Criminalizing a community - Ill-timed show of force raises distrust among innocent citizens
Criminalizing a community - Ill-timed show of force raises distrust among innocent citizens
By Teresa Puente
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published April 29, 2007
Imagine federal agents bursting into Water Tower Place or the Oakbrook Center mall in a crime sting. Imagine them holding up photos of white male suspects and comparing them with the white men present in the store. Imagine them kicking open the doors of the ladies room with their guns drawn.
If you were an innocent shopper or bystander in the mall, wouldn't you be outraged?
This is essentially what witnesses reported after a sting last week by federal agents at a strip mall in the heart of Chicago's Mexican neighborhood known as La Villita, or Little Village.
The authorities were searching for 22 people linked to a $2 million fake-ID operation. The suspects were charged with mail fraud, conspiracy and other crimes; two were charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
To be sure, the authorities should go after such criminals. But to do so in such a public way essentially criminalized the innocent shoppers and families in the strip mall, which includes a thrift store, a pharmacy and a health clinic.
The ill-timed and poorly-executed raid further fueled the raging debate over immigration. As Congress considers whether to give legal status -- temporary or permanent -- to the 12 million undocumented workers living in the U.S., immigrant-rights groups will take to the streets of American cities on Tuesday to call attention to the need for immigration reform.
Anybody who walks by this strip mall knows that in the large parking lot and nearby streets one can easily buy a fake green card, Social Security number or driver's license. Illegal vendors shout "Micas! Micas!" the Spanish slang for green cards. It has been that way for more than a decade.
In 1999, I reported on this in a Tribune investigation that focused on how gang members and an international organized crime ring profited from the sale of the illegal documents.
So why did authorities carry out this raid at this time?
Activists accused the government of using the raid to intimidate and discourage people from attending Tuesday's protest. U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald denied that.
"I can assure everyone the arrests had nothing to do with the rally that's upcoming," Fitzgerald said. "There is great debate going on in our country about the immigration situation. This case is not about that debate."
Instead, Fitzgerald said agents acted to prevent another murder and to protect national security.
But the agents could have gone after the suspects in their homes. If national security was the issue, then why has the open-air sale of these fake documents continued in and around the strip mall for so many years with little action by law enforcement until now?
I don't believe it is a conspiracy against the immigrant-rights protesters. But it is a case of bad timing and poor judgment. In the end, it actually will benefit the protesters by mobilizing the community organizations preparing for the event.
There's been talk that not as many people will come out for this year's protest compared with last year, when hundreds of thousands of people jammed the streets of Chicago and other U.S. cities.
This raid may be the political catalyst that the demonstrators have been waiting for. But instead of focusing their outrage on the latest raid, the activists should let people know that the overwhelming number of undocumented immigrants who would benefit from immigration reform are not criminals.
In the eyes of immigration officials, yes, they have broken the law. But the majority of the people are here simply to work and provide a future for their children not available in their home country. If you couldn't find work and had to feed your children, what would you do? How far would you travel?
The truth, as we all well know, is that we all benefit economically from the undocumented immigrant workforce. They labor in our fields and factories, clean our hotels and schools, build our homes and care for our children.
Without their cheap labor, the prices of produce and meat, the cost of hotels and restaurants and countless other services would rise. They do many jobs that most Americans wouldn't touch.
It would be impossible for immigration officials to round up and deport 12 million people in a raid. And three polls from earlier this month show strong support for an immigration policy that would create a path to legal, permanent residency and eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants.
The question remains whether there is enough political will in Congress to pass immigration reform. These proposals range from a temporary guest-worker plan supported by President Bush to legislation introduced by U.S. Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) that would create earned citizenship as well as increase border security.
This week members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met with Bush to discuss the immigration issue. But many Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are not taking the lead on reform. The Democrats need her leadership to move forward.
Meanwhile, the war in Iraq is overshadowing the immigration debate and capturing most of the national headlines. One raid or one day of national protest alone will not change the course.
