Let the Sobbing Begin

Oh the humanity. The Boston Globe reports that the Massachusetts Department of Social Services (DSS) is intervening on behalf of illegal immigrants being held by ICE after raids on a New Bedford factory. They are requesting the release of 21 of the detainees, 19 because they have children to care for, 1 woman with cancer, and a 17 year old. The story is obviously intended to evoke feelings of sympathy for the hard-luck immigrants, but the whole mess only set off alarm bells as I read it.

DSS Commissioner Harry Spence said he was "extremely upset and angry" that immigration officials whisked the detainees, mostly women, out of Massachusetts on Wednesday before these cases were discovered. "If the department had been given access to the detainees at Fort Devens on Tuesday night, as we consistently requested, then a great deal of this could have been avoided," Spence said in Harlingen. "The threats to the children's safety that the federal action caused could have been greatly diminished."

So we see how an immigrant's first priority is to have a child - when there's children involved, we're no longer supposed to enforce our borders.

But Spence said DSS workers' efforts had shown that the interviews conducted by immigration officials did not get all the information. He said detainees who come from countries with a history of government repression might have been too afraid to tell their stories to federal immigration workers. As an example, Spence said he heard about a detainee who at first denied being a parent, but later acknowledged having two school-age children in New Bedford after a DSS social worker gained that person's trust.

Immigrants from third world countries bring along low levels of trust in the law and a penchant for deception that is not a healthy addition to our society.

Many detainees, wearing hospital-style scrubs, burst into tears at the sight of Massachusetts social workers.

I have to admit, I'd probably have some extreme reactions myself if approached by Massachusetts social workers.

A 38-year-old detainee said she has two daughters, ages 2 and 4, who are being cared for by an aunt, according to social workers who interviewed her and spoke on condition of anonymity. The 4-year-old cannot walk or talk and requires a feeding tube. The social workers said the girl requires regular treatment at a hospital.

That's terrific - I guess we know who's paying the bills - I bet it's not the aunt.

Other social workers described an interview with a sobbing mother of a 17-year-old girl, who has been left in the care of her 22-year-old brother. The mother said the girl gets good grades and is a senior in high school. But the girl, whom the mother described as depressed and weeping, has not been to school since Wednesday.

Oh horrors! Four days of missed school - her life is ruined. Gee, maybe she could just go back to the home country with the mother - nah, I guess that's out of the question.

A Guatemalan woman told social workers she has a US-born 2-year-old boy who has a respiratory condition and needs to be connected to a breathing machine four times daily. The mother was not sure who is taking care of the boy; his estranged father, who left the family five months ago, or his baby-sitter he social workers said.

That breathing machine can't be cheap, though traitor George is probably in Guatamela as we speak making all kinds of promises with our money and future. (Update: Bush did defend the raid down there, insisting we will enforce our laws, so he's not as contemptible as others mentioned below.) Let's see, out of 19 identified parents, 2 have children with expensive disabilities. That's quite a bargain we're getting out of these immigrants, isn't it?

Hundreds of friends and family of detainees crammed into the basement of St. James Church yesterday to weep, pray, and tell their stories to elected officials.

Oh, good lord, please.

US Senator Edward M. Kennedy held their hands and prayed with them, joined by Senator John F. Kerry and Representatives Barney Frank and William Delahunt, who repeated calls for a congressional investigation into the raid.

What scumbags, what utter, complete, shitheads. If I were miraculously to become Dictator of the U.S. I can't even imagine how quickly I'd put these traitors up against the wall and shoot them. Better yet, I'd offer the detainees $1000 for each body part just to laugh at how quickly they'd tear their "saviors" to shreds. Can you tell they piss me off?

Nancy Kelly, a lawyer with Greater Boston Legal services in Boston, said the released detainees were confused about what will happen to them next. Some mistakenly believe that an appointment with an immigration official is tantamount to appearing in court. "They're terrified," she said.

Terrified - yes, that's the idea. But there's a simple solution - GO HOME!