Unconstitutional Cowboys

[rodeodance]

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/10/ice.html


Unconstitutional Cowboys

By Henry Fernandez

October 24, 2007


Federal agents are entering the homes of law abiding U.S. citizens and legal residents without search warrants. Let’s be clear—this is scary stuff.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, via “Operation Return to Sender,” has launched raids on homes across the country. In many cases, the raids appear to be unconstitutional fishing expeditions that target people because of their ethnicity, which is reminiscent of the post 9-11 round-ups of Arab Americans and Americans of South-Asian descent. Instead of hinting at potential Arab and Asian terrorist connections, which invariably vanished with a little investigation, federal agents now claim they are looking for Latino “gang members.” In fact, these raids appear to have little to do with gangs.

The New York Times reported this month on Peggy De La Rosa-Delgado, a U.S. citizen caught up in recent ICE raids in Long Island, New York. Her home was raided twice by federal agents looking for the same individual who, as far she knows, never lived at her address. ICE detained her family, pointed a gun at a family member, and made them all prove they had a legal right to live in the home she bought in 2003. De La Rosa-Delgado’s experience is not exceptional. Nassau County police involved in the raids say that despite entering dozens of homes, ICE only caught six of the 96 fugitives it was looking for.

The Bush administration supported recent attempts to pass comprehensive immigration reform but is now working overtime to appease anti-immigrant and right wing groups who oppose immigration reform. A dramatic increase in the number of ICE raids is front and center in this appeasement. Given the ensuing chaos, hopefully this policy shift is not just an attempt to get right wing support for IC

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1. scary stuff!!

what's next? web cams in everyone's home?