Rumored arrests get folks upset
YAKIMA – Dozens of Hispanic residents in the agricultural Yakima Valley marched Monday to protest rumored immigration sweeps by the federal government.
Immigration officials have denied conducting any large raids recently and say only a handful of criminal aliens have been arrested.
Still, word of those arrests – and rumors of widespread sweeps for illegal immigrants – sparked fear in the Hispanic community.
Bearing signs that read “Stop the War Against Hispanics” and “No More Racism,” more than 100 people walked from St. Joseph’s Catholic Church to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Yakima.
Flora Lucatero, 24, fought back tears as she marched during her break as a student counselor at a central Washington school. Lucatero is a U.S. citizen whose parents and grandparents immigrated to the United States years ago to work in the fields.
“These are the people who pick the food we eat. They risk their lives to get to this country,” she said, struggling to find words for her feelings. “I can’t imagine this happening to my parents or grandparents.”
A smiling Maria Rosa drove north from Sunnyside to participate. Rosa, 46, moved from Mexico to the United States 33 years ago.
“God don’t make a fence,” Rosa said. “This world is for everybody.”
Protesters gathered outside the church, joining hands in a circle for the Lord’s Prayer and a song. The Rev. Virgilio Zea, assistant pastor at St. Joseph’s, read a passage from the Bible about Mary and Joseph fleeing persecution.
“Mary and Joseph are in solidarity with us,” Zea said in discussing the farm workers. “I work with them and see how much they can do for the good of the state and how they deserve to be respected.”
Just four people have been picked up in the Yakima Valley in the past two weeks as part of an effort to arrest illegal aliens who have been involved in crime or ignored deportation orders, said Mike Milne, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman in Seattle.
Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for the western region of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, denied that widespread raids were taking place, despite talk in the Hispanic community of immigration agents nabbing grocery shoppers and randomly stopping cars.
“I’m hearing about roadblocks and sweeps, and that simply is not true,” she said. “Our work is based on investigations and intelligence. This is the arrest of dangerous criminal aliens.”
The Washington Growers League, which represents growers, packing houses and processors on labor issues, could find no evidence of widespread sweeps to detain undocumented aliens, said Executive Director Mike Gempler.
But there has been surprise over the more concentrated effort that has occurred the past couple of weeks, he said.
“I don’t think that’s been seen for some time,” he said.
A lone protester who disagreed with the march, Rick Messer, dangled his legs off the back of his pickup truck, holding a sign that read, ‘If your illegal, your breaking the law.’ “
“There’s a lot of rumor and innuendo. From what I know and read, it’s to arrest criminals,” Messer said of the crackdown.
But the rumors scare even legal immigrants, said Abelina Puentes, of Yakima, who was born in the United States and now works for a ranch in the valley.
“They tell people not to be afraid, but I was born here and I’m anxious and nervous,” said Puentes, 54.
Lucatero agreed.
“Our population is constantly facing barriers, and I want it to change,” Lucatero said. “I just want us to be accepted and to live in peace and be treated as equals here.”