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GUESTS: Jessica Salcedo, 14 year old whose mother was picked up in a recent ICE raid, Xiomara Corpeno, Director of organizing at CHIRLA

Last week, federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted a series of immigration raids at workplaces in five states, including the nation’s largest poultry producer. The Texas based Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant said that approximately four hundred of its employees were taken into custody after Wednesday’s sweeps. Immigrant workers were also apprehended at various restaurants and factories in New York, Florida, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Locally in Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff last month chiding the agency for the negative effects that workplace raids have on the economy. But even after the letter was sent in late March, ICE carried out another series of workplace raids in Torrance on April 1st. A total of forty-four workers were taken from three warehouses that day, eleven of whom were immediately deported. While elected officials and federal agencies argue over economics and national security, communities are reeling from the devastation of being separated from family members and the loss of income.

For more information about ICE raids and help with attorney referrals, call CHIRLA 213-201-4451.

Rough Transcript:

Sonali Kolhatkar: My guest this morning is Jessica Salcedo. She is a 14-year old whose mother was recently one of those swept by the ICE raids. Welcome to Uprising, Jessica.

Jessica Salcedo: Hi.

Sonali Kolhatkar: Also with us is Xiomara Corpeno. She is the Director of organizing at CHIRLA, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles. Welcome, Xiomara.

Xiomara Corpeno: Thank you. Good Morning.

Sonali Kolhatkar: Thank you very much for joining us. Jessica, I would like to start with you. Tell our listeners what happened to your mother.

Jessica Salcedo: It was on February the 7th around 4:30 in the afternoon. It was time for her to pick me up from my aunt’s house. She didn’t call, she didn’t say she was on her way. I guess I felt it inside of me, so I decided to call her. She didn’t answer at the first call. She called me back and she told me that the people from ICE came into the factory and took them. In that instant, I told my aunt if she was able to take me to see if I could see her, to see if I could do anything about it. We got there around 5:30 and there were a lot of little toddlers crying, people being babysitters that were taking care of kids that their mothers and fathers were working there. And I had a chance to actually see my mother from far when they were taking her into the van and it was, I felt really bad inside of myself because I couldn’t run and approach her to see if I could tell her something. The only thing she told me was that she loved me. And that was about it and they put her inside.

Sonali Kolhatkar: Was she handcuffed?

Jessica Salcedo: No.

Sonali Kolhatkar: So they were just leading them away?

Jessica Salcedo: Yes.

Sonali Kolhatkar: How many people along with your mother were taken?

Jessica Salcedo: Like 10.

Sonali Kolhatkar: How did you feel when you saw your mother?

Jessica Salcedo: I can’t describe what I felt.

Sonali Kolhatkar: What is happening to her now?

Jessica Salcedo: She is just [inaudible] being deported.

Sonali Kolhatkar: So she is currently still in the country and they are going through with deportation proceedings?

Jessica Salcedo: Yes.

Sonali Kolhatkar: Xiomara, is Jessica’s mother’s case pretty typical?

Xiomara Corpeno: Yes, it is. You know, we have a lot of folks who are being detained and actually the raid with Jessica’s mom, there was 138 workers who were detained that day. A lot of them were different legal cases. And what we are seeing is very typical in terms that the family doesn’t know what’s going on or they can show up to the workplace and just totally witness family members being taken away. Other cases are that we are seeing ICE step up in terms of picking up people at their homes. So last week, actually, one of the workers went and got picked up at her home; somebody who had a previous deportation order. And the way that they conduct themselves is that they are yelling at people, threatening them, banging on windows, banging on the door. It is such a violent thing to witness for folks and also to experience. And a lot of the workers like Jessica’s mother have a lot of depression setting in, in terms of, they are kind of in this wait-and-see game, will they be able to stay in the country.

Sonali Kolhatkar: So describe exactly what happens during an ICE raid at their workplace. They come in unannounced and presumably they don’t inform the employer beforehand that they are coming in. Are they asking people for papers right on hand or are they just simply rounding people up and then asking for papers?