----------
Teresa Puente, a former reporter for the Tribune, teaches journalism at Columbia College Chicago.
By Teresa Puente
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published April 29, 2007
Imagine federal agents bursting into Water Tower Place or the Oakbrook Center mall in a crime sting. Imagine them holding up photos of white male suspects and comparing them with the white men present in the store. Imagine them kicking open the doors of the ladies room with their guns drawn.
If you were an innocent shopper or bystander in the mall, wouldn't you be outraged?
This is essentially what witnesses reported after a sting last week by federal agents at a strip mall in the heart of Chicago's Mexican neighborhood known as La Villita, or Little Village.
The authorities were searching for 22 people linked to a $2 million fake-ID operation. The suspects were charged with mail fraud, conspiracy and other crimes; two were charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
To be sure, the authorities should go after such criminals. But to do so in such a public way essentially criminalized the innocent shoppers and families in the strip mall, which includes a thrift store, a pharmacy and a health clinic.
The ill-timed and poorly-executed raid further fueled the raging debate over immigration. As Congress considers whether to give legal status -- temporary or permanent -- to the 12 million undocumented workers living in the U.S., immigrant-rights groups will take to the streets of American cities on Tuesday to call attention to the need for immigration reform.
Anybody who walks by this strip mall knows that in the large parking lot and nearby streets one can easily buy a fake green card, Social Security number or driver's license. Illegal vendors shout "Micas! Micas!" the Spanish slang for green cards. It has been that way for more than a decade.
In 1999, I reported on this in a Tribune investigation that focused on how gang members and an international organized crime ring profited from the sale of the illegal documents.
So why did authorities carry out this raid at this time?
Activists accused the government of using the raid to intimidate and discourage people from attending Tuesday's protest. U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald denied that.
"I can assure everyone the arrests had nothing to do with the rally that's upcoming," Fitzgerald said. "There is great debate going on in our country about the immigration situation. This case is not about that debate."
Instead, Fitzgerald said agents acted to prevent another murder and to protect national security.
But the agents could have gone after the suspects in their homes. If national security was the issue, then why has the open-air sale of these fake documents continued in and around the strip mall for so many years with little action by law enforcement until now?
I don't believe it is a conspiracy against the immigrant-rights protesters. But it is a case of bad timing and poor judgment. In the end, it actually will benefit the protesters by mobilizing the community organizations preparing for the event.
There's been talk that not as many people will come out for this year's protest compared with last year, when hundreds of thousands of people jammed the streets of Chicago and other U.S. cities.
This raid may be the political catalyst that the demonstrators have been waiting for. But instead of focusing their outrage on the latest raid, the activists should let people know that the overwhelming number of undocumented immigrants who would benefit from immigration reform are not criminals.
In the eyes of immigration officials, yes, they have broken the law. But the majority of the people are here simply to work and provide a future for their children not available in their home country. If you couldn't find work and had to feed your children, what would you do? How far would you travel?
The truth, as we all well know, is that we all benefit economically from the undocumented immigrant workforce. They labor in our fields and factories, clean our hotels and schools, build our homes and care for our children.
Without their cheap labor, the prices of produce and meat, the cost of hotels and restaurants and countless other services would rise. They do many jobs that most Americans wouldn't touch.
It would be impossible for immigration officials to round up and deport 12 million people in a raid. And three polls from earlier this month show strong support for an immigration policy that would create a path to legal, permanent residency and eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants.
The question remains whether there is enough political will in Congress to pass immigration reform. These proposals range from a temporary guest-worker plan supported by President Bush to legislation introduced by U.S. Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) that would create earned citizenship as well as increase border security.
This week members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met with Bush to discuss the immigration issue. But many Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are not taking the lead on reform. The Democrats need her leadership to move forward.
Meanwhile, the war in Iraq is overshadowing the immigration debate and capturing most of the national headlines. One raid or one day of national protest alone will not change the course.
----------
Teresa Puente, a former reporter for the Tribune, teaches journalism at Columbia College Chicago.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 8:24 AM
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