that the has condemned the Bush administration's use of raids 鈥 like the , and the more recent, and even bigger , 鈥 in its ham-handed attempt to enforce immigration law:
"The humanitarian costs of these raids are immeasurable and unacceptable in a civilized society," Bishop John Wester, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) committee on migration, said in a statement.
"I call upon the Department of Homeland Security and President (George W.) Bush to reexamine the use of worksite enforcement raids as an immigration enforcement tool," he added.
This isn't the first time the religious community has spoken out against immigration raids. that immediately following the raids:
Jewish activists expressed their outrage by organizing a boycott of Agriprocessors, Inc. Within a few weeks, hundreds of rabbis and Jewish organizations signed a condemning both the company's treatment of the workers and the government's commando-style terrorizing of a community.
What kicked into gear following the raids could only be described as a mass conviction machine without even the pretense of due process: Groups of as many of 17 arrestees were lumped together to be represented by one attorney, prohibiting attorneys from mounting a real defense on behalf of each arrestee. Those defense attorneys received pre-packaged scripts from the government on how to expedite their clients' cases through the courts as quickly as possible. For the government, raid + mass arrests + overwhelmed attorneys = tons of quick convictions.
After the raid in Laurel, Miss., the 老澳门开奖结果 sent attorneys to the electronics factory, where they heard reports of workers being segregated by race or ethnicity and interrogated and many workers were denied access to attorneys. In addition, Immigration and Customs Enforcement never told family members and lawyers following the raid where the workers were being jailed.
An inter-faith movement for immigration reform is underway, :
鈥淚mmigrants continue to be scapegoated for our economic ills and often dehumanized by the use of anti-immigrant rhetoric,鈥 [Bishop Wester] complained. 鈥淎s a nation 鈥 a nation of immigrants I might add 鈥 we cannot continue to accept the labor of immigrants while also undermining their basic human dignity. We cannot have it both ways.鈥
The opposition from the religious community, coupled with the in which these businesses operate, shows that raids hurts all Americans, not just immigrants.