Xiomara Corpeno: It depends on what happens. In the case of Micro Solutions, they actually closed down all the exits. And this is where Jessica’s mother was working. They closed down all the exits and then, after they made people line up and told them “Get in line, you can’t do anything, don’t move, you can’t use your cell phone.” Then they said “Ok, citizens in this line, LPRs in this line.” And then basically everybody else was left over. In these raids in Torrance two weeks ago, it was a little bit different. They actually went straight to the management and said “Call an emergency work meeting and have all the workers show up in the break room.” And then all these workers went inside the break room and ICE was waiting for them in that case. And so every instance it’s different, depending on what the circumstances are, what sort of workplace it is.

Sonali Kolhatkar: So, are there instances where the employers are cooperating, then, with ICE?

Xiomara Corpeno: Yes, in the cases of the Torrance raids our understanding is, not totally confirmed, but our understanding is, a lot of these workers were with temp agencies, and so the management sort of could say, well, you know, we can get new workers tomorrow. We just call the temp agency. Or they don’t want any problems with ICE. The Torrance raids specifically were with warehouses who received goods from the ports. And so it wasn’t ICE who actually raided, it was Border and Customs Enforcement, BCE. And so they were saying, well, basically, taking the workers was collateral damage, but we never saw them take any goods, we just saw them take workers.

Sonali Kolhatkar: Jessica, what effect has this had on your family? And also, in terms of, practically speaking, your mother was presumably an earner in your family. What is happening now?

Jessica Salcedo: Well, it just gave like, really, a 360 degree turn in our house. There is also a lot of things going on that’s been affecting us, like, psychologically and it’s really like, I can’t, I don’t have the words to explain it, because if I did, I would say it, but I just can’t.

Sonali Kolhatkar: Are you able to talk about what’s happening? Do you think that your fellow Los Angelinos, people outside your immediate community, do they know, you think, because it is not something that is getting as much media coverage as you would think it deserves. Do you think enough people know about what is happening to your family and other families?

Jessica Salcedo: No, I don’t think so at all.

Sonali Kolhatkar: How do you explain this? I mean, do you feel that this is something that your mother expected when she came to the United States?

Jessica Salcedo: No, I don’t think so.

Sonali Kolhatkar: How long has she been in the U.S.?

Jessica Salcedo: Fifteen.

Sonali Kolhatkar: And you were born here?

Jessica Salcedo: Yes.

Sonali Kolhatkar: What were the reasons that compelled her to come to the United States?

Jessica Salcedo: To find a job. And for my grandparents in Mexico.

Sonali Kolhatkar: So, at this point, within your family, how are you coping, not just financially, but emotionally? Are there support services that any government agencies are providing? I’m assuming in addition to what groups like CHIRLA are doing? Is there anything that government agencies are providing? Or is the only role of the government right now the deportation proceeding?

Xiomara Corpeno: No, they are not receiving any kind of help from any government services. They are just, basically, it’s, ICE has intervened in their goings-on in their family.

Sonali Kolhatkar: So there is no provision made when, say, a mother is taken and her child, who may be a minor of course, like Jessica, is left motherless or fatherless? There is no provision to take care of those children?

Xiomara Corpeno: No, basically, in the cases where actually mothers have been carrying their children while ICE has picked them up, which did happen at Micro Solutions, some people got picked up at home, they just handed it off to a neighbor, the child to a neighbor, who was maybe with them or if they were able to call somebody to take their child. And from there, people have used community networks to take care of their children, or we have heard of some cases of children just becoming wards of the state.

Sonali Kolhatkar: So, basically there is absolutely no responsibility being shown for the well-being of these children. I mean they could be handing them to anybody.

Xiomara Corpeno: Yes, exactly, and with the Micro Solutions raid, we heard about the raid an hour or two beforehand. They wouldn’t tell us where it was. And we said “Why did you call us?” and they said “Well, this is our more humane raids policy, making sure that organizations know so you can come in and help.” And so basically they want us to come in and pick up the mess they make afterwards.

Sonali Kolhatkar: So, at this point, how have the ICE raids that have been of course going on now for a number of years, have they changed in the number and the nature and the frequency of the raids in the workplaces? Have they changed in the goals, if you will, or just their style and approach?

