Posted on 08/02/2005 4:48:14 AM PDT by sweetliberty
Gov. Mike Huckabee wants to know if federal immigration agents provided local officials at Arkadelphia with adquate notice of a raid at a poultry plant that left behind several arrested immigrants' children, enrolled at day-care centers or schools.
"We're also working to ensure the well-being of the children of those who were taken into custody," Huckabee spokesman Jim Harris said Monday.
Huckabee sent a representative to the city Monday to investigate the federal action last week, Harris said, while charities mobilized to help families caring for children left behind when their parents were deported.
Also Monday, the plant manager said fear of additional raids has kept many workers from returning to work at the Petit Jean poultry plant.
Harris said Huckabee, who attended Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, has local contacts and was concerned about the community. The Clark County sheriff has complained that federal agents did not give local officials notice of the raid.
Plant manager Ronnie Farnam that about 60 workers haven't shown up for work since federal agents raided the plant and arrested 119 workers Wednesday. Farnam said the nightshift workers were not at the plant when the raid took place.
Most of the 119 arrested workers were deported without warning and more than 30 children were left behind in the Arkadelphia area. With the arrests and the absenteeisms, the plant was operating only five of the 10 processing lines it normally operates, Farnam said.
"We've hired some people over the last four days. We have two of our lines back but they are inexperienced workers and we are not operating at or near our capabilities," he said.
Petit Jean donated money to an account at a local bank to help care for the children left behind when their parents were deported, he said. Farnam said some of the deported workers had worked at the plant for 10 years and had children who had attended local schools for years.
"I coached their daughters in softball, and I had become friends with many of them," he said.
Immigration officials said they raided the plant after auditing the company's records. The raid followed the February identity theft conviction of an Arkadelphia woman who admitted she unlawfully sold identity documents and Social Security cards.
Immigration agents said many workers illegally purchased U.S. birth certificates and Social Security cards, then used the documents to obtain ID cards, bearing their photos, from the state of Arkansas. The cards were used to obtain employment.
Temple Black, a spokesman for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New Orleans, said initially last week that agents asked those arrested if they had children and that all of the detainees said they did not have children. Black later said some of the detainees said they had children who were being cared for by relatives.
Monday, Black had no immediate comment on the governor's interest in the raid.
A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said the senator also was looking into the raid.
"(He) is waiting to hear all the facts," Pryor spokesman Rodell Mollineau said.
Shelia Gomez of Catholic Charities of Arkansas said the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock was working to organize help for children whose parents were deported. She said the diocese had sent food, diapers and phone cards to families caring for the children with the $3,500 it has collected.
"Right now, we are just talking with people to find out what their needs are. What's really hard to get at is the true heart of the matter. These people were part of the entire fabric of the community and everyone is suffering," she said.
Tom Stehlik, a priest at St. Anne's Catholic Church in North Little Rock, conducted mass in Arkadelphia on Sunday. Stehlik said the church also was trying to help those who are afraid to return to work because of the likelihood of future raids.
"I think fear is a very high factor right now. Fear does spread and there are a lot of people who are very afraid," he said.
The state of Arkansas already has a critically overburdened foster care system, and you would cringe if you could see the amount of money invested in just ONE foster child.
He's more concerned about the Illegals in Arkansas, than the will of the people who voted for him.
Never again..Mike...never again.
sw
They could use some money to hire another coyote.
I disagree , what they need to do is arrest the plant owners and give them a 5 year vacation for importing illegal workers. Check their records and see if they paid witholding taxes on these illegals. Check the W-2 forms.Lock up the employers and the illegal problem will take care of itself.
Just enforce the law..that is what we want. Illegals..says it all.
Just enforce the law..that is what we want. Illegals..says it all.
Just enforce the law..that is what we want. Illegals..says it all.
Yes it would seem that the Governor is owned and operated by this Chicken processor. There is no way in hell you can convince me that the employer didnt know he was hiring illegals. Now dont get me wrong I am not against hiring or even immigration of Hispanics to this country, but it has to be trhu the gates they have to come here legally. Companies that hire illegals are a big part of the problem. I would bet money that the witholding taxes of these people went into someones pocket.
Here's a thought, why not advertise those jobs to Americans?
sw
Good! It's working...
Now, we need to spreads lots of that fear south of the border -- where it might do some good.
For years, just past the big sign on I-30 advertising that Hope, AR is "Home of President Bill Clinton", there is a similar sign pointing to a "Migrant Workers Center" in Hope.
That crap didn't start with Mike Huckabee.
(FWIW, we drive I-30 through Hope frequently. One of our grandkids' favorite diversions is counting the new bullet holes in the above "Clinton" signs....)
Spectre hit the nail on the head. Huckabee is more concerned about illegal aliens than anything that concerns the citizens of Arkansas. Huckabee has sold his soul to the political machine and wants to be elected to a national office so bad that he's completely willing to step on and over the citizens of Arkansas to achieve his objective. I use to believe that Huckabee stood for conservative beliefs and values. I use to vote for Huckabee for political office.
As Spectre said, "Never again Mike, NEVER again!"
I dont know Governor Huckabee or Arkansas politics, but from all appearances it is big business there that is drawing their labor pool from the ranks of illegals and Gov. Huckabee is aiding and abetting it, more than likely because of campaign contributions. Follow the money. I beleieve an IRS audit of this chicken processer might reveal some fancy mathematics.
Exactly, I bet you dollars to donuts that alot of the profit the poultry plant makes from hiring low wage illegals goes to Governor Huckabee via campaign donations.
Bump to your remarks..
It sounds as though the parents preferred to leave the kids behind, so that when they re-entered the US, they wouldn't have to smuggle the kids in, too.
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