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Home > Press Room > 2006 > Press Release
Press Release
LULAC Urges Moratorium on
Immigration Raids Pending Congressional Action on Immigration
Reform.
December 18, 2006
Contact: Lizette
Jenness Olmos
(202) 833-6130 ext. 16
Washington, DC - The League of
United Latin American Citizens condemns the
unnecessary worksite raids that took place last
week at six Swift & Co. meatpacking plants. Over
1,300 employees were arrested and families were
separated from their children in the towns of
Greeley, Colorado; Grand Island, Nebraska;
Cactus, Texas; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa;
and Worthington, Minnesota.
“We demand a halt to further
immigration raids unless the government
demonstrates that a particular arrest is
necessary to protect public safety or for
national security,” said LULAC National
President Rosa Rosales. “The manner in which the
raids were conducted has caused psychological
harm to the immigrants and their families. LULAC
is working with the Civil Rights Division of the
Department of Justice to investigate possible
civil rights violations based on reports that
Latinos were treated unfairly during the raids.
We must enforce our laws in a humane manner that
balances our economic and security needs with
our national values.”
LULAC plans to challenge any
violations of the workers constitutional rights
in court. We have joined with other national
Hispanic organizations, including the Mexican
American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF),
the National Association of Latino Elected and
Appointed Officials (NALEO) and the Hispanic
National Bar Association (HNBA) in sending
letters to U.S. Secretary Michael Chertoff
urging for a temporary halt on the raids. There
is concern that some arrested in Minnesota were
denied access to an attorney in violation of
federal law. Of the 1,200 individuals arrested
only 65 have criminal charges pending against
them. The rest have been placed into
administrative proceedings.
“Every labor-intensive
industry including the hospitality,
construction, agriculture and restaurant
industries will be adversely impacted if these
raids continue,” said Rosales. The Swift & Co.
meatpacking plants have been running at reduced
levels since the arrests just as demand for
their products is peaking during the holiday
season.
LULAC calls upon Congress to
take action. Raids are unfair to the immigrants,
their employers, their communities and our
economy and disruptive to towns where immigrants
have settled. Congress must overhaul immigration
law in the first quarter of 2007 and create a
process for hardworking immigrants to strengthen
our economy legally rather than forcing them to
work in the shadows and terrorizing them with
ineffective work place raids.
The League of United Latin
American Citizens, the oldest and largest
Hispanic membership organization in the country,
advances the economic conditions, educational
attainment, political influence, health and
civil rights of Hispanic Americans through
community-based programs operating at more than
700 LULAC councils nationwide.
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