Xiomara Corpeno: Absolutely. ICE has come out in the last couple of years. Actually it has set goals of 120,000 people deported per year.

Sonali Kolhatkar: So they have a quota?

Xiomara Corpeno: They have a quota. And if you go on their website, they are always bragging about how they are meeting those quotas, how many people they want to deport. I think they have gotten more aggressive, more creative as communities have learned to respond. ICE has also changed its tactics to be able to respond, for example this whole peace after the New Bedford raids in 2006. Now they are saying oh, we have these humane policies. Our point is, there is no humane way to carry out a raid. If you come into somebody’s home with a gun and take a father or a mother away from their child, there is nothing humane about that. There is no way that you can make that humane, when this person’s only crime has been to work. And you know, for us, work is not a crime. When did this become a crime?

Sonali Kolhatkar: Xiomara, is there any kind of legal proceeding at this deportation via workplace raids?

Xiomara Corpeno: Sure. Some of the business owners are suing for disrupting, basically, their business, and also the attorneys in some of the cases are looking for motions to suppress. That the raid was carried out illegally, and trying to throw out any evidence that could be used against these workers. But even while those legal challenges are happening, the individual cases of these workers still move on. And so if we get a result that yes, they find the raid illegal 4 years from now, most of those workers will probably be deported. And so, for us, we are trying to figure out, let’s get these folks an attorney. We have a legal fund for them. Let’s get them an individual attorney. But there is also a coalition of attorneys with the ACLU, the National Lawyers Guild and the National Immigration Law Center who are trying to also do a bigger legal case for the workers.

Sonali Kolhatkar: Jessica, what is your message to listeners about what has happened to you and your mother and so many others?

Jessica Salcedo: To see the effects that it has on the kids and on the family, because most of them, they have no clue what it is to be in our place unless it happens to them. So, they just need to know that it’s affecting the kids, psychologically, how we are doing in school. I’m about to graduate this year and if my mom is not going to be here what is the whole point of me graduating?

Sonali Kolhatkar: What do you think the government should do?

Jessica Salcedo: Stop the raids.

Sonali Kolhatkar: Xiomara, what is the position that CHIRLA is taking on the immigration debate in general, because this of course is an issue that is very big, it will continue to increase in profile with the presidential election. Many organizations like yours around the country have taken specific positions on immigration reform, because most agree that it does need to be reformed. What about CHIRLA?

Xiomara Corpeno: We absolutely believe that the laws need to be changed. And I think in terms of, we are trying to figure out, none of these candidates are going to give us this, so we have to figure out how we are going to escalate and to take this to the next level and really make mainstream America understand. People who maybe have gone through the immigration process, are citizens already, but also Americans across the nation, that this is about civil liberties. People say “Well, you know, people broke the law, etc., so you pay the consequences.” But I think, you know, we are almost living in, the cases we are seeing, it’s like Nazi Germany. There are people who show us their hiding places. People are running, and people are feeling targeted. A lot of different immigrant communities, we are working with a lot of Latino immigrant communities, they feel targeted either by the police or their neighbors. And so really, we have to take a step back as a nation. What are our values, and we talk about the Holocaust a lot of times, and we talk about slavery and how wrong that was, and this is the modern-day slavery. This is the modern-day Holocaust for the United States. And so, we really have to take a look at that. This is about the erosion of civil liberties. They come for folks without documents, who are they going to come for next? People with criminal records, etc.? So I think we need to examine that in terms of how this is perpetuating a police state.

Sonali Kolhatkar: And also, is there any place that folks can contact CHIRLA if they know somebody who is affected by the raids or need help?

Xiomara Corpeno: Sure. We give out referrals to attorneys. That’s the best we could do right now, we can’t provide legal service for everybody, but they can call (213) 201-4451, and we can try to give you an attorney referral.

Sonali Kolhatkar: That’s (213) 201-4451. Xiomara, thank you so much for joining us today, and Jessica Salcedo, thank you as well for coming out, having the courage to speak out about what’s happened to your mother and best of luck to you and your family.

Jessica Salcedo: Thank you.

Special Thanks to Claudia Greyeyes for transcribing this interview