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In recent weeks, the U.S. Bureau of Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has stepped up its enforcement efforts
against immigrant workers in the New Orleans area, according to reports
from advocates there. ICE's aggressive tactics stand in stark contrast
to the Bush administration's ongoing failure to enforce employment laws
in the Gulf Coast and will only exacerbate existing ethnic tensions in
New Orleans.
On the morning of Mar. 17, 2006, ICE agents
arrested dozens of Latino day laborers at Lee Circle, a site in New
Orleans where workers regularly congregate. Twenty government cars,
including both ICE vehicles and New Orleans Police Dept. squad cars,
surrounded Lee Circle and demanded to see the Latino workers' ID cards.
Eyewitnesses reported that in some cases ICE agents used excessive force
to prevent workers from fleeing. An ICE agent in New Orleans reported
that more than half of the detainees were released later the same day,
which calls into question the basis for their arrests. Moreover, the
involvement of local police officers in an immigration raid can only
undermine public safety by deterring undocumented workers from reporting
crimes or serving as witnesses for fear of deportation.
ICE launched subsequent raids against
immigrant workers on Apr. 2, 25, and 26. The April 2 raid occurred at a
motel in Central City, where many immigrant workers live. Claiming that
they were looking for tattoos as signs of gang affiliation, ICE agents
strip-searched workers in the parking lot of the motel. Local law
enforcement officials were also present. The Apr. 25 and 26 raids
targeted day laborers. On the 25th, ICE agents, together with Jefferson
Parish sheriff's deputies, raided the Shell gas station at the corner of
Veteran's Blvd. and Causeway in Metairie. According to eyewitnesses,
approximately ten people were detained, including two Honduran women.
The following day, ICE squad cars arrived at the Midtown Motel in Mid
City New Orleans, where the management had attempted to evict immigrant
workers without cause the previous weekend. Although all of the workers
had paid for their rooms through the end of the month, many fled out of
fear. Local advocates successfully intervened to prevent the eviction
of those who remained.
NILC, together with other national and local
immigrant rights groups and labor organizations, continues to undertake
advocacy efforts intended to ensure better coordination between ICE and
the U.S. Dept. of Labor (DOL). The goal is to prevent unscrupulous
employers from flouting prevailing wage and hour laws by reporting to
ICE workers who complain about nonpayment of wages. Both ICE and DOL
have expressed their commitment to developing a process whereby ICE will
determine, before deporting any worker detained in the Gulf Coast,
whether the worker has unpaid wage claims. ICE and DOL are reportedly
engaged in ongoing consultations on this subject.
At a meeting with officials from DOL on Mar.
15, NILC reemphasized the need for additional permanent bilingual wage
and hour investigators and more effective outreach strategies to
expedite the processing of wage and hour claims in Louisiana and
Mississippi. At the moment, DOL has only one bilingual investigator in
Mississippi and four in Louisiana. To date, DOL has supplemented
its Gulf Coast staff by bringing in bilingual investigators from offices
in other states on an ad hoc basis, which deprives those states of
necessary resources. With respect to outreach, DOL has recently begun
conducting one lunch and one dinner session per week at Good News Camp
in City Park. The primary purpose of these sessions is to interview
workers regarding potential wage and hour claims. At DOL's request,
NILC agreed to help publicize these sessions.
NILC will continue to work with local
advocates to promote better coordination between DOL and ICE and to
monitor the effectiveness of DOL's efforts to ensure that Gulf Coast
employers are paying their workers in accordance with prevailing law.
By
Melissa Crow, Gulf Coast
policy attorney, and
Rosana Cruz, Gulf Coast field coordinator
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