, though economists disagree on that point.
Bertram Rothschild, Aurora
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