Posted on 02/07/2011 1:17:59 PM PST by La Lydia
Sending dozens of illegal immigrants to jail for using stolen identities to work is a “travesty,” according to the Clinton-appointed federal judge who reluctantly approved the plea agreements of Mexican and Guatemalan employees arrested during a raid at an Iowa meatpacking plant. The 2008 case received national media coverage because hundreds of suspected illegal aliens were apprehended during a massive federal raid at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant, Agriprocessing Co. Many used fake identities and stolen Social Security numbers to work at the facility in the northeast Iowa community of Postville and dozens were criminally charged.
Now the judge who presided over the case, Mark Bennett, is publicly chastising prosecutors for pressuring the illegal immigrants into agreeing to five-month prison sentences by pleading guilty to misdemeanors. Appearing in the documentary (Abused: The Postville Raid) of a leftwing Guatemalan “filmmaker,” Bennett calls the legal proceedings a “travesty” that made him “embarrassed” to be a United States District Court judge.
The film depicts the law breakers as victims who were left “humiliated” and whose families were “torn apart” by the evil U.S. government. It also asserts that, as a result of the federal immigration raid, a small Iowa community of “great diversity was left in ruin” because many of the “undocumented workers” got deported.
The judge’s comments in the film were first reported by a Des Moines newspaper that says he only sentenced 57 of the 389 arrested in the raid. Never the less, Bennett found the plea agreements to be “personally and professionally offensive” as well as a “tragedy.” He also said the illegal immigrants deserved “mercy” and “compassion” because they didn’t have criminal histories.
Many Americans probably thought the illegal immigrants got off way too easy. After all, they were charged with using false identification documents to obtain employment, using fake or stolen Social Security numbers and unlawful entry into the United States. Those whose identities were stolen likely thought the five-month sentence was indeed a “travesty.”
That’s what I was thinking — if it’s not HIS identity that is stolen, it won’t matter so very much.
What a disgusting judge.
Probably just that some cultures do not think stealing is wrong, and WE have to adjust to their ways of doing things.//s
Ha! Yeah.
That judge needs to be in the unemployment line...
I guess it’s also alright, then, to go to Mexico and steal stuff — sort of like it cannot be helped.
The judge appears to be saying that illegals should be allowed to commit identify theft because they are illegals, but that we mustn’t commit identify theft because we are not illegals. If he is so ashamed of his own country’s laws, perhaps he should step down. Notice he said this to a foreign film maker.
Illegaly entering a country is a crime in ALL Nations in the world. The U.S. is the only one in which the judges kiss their ass for doing so.
How do we get these judges off the bench in America, this is pure unacceptible BS.
Failing To Impeach Activist Judges A “Travesty,” DrSerizawa Says
Arbitrary and selective enforcement is where the left derives their power. Of course, they don’t see it as a negative, they see it as having the flexibility to use their superior judgement to achieve justice.
So would it be ok with this judge if a prisoner was released from prison and he stole somebody’s identity in order to get good work? Would it be a travesty to prosecute him?
I kid you not.
This is stunning and infuriating.
if I hadn’t read it I wouldn’t have believed it. I am used to loony left judges but this is a real low.
He needs to resign so he won’t suffer any more embarrassement
Thank you for posting. I hope this gets spread around.
I’m sure that the Honorable Mark W. Bennett of Iowa would welcome some illegal alien stealing his identity.
Thats great....a judge who values Illegal Alien lawbreakers over the victims that were victimized. This judge needs to be impeached
Judges don’t make the laws..they are supposed to enforce the law. If he doesn’t like the law..he needs to vote for politicians to change it..just like us.
This is a federal judge, not a state judge. That should answer any questions you might have about “recall”.
I think that is what is most offensive to me, too. The judge is more worried about the illegal aliens than his own fellow Americans, and thinks the illegal aliens’ interests should come first, regardless of whether they’ve broke the law and victimized Americans.
While in private practice, Bennett served as General Counsel for the Iowa Civil Liberties Union from 1975 to 1989
Well, that certainly explains his distain for his fellow Americans and crime victims.
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