When Magdalana Domingo Ramirez Lopez moved to this South Carolina city nearly two years ago to work at the chicken processing plant, she felt at home.
On weekends, the neighborhood near House of Raeford’s plant was filled with the sounds of salsa music and the scents of Guatemalan cooking. She would shop with her three young sons at nearby businesses that catered to the immigrants — some in the country legally, others not.
While the sights and sounds reminded Lopez of her native Guatemala, she said she was happy living in the United States — a place that offered a better life for her family.
But those hopes were shattered Tuesday when federal agents swooped into the plant, arresting 330 suspected illegal immigrants, six of them juveniles, effectively shutting down the factory and tearing apart the close-knit community.
But wait, there’s more:
Neighborhood residents who knew about federal charges against plant supervisors accused of helping illegal immigrants forge documents didn’t think the trouble would trickle down to them.
After all, they were only here to give the plant long hours of joint-aching work and local officials didn’t seem to mind.
What the hell does that last line mean — If your joints ache, you’re exempt from the law? If I woke up with a crick in my neck this morning, can I hijack the identities of law-abiding Americans and get paid under the table?
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The “juveniles” thing makes me pause. Where they over the age of 16? Were they legally working based on age requirements?
And how differently people woudl react if employers were illegally using children for labor. I know it’s not the same thing, but a law is still a law.
Sure Mattito… why not? Would you like a house too? We can arrange for easy terms you know. It’s all the rage these days.
Speaking of illegals and houses.
http://kfyi.com/pages/local_news.html?feed=118695&article=4364653
I wanna know why the press isn’t howling about the employer not vetting their employees, hiring criminals, and now causing a disruption in the neighborhood economy because of their greed and their own law-breaking?
If poor ole Magdalana is here illegally, then too bad. If she isn’t, she should be raging at her employer and the local government of scoff-laws that set up this disaster in her life.
Sheesh!
Unless you want an illegal “immigrant” sob story or a New York Times editorial, don’t even bother picking up a Houston Chronicle. Sad to say, Its days of representing the citizens of Houston are behind it….way behind it.
How come they didn’t say the liked putting a drain on our social services or breaking the law for their own personal benefit? Why didn’t they hone up and say that they needed to pay their fair share of taxes so that they could enjoy those social services and free education that we are providing to them with OUR TAX DOLLARS? Look, I’m sorry your country is screwed up but where did you get the right to be a burden on us, legal citizens, paying taxes, with your problems. We have enough of our own without yours!!!!!!
#3 SC . . .
I’d be surprise if that number of 5 MILLION illegally held fraudulently held mortgages isn’t more like 10 or 15 million. Five sounds a little low . . .
I am totally dismayed by the lack of human kindness here. A single tear rolls down my face. Alright that is enough kindness, send them home.
What is the deal with chicken plants? Chicken at the grocery store is not cheap. It couldn’t be employer greed, could it? Payroll taxes, benefits, are bypassed when hiring an illegal. I wonder if they were given a weeks vacation after a year? On the bright side, Texas is changing it’s laws to obtain a driver’s license. That should help, here.
#9 The thing that I am struggling with is: Why, only now in 2008, are we requiring proof of legal residence to obtain a Texas Drivers license?!? Let’s add one to the list, how can ANYBODY object to valid photo ID to vote unless you are perpetrating fraud? It should be NATION WIDE IN ALL ELECTIONS: you must have a valid photo id to vote period dot bingo. How about cross referencing voter registration roles with the death certificates and purge all the dead people? I heard this am on the radio that Indianopolis has registered 105% of its population to vote - and we are supposed to believe that there is no voter fraud?!?
#10 Bonecrusher: makes perfect sense, but the Dimos won’t allow it.They are afraid they may lose some of those “illegal” voters. Texas almost passed it last
session, but the Dims pulled some shenanagins and snached it away….again.
Republicans keep bringing it up…..Dimos keep knocking it down. Go figure!
Looks like our only hope would be a National ruling. I’m not holding my breath.
Nationally we will get NOTHING done. Everything has to be done at state level. Remember those Republicans in government love to spend our tax money as fast as Democrats. We’ve already got that proof. Republicans want the votes as much as the dems.
Here’s LaRaza’s partner in crime. This group is working the voter fraud angle from the hispanic view. Video of voter fraud.
http://www.babalublog.com/archives/009940.html
It’s the 2nd-to-last line that gets me:
“Neighborhood residents who knew about federal charges against plant supervisors accused of helping illegal immigrants forge documents didn’t think the trouble would trickle down to them.”
It didn’t occur to them that if we’d go after the plant supers (who presumably are US citizens, i.e. our own) we’d go after them, too? That says something - I’m just not sure exactly what.
Look on the bright side. At least the Comical only regurgitated the story. They didn’t write it themselves. If the Comical had originated this story, you would have suffered the poor spelling, improper grammar, illogical thinking, and every other form of nonsense we’ve come to equate with the Comical.
Boo Hoo another illegal immigrant sob story. They are doing exactly what they promised to do decades ago. They are taking Texas back. One illegal at a time and all of the tax dollars they can take with them.
Education, Medical, Welfare, Food Stamps etc. We taxpayers are on the losing end. Having been on the losing end of a motorcycle “incident” I have seen the emergency rooms full and all the while strollers holding anchor babies everywhere.
Throw a bunch of plant supers and their bosses, grand-bosses, great-grand-bosses, etc. in jail & you’ll see a lot more trickling down going on in those neighborhoods.
Put Jorge Bushwhacker in prison and throw away the key.
WWWWAAAAAAAAAAA!!! My heart bleeds peanut butter for them. Hell, it’s not like they won’t be back sooner or later anyhow. Until the feds close the borders, I guess I better wake up from that dream, they will keep crawling right back in.
I found out the other day that I have 5 illegal students in my classes. Makes me wonder how mwny more there are on my campus. More free education for them that WE get the privelege of paying for.