The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 74/No. 15      April 19, 2010

 
U.S. gov’t goal: Increase
deportations to 400,000
 
BY SETH GALINSKY  
A recent memo to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field directors revealed the U.S. government’s goal of increasing the deportations of immigrant workers this year.

The February 22 e-mail from James Chaparro, director of ICE Detention and Removal Operations, was released by the Washington Post March 27.

Chaparro complained in the memo that currently ICE is deporting 437 people a day, way behind the 2009 average. At the current rate, he wrote, total deportations this year would reach 310,000, less than last year’s all-time record of 387,000 and “well under the Agency’s goal of 400,000.”

The decrease in arrests and deportations so far this year is due to a steep drop in the number of workers without papers entering the United States. Facing high unemployment combined with measures that make it harder for undocumented workers to get jobs, many are opting to stay in their home countries.

In spite of this the deportation director instructed ICE agents to increase noncriminal “alien arrests … in every field office.”

Responding to complaints about the memo, Assistant Secretary John Morton issued a statement denying that ICE has quotas, saying that “significant” portions of the memo did not reflect agency policy. At the same time he said that “ICE is required by Congress to submit annual performance goals” and the agency would continue “effective immigration enforcement.”

ICE claims that its priorities are to “remove serious criminal offenders first.” The memo from Chaparro boasted that as of mid-February 56,853 “criminal aliens” had been deported, a 40 percent increase over this same time period last year.

The U.S. government has no intention of deporting most immigrants or undocumented workers. The capitalist class needs a superexploited layer of workers it can use to drive down wages and give it an edge against imperialist rivals and other competitors. By painting many immigrants as criminals they hope to heighten insecurity among immigrants and block native-born workers from opposing the deportations and raids.

On March 31 ICE announced the extension of the “Secure Communities” program to eight counties in North Carolina and three in Utah. Under the program the fingerprints of every person held for any reason in local, state, or federal jails are checked against FBI and Department of Homeland Security databases. The expansion is another step toward implementing this Orwellian program nationwide.

The intensified measures against immigrant workers are central to the so-called immigration reform proposals promoted by the White House and many Democratic and Republican party politicians.  
 
Mandatory ID for all workers
A key part of the immigration law proposed by senators Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham includes background checks on any undocumented worker seeking legal status in the United States and the institution of a “forgery-proof” national identity card. An immigration bill by Congressman Luis Gutiérrez includes similar provisions.

The “forgery proof” ID card promoted by Schumer and Graham would contain fingerprints or retinal scans and would be required not just for immigrants but for all of the more than 150 million workers in the United States.

Class conscious workers, as well as many civil liberties groups, know that the ID cards could be used to blacklist workers, unionists, and other political activists.

“The idea [of a national ID card] doesn’t fill people will a warm, fuzzy feeling,” said Chris Calabrese, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union.

In a March 30 article titled “How One Marijuana Cigarette May Lead to Deportation,” the New York Times describes what happened to Jerry Lemaine, a 28-year-old Haitian who is a legal U.S. resident.

In January 2007 a Long Island cop found one marijuana cigarette in Lemaine’s pocket. When Lemaine was a teenager a case charging him with possession of a small amount of marijuana had been dismissed. A Legal Aid lawyer told him to plead guilty this time, expecting only a $100 fine.

Instead, as soon as Lemaine, a New York City resident, pleaded guilty, ICE flew him in shackles to Texas where the courts determined that under federal rulings two convictions for drug possession equal an “aggravated felony” and the dismissal counts as a conviction.

After three years in jail in Texas, including 10 months in solitary confinement, Lemaine was finally granted supervised release while he fights his deportation.

On March 27, one week after more than 100,000 people rallied in Washington, D.C., for immigrant rights, thousands marched through downtown Los Angeles. Many carried signs and banners calling for “Legalization” and opposing immigration raids and deportations.

“I’ve suffered enough in this country. We’re always afraid to drive, that the police will stop us,” said construction worker Jaime Mica, who marched with his family. “I’ve been here 20 years and have two kids. Giving us legalization would be justice.”

Immigrant workers are also being hard hit by the economic crisis, he added. “Work is slow,” Mica said, and even when there are jobs, more bosses are demanding “papers.”

In New York and other cities further actions to demand legalization and an end to deportations are planned for May 1.

Naomi Craine in Los Angeles contributed to this article.  
 
 
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