This is a follow-up to the writer's earlier post written at the time of the immigration raid. See http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/25/the-immigration-raids-harbinger-of-a-police-state/ in which he links to local coverage including first person reports. He points his readers to an important piece in the NYT and points out the significance. For those readers wondering about the writer's background, his bio states that he is managing editor of Firedoglake and a freelance journalist based in Seattle, who among other things authored Strawberry Days: How Internment Destroyed a Japanese American Community (Palgrave/St. Martin's Press, June 2005), as well as Death on the Fourth of July: The Story of a Killing, a Trial, and Hate Crime in ... More »

Interesting report about what appears to be improper treatment of illegal immigrants in Postville, Iowa. However, this article is largely based on secondary rather than primary sources, and offers no direct factual evidence other than quoting a couple articles. The author also appears biased in his coverage of this event, suggesting that Americans 'sit with grim satisfaction' about this situation, which doesn't seem quite right.

Firedog Lake has been writing a series of articles on the unjust treatment of the undocumented workers arrested during the largest immigration raid. Follow up on charges, if any that have been filed against the owners of the company is needed. There are links to stories on the dangerous working conditions that the immigrants worked in and the cover up by the company. Guatemalan immigrants walked across Mexico to the U.S. to work in a meat packing factory with unsafe working conditions and were criminally prosecuted and jailed in a sting set up by Homeland Security and the Dept of Justice. http://www.newstrust.net/webx/Stories/files/80714-0048/ to Democracy Now interview with court translator.

This is a very troubling issue which deserves more public attention than it is likely to receive. While I was initially skeptical of Camayd-Freixas's credentials to interpret what is taking place in the illegal immigration realm, a google search assured me that he is accurate in his assessment. Camayd-Freixas and David Neiwert show clearly why we should investigate the covert actions of our government in using Homeland Security to finance an anti-immigrant agenda (where they derive both economic and political gain at taxpayer expense). My understanding of the law in the US is that when anyone, citizen or not, is charged with a crime in court, they are entitled to full rights under the law. Clearly these immigrants were the ... More »