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By MARIELENA
HINCAPIÉ, Director of Programs, and
KAREN TUMLIN, Staff Attorney
Shortly
after the second shift got under way at Micro Solutions
Enterprises (MSE), a manufacturer of toner cartridges and
inkjets in Van Nuys, Calif., hundreds of workers’ lives suddenly
were thrown into chaos. That Thursday (Feb. 7, 2008),
approximately 100 armed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) agents stormed into the plant, whose exits they had first
sealed off. Agents ordered workers to stop what they were
doing and to segregate themselves based on their immigration
status: U.S. citizens were to form one line, lawful
permanent residents or those who were otherwise authorized to
work were to form a different line, and those who were in the
U.S. without papers were ordered into a separate line. ICE
agents handcuffed the men. They then herded all the workers into
the cafeteria. The agents would not release documented
workers or U.S. citizens until they presented evidence of their
lawful immigration status. Workers were not free to leave
and had no choice but to go into the holding area ICE had set
up. Workers, including pregnant women and parents of small
children, were not allowed to use their cell phones or the
bathroom. Agents then individually questioned those who
were in the line for undocumented people, to assess whether they
should be released on humanitarian grounds.
ICE had arrest warrants for
eight MSE employees charged with criminal violations relating to
alleged identity theft, but the agents did not limit their
enforcement operation to those workers. Instead, they detained
approximately 150 workers. About 50 of these workers, mostly
women, were released that evening on humanitarian grounds. The
approximately 100 remaining workers were detained at the plant
and then taken to ICE’s facility in downtown Los Angeles for
processing (Van Nuys is a community within the San Fernando
Valley area of Los Angeles). ICE also simultaneously raided the
homes of workers who had not shown up for work at MSE that day,
including some who were no longer employed by MSE. Finally, ICE
detained other “collaterals” at the plant who had never worked
at MSE. For example, a woman who sold tamales outside MSE and
had entered the plant to use the bathroom was caught up in the
raid. And, reportedly, ICE agents pulled a man out of his car
and detained him after he drove into the MSE parking lot to make
a U-turn.
* * *
Recent vigorous enforcement
efforts by ICE — such as the Van Nuys raid — have ripped apart
immigrant communities and families, separating children from
their parents, in some cases leaving the children abandoned or
in foster care while ICE detains their parents. ICE has taken
record numbers of workers into custody, disrupting businesses
and devastating local economies as employers lose some of their
most productive employees. During their raids, ICE agents have
indiscriminately targeted workers who fit certain racial/ethnic
profiles and, as a result, ICE has wrongfully detained, and even
deported, U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. Most
recently, ICE has treated immigrant workers as criminals,
requiring those whom the agency has detained and released
pending further proceedings to wear electronic “ankle bracelet”
monitors.
That afternoon of Feb. 7, a “raids rapid response network” of
organizers, attorneys, and other advocates began to coalesce
even while the raid was in progress. During the ICE action
and in its aftermath, this network’s members learned valuable
lessons that we hope will benefit efforts across the country to
advocate for an end to these inhumane raids and for just
immigration reform that brings families and workers out of the
shadows and onto a clear path to legal status.
Read more >>
(PDF version of article.)
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