Posted on 08/06/2005 6:07:23 AM PDT by sweetliberty
LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Gov. Mike Huckabee says he's not afraid of risking his political future by speaking out against a recent immigration raid at an Arkadelphia poultry plant even though calls to his office have been "about 1,000 to one" against his stance.
"Most of the people that call are irate and using profanity. This is a very emotional issue. It evokes not only deep emotion, but causes irrational emotion," Huckabee told The Associated Press on Friday.
The move has strengthened support for the governor among national Hispanic civil rights advocates and could bode well for a Republican leader of the National Governors Association with presidential ambitions.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents arrested 119 illegal workers July 26 in the raid at a Petit Jean poultry plant, sending 107 out of the country either voluntarily or through deportation. The raid drew the ire of many in the community because about 30 children were left behind when their parents were arrested.
The governor's office has joined with the Mexican Consulate in Dallas, Catholic Charities and the League of United Latin American Citizens to ensure the well-being of the children.
Huckabee, a Baptist minister, said his support for the state's growing Hispanic population has to do with compassion, not politics. But longtime University of Arkansas at Little Rock political science professor Art English said there could be a political upside for Huckabee.
"It seems like immigration is not the most popular issue in the world to take a stand on but we are talking about kids," English said. "It looks like the federal government is being a great bully and these people are not committing great crimes. The outcome is these people don't have their mom or dad."
Friday, Huckabee said his repeated calls to Immigration and Customs and Enforcement officials about the raid have gone unanswered and he has asked the Bush administration to investigate the circumstances of the raid.
"(Federal agents) seem to be as indifferent in dealing with us as they are in dealing with children," he said.
Temple Black, spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New Orleans, said the office was not avoiding calls from the governor and would be happy to talk with him.
"We are always open to good communications," he said.
Immigration officials have 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.
Huckabee said he supports the prosecution of the woman involved and does not support illegal immigration but takes issue with the way the raid was conducted.
"How is our government benefiting from an abandoned 1-year-old? I'm thinking as a parent, if I was in that position and my only crime was plucking a chicken to feed my family. I didn't hurt anyone," he said. "It would be different if the crime was robbing a bank with a gun or making methamphetamine."
Hugo Juarez, deputy consul general for the Mexican Consulate in Dallas, called Huckabee a good friend of Mexicans and the Mexican government.
The governor's pro-immigrant stance was also praised by LULAC president Hector Flores, who called Huckabee's efforts for the children a testament to progress in racial attitudes.
"I marvel at the changes in a Southern state like Arkansas where the governor actually called out the troops to keep the schools from being integrated in 1957. What a turnaround and especially for it to come from a Republican," he said.
Huckabee also took an unpopular pro-Hispanic stance earlier this year when he fought for legislation that would have granted in-state tuition and state-funded scholarships to the children of illegal immigrants. The bill failed by a close margin in the last days of the legislative session.
Because they CAN!
I can't imagine voting for a Prez candidate in '08 that has either an "R" or a "D" after her/his name unless one of the parties moves so far right from its present position as to become unrecognizable.
But just watch the Pub nuts here claw my b@lls off for my attempted escape from the reservation.
Think about the Prez choices we've had since 1988 and tell me there ain't somethin rotten' in Denmark.
Awww, po widdle Mikey. The people of your state are irate enough to call and cuss? That must really hurt. Ya big baby.
BS!
I guess he has no problem with ILLEGALS buying STOLEN IDENTIFICATIONS of LEGAL citizens in order to get their jobs at a TYSON poultry plant?!!!
It damn sure is about politics and campaign cash from TYSON & WALMART!
Mr. Flores is completing his third one-year term as national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, the nation's oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization.
"We wanted to say that we are as American as anyone else," he said, "but we won't give up our language or culture."
******
At the time of the raid, most of the children were with friends, relatives, baby sitters or at daycare centers. Some of the older children were home alone, he said.
His church took in "probably eight" children who did not immediately have someone to care for them, Gutierrez said. He said those children, along with the others, eventually were united with relatives or family friends.
Temple Black, a spokesman at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement regional office in New Orleans, said the federal agents had asked the workers if they had any "unattended children," but none responded affirmatively.
He also said the agents notified the Clark County sheriff’s office dispatcher once the raid got under way, and that members of the Arkansas State Police had assisted on site. "We think that we fulfilled our responsibility," Black added.
