nytimes.com— A Spanish interpreter says that hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested at a meatpacking plant did not fully understand the criminal proceedings against them.
Jul 11, 2008View in Crawl 4
The whole notion that immigration violations are criminal offenses is factually wrong, they are civil offenses and many of these folks could have been granted political asylum for fear of persecution back in Guatemala, but weren't because of the way the criminal code was used. Even if we eventually deport them, they deserve due process and a day in court with an attorney to represent them adequately.And Oyharward, "signing up for services not available to legal Americans." Please. Those don't exist except in the net fantasies of people opposed to legal immigration and using myths about illegal immigration to turn the country's public opinion against immigrants. It is comically wrong and tragically common on the net.
Actually the protections of the Bill of Rights are not limited to citizens. They apply to everyone, and they were clearly violated in this case.Prof. Camayd-Freixas is right. There are indeed people who don't understand the system here. They surely do understand being arrested -- and they probably have a very tough understanding, coming from a country that's suffered from civil war and military governments. Do they really know what a Social Security number is and what its legitimate use is? I know lots of people who don't. Most of the Postville workers speak Spanish as their second language, and can't read or write it. They surely are not dumb, but they did not have the kind of orientation that you get when you come here legally. C-F says many didn't know the difference between a green card and a social security card, and I find that quite believable. Read the story. The man's telling the truth, and I applaud him for speaking up.
forumdrivJul 11, 2008
The whole notion that immigration violations are criminal offenses is factually wrong, they are civil offenses and many of these folks could have been granted political asylum for fear of persecution back in Guatemala, but weren't because of the way the criminal code was used. Even if we eventually deport them, they deserve due process and a day in court with an attorney to represent them adequately.And Oyharward, "signing up for services not available to legal Americans." Please. Those don't exist except in the net fantasies of people opposed to legal immigration and using myths about illegal immigration to turn the country's public opinion against immigrants. It is comically wrong and tragically common on the net.
mdegJul 11, 2008
Actually the protections of the Bill of Rights are not limited to citizens. They apply to everyone, and they were clearly violated in this case.Prof. Camayd-Freixas is right. There are indeed people who don't understand the system here. They surely do understand being arrested -- and they probably have a very tough understanding, coming from a country that's suffered from civil war and military governments. Do they really know what a Social Security number is and what its legitimate use is? I know lots of people who don't. Most of the Postville workers speak Spanish as their second language, and can't read or write it. They surely are not dumb, but they did not have the kind of orientation that you get when you come here legally. C-F says many didn't know the difference between a green card and a social security card, and I find that quite believable. Read the story. The man's telling the truth, and I applaud him for speaking up.