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Hispanics hand Warner a verbal drubbing
The Deseret News ^ | 12/14/2001 | Jerry Johnston

Posted on 12/14/2001 11:49:54 AM PST by Utah Girl

      U.S. Attorney Paul Warner says he has no regrets about this week's sweep of 271 illegal airport workers.

Image
Alejandro Laguna, former airport employee, lectures U.S. Attorney Paul Warner at roundtable.

Chuck Wing, Deseret News
      "I make no apologies for these prosecutions; I make no excuses for these prosecutions," Warner told a gathering of local Hispanic leaders at the Centro Civico Mexicano on Thursday.
      The meeting was called to discuss the "roundup" of illegal airport workers and the arrest of 69 earlier this week. Most of those in custody are Hispanic.
      "If the process is offensive, I'm sorry," Warner said. "That's the way it is."
      The tears, anger and comments that followed Warner's remarks showed that the Hispanic community indeed found the process offensive.
      For more than an hour, Warner and Utah's Latinos seemed to talk at cross purposes, with Hispanic leaders asking questions about suffering families and mistreatment of detainees and Warner responding with comments about the rule of law.
      Warner tried to defuse charges of racism early by saying the singling out of individuals was a blind process and investigators operated in good faith.
      "I categorically reject we were targeting Latinos," he said. "We targeted a place — the airport."
      When asked why no employers had been called to justice, Warner said the investigation did not develop enough evidence against them.
      "The employers have the same screening process you do," said local activist Bob Gallegos.
      In an interview later, Warner said: "If I can prosecute an employer, I'd be happy to do it. What's good for the goose is good for the gander."
      During his own news conference following the meeting at the Centro Civico Mexicano, Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson said he also felt the employers should be held to a higher accountability.
      Anderson criticized the system set forth by the federal government of giving illegal aliens a "wink and a nod" to work at low-paying jobs that the U.S. economy depends on, and then turning around and prosecuting those workers.
      "We need integrity in our system," Anderson said. "(The undocumented workers) have been lulled into these circumstances. And the ones who are most responsible for this are not the ones facing jail during the holidays."
      Many of those arrested may have worked at other restaurants or hotels in the past with no problems, Anderson said. They may not have realized the security differences between a job at the airport and somewhere else, he suggested.
      Anderson said he did not condone the falsifying of documents or the giving of false information on a job application. He also agreed that airport safety was the highest priority. But he again stated Thursday that the roundup should have been handled differently.
      The mayor is now hoping for the prosecution to move swiftly so those arrested can be released as soon as possible.
      Several high-profile defense attorneys were on hand at the Centro Civico Mexicano representing their clients, as well as the family members of many Hispanics now in jail. Vicky Newton was there to plead the case of her brother, a Chilean immigrant.
      "He has never broken the law," she said. "He has a condo and a car. He pays taxes. But they're treating him like an assassin."
      Indeed, the most heated exchanges came in discussions of "equal treatment under the law" when lawyers and leaders chided Warner and his associates for throwing people in jail over the kind of immigration violations that are usually handled with a simple fine. Warner replied that we are in a "post- 9/11" world now and "the airport is a sensitive place."


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I hate to be a hard nose, but the law is the law. Anderson does not have any suggestions on how it should have been handled, except that he would have warned the illegals to just disappear before the roundup. He is such a jerk. How about following the law and helping those illegals get a green card, Mr Anderson???
1 posted on 12/14/2001 11:49:54 AM PST by Utah Girl
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To: summer; glock rocks
More of Rocky's antics.
2 posted on 12/14/2001 11:50:54 AM PST by Utah Girl
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To: Utah Girl
"If the process is offensive, I'm sorry," Warner said. "That's the way it is."

Bravo.

The tears, anger and comments that followed Warner's remarks showed that the Hispanic community indeed found the process offensive.

Then carry your tail south of the border. I am sure that the process involved in enforcing the law there is equally as offensive to morons who dont obey the law but down there at least someone might care.

IDIOTS!

3 posted on 12/14/2001 11:56:01 AM PST by VaBthang4
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To: Utah Girl
Illegal means illegal. If they come here and take the chance of being caught then they have nothing to bitch about when they ARE caught.
4 posted on 12/14/2001 11:59:12 AM PST by Bikers4Bush
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To: Utah Girl
Vicky Newton was there to plead the case of her brother, a Chilean immigrant.