******
The agency said in a news release that those arrested possessed stolen identification documents — actual birth certificates and Social Security cards — that they had used to get their jobs. Poultry plant officials said they had no way of knowing the workers were illegal, noting that the workers had provided proper identification and were hired through the state’s Employment Security Division.
Authorities said Moreno, who worked in the personnel office at Petit Jean Poultry for at least 10 years before she left in 2003, told agents that she had supplied people with "genuine U.S. birth certificates and matching Social Security cards for $780 per set."
News Release
July 27, 2005
119 ILLEGAL ALIENS IN ARKADELPHIA ARRESTED BY ICE AGENTS
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents yesterday arrested 119 illegal aliens here at Petit Jean Poultry Inc. following an audit of the company’s employee records, and in response to a February identity theft conviction.
Those arrested were employed at the facility using actual identities of United States citizens. Special agents from the local ICE Texarkana Office were joined by 30 agents from other ICE regional offices. The ICE New Orleans Office of Investigations conducted the employee audit pursuant to an administrative search warrant obtained from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Special agents from the Little Rock Office of the Social Security Administration’s Inspector General office assisted in the operation.
Many aliens apprehended at Petit Jean were determined to have illegally purchased U.S. citizen birth certificates and Social Security Cards, and then used those documents to obtain identification cards bearing their photos from the State of Arkansas. The Arkansas identification cards were then used to obtain employment under the stolen identity.
Yesterday’s operation stemmed from an ICE investigation into the sale of U.S. citizen birth certificates and social security cards that culminated in the December 2004 arrest of a former Petit Jean employee. The employee, Maria Moreno of Arkadelphia, Ark., pleaded guilty Feb. 14 to multiple counts of a federal indictment charging that she unlawfully sold identity documents and social security cards. Approximately $60,000 in cash was seized from Moreno as suspected proceeds of her unlawful activities.
The arrested aliens were turned over to ICE Detention and Removal Operations. Information regarding fraudulently used Social Security numbers will be provided to the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service to unscramble the earning records of the affected U.S. citizen victims.
Of those arrested, two were from Honduras, one from El Salvador, one from Guatemala, and the remaining 115 aliens were from Mexico. There were a total of 50 males, 69 females, one of which was a 14-year-old juvenile. Wages paid to the illegal aliens ranged from $6 to $6.80 per hour.
“ICE is committed to enforcing laws relating to identity theft, false claims to U.S. citizenship, and fraud," said Craig Griffin, resident agent-in-charge for the ICE Texarkana office. "We will arrest those who violate immigration employment laws and continue to restore integrity to the U.S. immigration system."
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is continuing to investigate this case.
AMEN TO THAT! But we've gotta find out who it is that is trying to eliminate our borders & call them on it--& President Bush is among them (remember how he insulted the Minuitemen? Now THAT was an outrageous comment if I've ever heard one!). A good starting point for beginning the sraech for these one-world traitors would be the Council on Foreign Relations, an organization whose members fill the Bush Administration.
It's either that or they pretend it's about being compassionate or working for their votes but you're right, the real agenda is satisfying the cheap labor lobbies.
"The governor's office has joined with the Mexican Consulate in Dallas, Catholic Charities and the League of United Latin American Citizens to ensure the well-being of the children. "
Enemies of America - just like this bum of a governor.
I wonder how much chicken plant money went to support his campaign.
He should be run out of town on a rail.
And those lying phonies at AP should stop referring to these borader violators, these illegal invaders, as "immigrants". They are not. They are illegal invaders.
Furthermore, the Feds should put that company out of business, ;iquidate ALL their assets, confisctae the stockholders stocks and use the profit to benefit the taxpayers who pick the social service burden of paying for their slave labor.
I noticed huckster didn't have the decency to show up at the 39th's change of command ceremony today. sentor pryor and asa hutchingson showed up.
To Arkansas FReepers:
Is anyone currently building a list of articles/hotlinks published here on FR that deal with the Goob'ner Quisling Huckster regarding all his feigning over the illegal immigrants, the pardoning of hardcore criminal inmates, etc., etc.? We've got to gather our ammunition now and have it at the ready so that when the battle begins to convince the public that he's ready for a promotion to a national office, we are ready to show that he is no longer fit for public office. The time to build a case against this yahoo is now. I can start a list of hotlinks on my profile page if no one else is already doing it. Send me hotlinks to any articles that can be used for ammunition that you find.
Every story about this event will leave out any facts that disagree with the illegal immigration.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1457264/posts
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