California Latinos fearful after immigration raids

[Army_of_One]

Does this really bother anyone? LOL Now maybe they won't be marching in the streets this summer waiving flags...hehehe

By Tim Gaynor

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Cook Rosa Maria Salazar's eyes dart anxiously to the door as customers file into the Salvadoran cafe in a heavily Hispanic neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles.

"We're terrified. The police could come for us at any time and deport us," she said in Spanish earlier this week as diners fingered maize tortillas stuffed with beans and pork scratchings and chatted softly.

The 55-year-old undocumented worker from Guatemala is among many Hispanics deeply shaken by recent immigration raids at the heart of Latino communities in southern California.

The-seven day Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sweep, dubbed "Operation Return to Sender," targeted jails across five counties in the Los Angeles area, where police took 423 of what they called "criminal aliens" into federal custody for deportation, after being held on charges unrelated to their immigration status.

Federal agents from seven teams also fanned out in local communities, where they nabbed 338 undocumented immigrants, more than 150 of whom were classed as "immigration fugitives" -- foreign nationals who ignored final deportation orders.

The raid was the latest in a series of get-tough enforcement measures by ICE in the United States, but the largest action of its kind in California, where more than a third of the population is Hispanic.

"We hadn't seen anything like this here before, and it came as a shock," said Antonio Bernabe, a community worker who runs a day labor program at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
"The police didn't just take people with deportation orders, they took anybody ... guys who were just hanging out in the street and even from a Jack in the Box restaurant ... and now people are afraid to go out," he added.

RAIDS AS BUSH BACKS OVERHAUL

The high-profile sweep netted mostly Mexican nationals, but included people from 14 countries including Ukraine, Japan, Poland and Trinidad.

It culminated on Tuesday, when President George W. Bush gave a State of the Union address that ranked immigration legislation among his top domestic priorities.

Bush called for "comprehensive immigration reform," combining a guest-worker program with tougher workplace and border enforcement.

He remained vague, however, on the thorny issue of how to deal with the 10 million to 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows, more than 2.5 million of whom live in California.

Some immigrants who followed the speech closely on Spanish-language television in Los Angeles remained hopeful of concessions in the aftermath of the sweep.

"I came here to work and help support my family, so obviously the raids were alarming," Salvadoran construction worker Remberto Flores told Reuters in Spanish as he waited for a bus in a neighborhood of taco stands and wire transfer shops.

"But we saw President Bush talk about reforms in the Senate, so maybe there will be some breaks for us as well," he added.

Others in the city believed that the only clear message from the raids and the speech was that the situation for immigrants in California had changed.

"We used to feel secure here," Nicaraguan electrician Manuel Salomon told Reuters as he sipped coffee in a Mexican bakery in the city. "But it looks like that honeymoon is over." RIGHT ON MANNY....RIGHT ON

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...1-ArticlePage1

[Highwayman]

We lost almost 3,000 lives on 9-11. I listen to the outrage about the loss of over 3,000 troops in Iraq and then I hear reported that since 9-11 illegals have been responsible for over 45,000 deaths of our citizens here at home. Why the Hell are we putting up with this?

[Bubba]

I saw that article too. Saying we lost more citizens in one year to illegals, than we have soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan combined since the beginning of the war.

[Detector]

"Operation Return to Sender,"

Hehe I like it!

[TexKan]

I heard on a talk radio show that if they took the illegal #'s and linked them to crime#'s anyone could have won the governors race hands down on the imigration stand alone............. the problem is folks don't link illegals with crime......... they know they are responsible for a lot of crime but they don't make that a platform to run on.........

[Army_of_One]

Originally Posted by TexKan

I heard on a talk radio show that if they took the illegal #'s and linked them to crime#'s anyone could have won the governors race hands down on the imigration stand alone............. the problem is folks don't link illegals with crime......... they know they are responsible for a lot of crime but they don't make that a platform to run on.........

See that's the BIG problem...not only are a lot of crimes done by illegals but BEING illegal is a crime.

[TexKan]

that was the point of the show......... that was during the mid tern hoo rah rah

[tiger67801]

think about this -------- why dont they stop illeagle immigration --------money ---- the government wont say it in newspapers or on news channels but they are afraid if they get rid of the illeagels the economy suffer big time ------- why cant the government control illeagel drugs ???? because the government makes more money thru the crime system ------ here is example of whay im talking about ------ the city is trying to get rid of the local taxi company ----because it takes away from the money the city makes from dui drivers