L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa warns ICE to back off immigration raids

Daily News Wire Services
Article Launched: 04/10/2008 07:10:57 AM PDT




L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa warned that work-site raids on nonexploitative" businesses could have a severe impact on the local economy.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is asking federal officials to rethink their policy on workplace immigration crackdowns that involve established businesses and to focus on employers that mistreat workers instead.

The mayor said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that work-site raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement could have "severe and long-lasting effects" on the local economy, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

ICE made more than 4,900 work-site arrests nationwide in fiscal 2007, a 45-fold increase over the number in 2001, authorities said.

More than 130 undocumented workers were arrested at a San Fernando Valley manufacturing company in February and over 60 workers were arrested for immigration violations at South Bay-area warehouses last week.

Los Angeles companies such as clothing manufacturer American Apparel Inc. have reported being questioned by ICE officials about their hiring procedures.
Villaraigosa accused federal officials of targeting "established, responsible employers" in industries that rely on "workforces that include undocumented immigrants."

"In these industries, including most areas of manufacturing, even the most scrupulous and responsible employers have no choice but to rely on workers whose documentation, while facially valid, may raise questions about their lawful presence," he wrote in the March 27 letter.
He said ICE should spend its limited resources targeting employers who exploit wage and hour laws.


Chertoff has not responded to the mayor's letter, but Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said the department believes its priorities are correct.

She said work-site investigations focus on national security and public safety and that the agency also investigates companies it believes may have committed visa fraud, money laundering, and other violations.

Mayoral spokesman Matt Szabo said Villaraigosa and Los Angeles business leaders hope to discuss their concerns with Chertoff in person next week during an annual business trip to Washington.

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Liberals are people that will believe anything twice.

Is it pandering if you truly believe in a lax border? Although you don't fully support the war (I think), what do you think about the mass influx of Iraqi refugees pouring into Syria and Jordan? I've been reading that like one-fifth of those residing in Jordan are Iraqi refugees. I know that we dole out low amounts of cash to the border countries, but isn't it a bit hypocritical of the United States to begin deportation or sanctioning businesses while expecting neighboring countries to absorb Iraqis with little aid?

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It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. Einstein

I don't know about Iraqis crossing borders. Once the dust settles in Iraq, I imagine they will come back to their home country.

As far as our own illegals, I firmly believe that they should return to Mexico and fix the problems there. Or, perhaps we should have an "Oil for War" (not a war for oil) program. In other words, let the United States tap into Mexico's oil reserves to the tune of one barrel per day for every illegal Mexican immigrant in our country. That would be about 30 million barrels per day. That would ease our gas prices quite a bit ... and make up for the billions of dollars being returned to the Mexican economy by those working here. The Mexican government has declared war on our economy, so we could return the favor with the "Oil For War" program.

Vi

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Liberals are people that will believe anything twice.

Geeze, I have to agree with Vi here. We need to fix our own border problem. The Iraqis will be fine as soon as we, the invaders, leave.

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Life is good, the water is sweet. The ground keeps moving beneath my feet.

And speaking of Iraqi Invaders ...

We could apply the Oil For War program there too. Just tap into their oil reserves to the tune of one barrel per day per Iraqi citizen. That would be repayment for all reconstruction ... and for the liberation from under the foot of Saddam and his sadistic sons. Oh, and repayment for all the bombs, ammo and precious American lives we've spent on that liberation as well.

Vi

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Liberals are people that will believe anything twice.

This mayor is the biggest criminal excuse for a mayor since Willie Brown. He does not represent the people of L.A.- just the Mexican people. He spends a ton of money on things that don't really better " mankind "- just his Latino voter base. It is he and his council that have forced Home Depot stores in the City of Los Angeles to build club houses for illegal aliens looking for work outside said stores. Meanwhile the residents of the city want the city to do something about them besides housing them and giving them a drinking fountain, a couch, and a damn T.V. to watch while loitering.

He is also an member of the MECHA Atzlan movement. In case you don't know what that is, it is a militant group of Mexicans that want whitey out of The SW United States or dead- whichever comes first.

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Buds,Buds, and more Buds: Purps + White Russian

Don't worry Redd, the Iraqis will be paying for a long-long time, so will our sons and daughters that have been breathing Iraqi dust for a couple a years. Watch for the cancer rate of our military survivors to spike in a few years. DU munitions you know.

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Life is good, the water is sweet. The ground keeps moving beneath my feet.

That's true; they'd likely resettle back in Iraq. In the meantime, we should probably give them more aid to absorb the costs. There's a point to be made that developing countries often gain from "protectionist" trade policies and heavy government subsidization early on. In fact, almost all developed countries have attained that status by doing so. A lot of the scholarly work coming from contemporary develpment economics supports this position and is highly critical of strong-arming less-developed countries into free trade agreements, as well as the IMF and World Bank. Ha-Joon Chang has written a few books aimed at the general public on the subject that are very good reads.

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It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. Einstein

Thanks for the heads up.

Amazon.com: ha joon chang: Books

Vi

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Liberals are people that will believe anything twice.

There's a point to be made that developing countries often gain from "protectionist" trade policies and heavy government subsidization early on. In fact, almost all developed countries have attained that status by doing so.

I'm pretty much thinking that this country could use some "protectionist" trade policies about now. China is destroying our economy, them and Bush have put us into this recession/depression. There may be other factors, but those two are the leading contenders.

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Life is good, the water is sweet. The ground keeps moving beneath my feet.