Can arrests solve our border woes?

July 5, 2008

With their raid on Monday against workers for an Anne Arundel County painting contractor and their families, federal immigration officials (and in this case, county law enforcement officers) continue to target the least powerful and most vulnerable among the many businesses, families and individuals who are being gravely disserved by our country's failed immigration system ("Advocates rally after raid, arrests," July 2).

In this 21st century, in which people, ideas, commerce and information will continue to flow more and more freely across borders and around our shrinking globe, our federal system charged with regulating the all-important flow of people has broken down.

But instead of addressing this breakdown through the legislative and administrative system, the Bush administration has chosen to commit its considerable resources to a high-profile enforcement strategy that directly targets workers.

This strategy may perhaps mollify a certain political base, but it is otherwise manifestly ineffective in addressing the issue of undocumented immigration.

Raids result in a few thousand arrests a year - out of an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids terrorize and tear apart families and communities of hardworking people. But despite their high human cost, they do nothing to solve the very real crisis in our immigration system.

Maureen A. Sweeney

Baltimore

The writer teaches in the immigration clinic at the University of Maryland School of Law.

The illegal aliens in Anne Arundel County got what they deserved. At last, government has done something right, and County Executive John R. Leopold should be applauded, not condemned.

It's high time we kick all the 12 million illegal aliens out of the United States.

It's our country, not theirs, and it's time to take it back.

Blaine Taylor

Towson Slavery is illegal in this country, yet something like slavery continues, albeit in another form, as illegal immigrants work here for wages substantially below those that would be paid to legal citizens.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office should be commended for doing its job in Anne Arundel County.

Richard L. Lelonek

Baltimore In the name of national security, the Department of Homeland Security has adopted practices that routinely violate the basic rights of people in this country, particularly immigrants.

DHS regularly conducts aggressive raids on homes and workplaces that sometimes round up hundreds of people, often including citizens and legal residents.

One such raid took place in Anne Arundel County on Monday and arrested 45 people.

After such raids, those detained often do not have access to legal counsel or due process and are often also denied the right to speak with their families.

We certainly need workable solutions to our immigration problem that protect national security without sacrificing basic human rights and the dignity of the human person.

But until the federal government has a comprehensive immigration plan in place, such raids should stop.

Sister Agnes Oman

Salisbury

The writer is associate director of the Hispanic Ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Del.

To Our Readers: The Sun welcomes letters from readers. All letters become the property of The Sun, which reserves the right to edit them. Letters should include your name and address, along with day and evening telephone numbers. E-mail us: letters@baltsun.com; write us: Letters to the Editor, The Sun, P.O. Box 1377, Baltimore 21278-0001; fax us: 410-332-6977