The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.59/No.32           September 4, 1995 
 
 
Immigrant Workers Organize Actions To Fight Ins Raids  

BY MICHAEL PENNOCK

NORTHFIELD, Minnesota - The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) conducted a number of factory raids near this small town 40 miles south of Minneapolis between July 24 and July 27. Most of the more than 100 people picked up were from Mexico. Forty-nine were deported immediately. Others posted bonds of between $500 and $5,000 and were released.

INS agents also cruised the trailer parks and apartment complexes where most of the Hispanics in town live. They knocked on doors and hunted down those who they missed at the factories.

The raids were the first in memory for many residents here, but not unusual. In nearby Bloomington, INS assistant director Mark Cangemi said, "We do this all the time." What is unusual for this area is that the community met the raids with protest.

More than 40 of those arrested live in Northfield. Some 200 people met here and formed Northfielders Concerned for Immigrant Rights July 28. One of the initiators, Terry Hoops, said the group's major goals right now are meeting the financial and legal needs of those arrested. "Many families have rent due August 1," he said. "And one of the factors that makes this difficult is that for workers being immediately deported, the INS takes their last paycheck to pay for transportation back to their country."

Those picked up by the INS are now on a blacklist among area employers. Landlords are asking social service which of their tenants who are having difficulty paying rent are undocumented. People in the Northfielders Concerned committee want to make it known to both renters and landlords that this type of housing discrimination is against the law.

On August 2, 30 people met to review the work of the committee. One fund-raising idea put forward by some students at Carleton College is to hold a fiesta in the town square. Two members of the committee agreed to speak August 9 at an Irish solidarity event in St. Paul and relate their case to others fighting the INS, such as Irish activist Jimmy Smyth. The committee is also discussing holding educational events on the economic crisis in Mexico.

 
 
 
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