"He has never broken the law," she said.

Really? Then neither he nor she has absolutely nothing to worry about. Or is she LYING, and it is, in fact, the case that he broke the law by (1) being here illegally, and (2) lying about it on his employment forms?

5 posted on 12/14/2001 12:02:03 PM PST by freedomcrusader
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To: freedomcrusader
Wow, that was terrible!!! I meant to say: "Neither he nor she has anything to worry about."

Also, "He and she have absolutely nothing to worry about.", would have sufficed.

Ack!!!

6 posted on 12/14/2001 12:03:15 PM PST by freedomcrusader
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To: Utah Girl
What a bunch of whiners! I would like to see the Mormon Militia reunite and send these pinkos to hell.
7 posted on 12/14/2001 12:16:25 PM PST by Clemenza
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To: Clemenza
LOL! Rocky Anderson is a former Mormon, therein lies a lot of the conflict he has with everyone.
8 posted on 12/14/2001 12:31:07 PM PST by Utah Girl
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To: Utah Girl
Well, I'll be........a man who did the RIGHT thing and is not apologyzing for it.
9 posted on 12/14/2001 12:36:47 PM PST by OldFriend
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To: Utah Girl
These hispanics are sure generating a lot of bad press for themselves.
10 posted on 12/14/2001 12:39:34 PM PST by TheDon
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To: Utah Girl
When asked why no employers had been called to justice, Warner said the investigation did not develop enough evidence against them. "The employers have the same screening process you do," said local activist Bob Gallegos.

On the other hand, this is a fair question. How did find all these illegals and not get any evidence against their employers? Funny how the law and order types are all over the Mexicans, but give a free pass to their employers.

11 posted on 12/14/2001 12:44:32 PM PST by mvscal
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To: mvscal
And I tend to agree with that. The company(s) should also be investigated to see if they are turning a blind eye to following the law.
12 posted on 12/14/2001 12:46:33 PM PST by Utah Girl
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To: OldFriend
I've really liked Paul Warner in all of this. He's been blunt and followed the law. Too bad if it hurt someone's feelings. If the law is so bad, then it should be changed, not ignored.
13 posted on 12/14/2001 12:52:00 PM PST by Utah Girl
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To: Utah Girl
I'm kind of p.o.ed that these people think they can come here and tell us how to run our country. The only reason they are here is because the countries they come from are even more screwed up.
14 posted on 12/14/2001 12:57:44 PM PST by Dakmar
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Comment #15 Removed by Moderator

To: Joseph Warren
I'm with you, I just hate the booming base in car stereos and the obscenely loud hip-hop. The good news is, the town I live in enforces that law that forbids extremely loud car stereos.
16 posted on 12/14/2001 1:06:21 PM PST by Utah Girl
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To: Utah Girl
" Several high-profile defense attorneys were on hand at the Centro Civico Mexicano representing their clients, as well as the family members of many Hispanics now in jail. Vicky Newton was there to plead the case of her brother, a Chilean immigrant. "He has never broken the law," she said. "He has a condo and a car. He pays taxes. But they're treating him like an assassin."

What Vickey Newton, like others, don't mention the obvious problem is these people are not here legally. Let them bellyache. Warner is right and I say hang tough.

17 posted on 12/14/2001 1:35:23 PM PST by freekitty
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To: mvscal
You have to tackle both ends of the situation. Otherwise Illegal immigration will continue. However these people arrested are breaking the law. By not showing respect for the laws and immigration processes of the country in which they have come to reside, they by default send a message that they have no respect for the rest of the laws of the country.

You cant simply pick and choose which laws you want to obey, and which ones you dont. If that happened, society itself would break down.

18 posted on 12/14/2001 1:42:26 PM PST by cascademountaineer
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To: cascademountaineer
Illegal aliens need to be deported.
19 posted on 12/14/2001 1:57:05 PM PST by ikanakattara
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To: cascademountaineer
You cant simply pick and choose which laws you want to obey, and which ones you dont. If that happened, society itself would break down.

Nor can you simply pick and choose the laws you want to enforce.

The employers suffer no consequences for their illegal actions and we enjoy the low cost services provided by these employers and yet the illegals are supposed to be the bad guys? Sorry, I'm not buying it.

20 posted on 12/14/2001 1:59:00 PM PST by mvscal
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