By Matthew Casey
So the fallout continues from the May immigration raid at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa. Today’s top stories, written by New York Times reporter, Julia Preston, and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency cover allegations of violations of labor laws, as well as accusations that federal law enforcement agencies withheld due process to immigrants detained during the raid.
While most U.S. citizens direct their frustrations over our broken immigration system at the immigrants themselves, it appears to this blogger that if the accusations mentioned in the preceding paragraph are true, labor felonies and ignoring the Bill of Rights, they are worse crimes than someone illegally crossing our border, a misdemeanor.
So why do we not unleash upon employers and our government the same level of criticism and rhetoric we do at the group of guys standing on a street corner at 5 a.m., hoping someone will give them a job for the day?
Preston writes, “One, a Guatemalan named Elmer L. who said he was 16 when he started working on the plant’s killing floors, said he worked 17-hour shifts, six days a week. In an affidavit, he said he was constantly tired and did not have time to do anything but work and sleep. ‘I was very sad,’ he said, ‘and I felt like I was a slave…..’”
“But in the aftermath of the arrests, labor investigators have reaped a bounty of new evidence from the testimony of illegal immigrants, teenagers and adults, who were caught in the raid. In formal declarations, immigrants have described pervasive labor violations at the plant, testimony that could result in criminal charges for Agriprocessors executives, labor law experts said.”
Based on these revelations, are anti-illegal immigrant activists currently planning a massive protest against corporate executives at Agriprocessors? Will they demand “enforcement of the law” and the immediate arrest of the corporate execs who appear to have violated it?
JTA reports, “’I saw the Bill of Rights denied, and it all appeared to be within the framework of the law,’ Erik Camayd-Freixas, a certified translator who participated in the legal proceedings, told the committee.”
Whether Freixas allegations are true or not, should federal law enforcement agencies charged with enforcing our immigration laws not be on “high alert” to make sure that there can be no question as to whether or not they fulfilled their responsibilities within the letter of the law? If it the law that empowers them to do their difficult work, should they not lose the confidence of U.S. citizens if it is revealed that they could not complete their task within the law?
Unable to compromise on immigration, our country has adopted a “law enforcement first” approach to this issue. If this is to continue as our policy, then laws must be applied equally to all who break them, including fabulously wealthy U.S. citizens. Further, federal law enforcement agencies must take the necessary steps to make sure that there can be no doubt as to whether or not they operated within the law. If these things do not happen, I am afraid the “law enforcement first” approach loses all credibility.