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Chattanooga: Deportation of workers arrested could take weeks to months

By: Perla Trevizo
(Contact)

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Robert Divine

The arrests of 100 foreign workers at a Chattanooga poultry plant came swiftly Wednesday morning, but it could be months before they are sent home.

“Time in the detention facility can be anything from weeks to months,” said Robert Divine, Chattanooga-based chairman of the immigration group for the Baker Donelson law firm. “It depends on the availability of a judge, and the need to get the person where there is a judge, Atlanta or Memphis.”

Most foreigners arrested this week in Chattanooga will have to appear before a U.S. Immigration Court judge.

The deportation process also can drag because U.S. officials must make arrangements with the government of the detainee’s home country.

“Countries don’t like having people deported back to them who are really not from there,” Mr. Divine said. “They usually like to have a chance ahead of time to confirm that person is really their citizen.”

While the detainees’ cases are winding through the federal courts system, relatives left in Chattanooga are dealing with the practicality of a family member who is gone and likely not coming back. They have to figure out what to do with their relatives’ belongings, including vehicles, homes and cell phones.

Felicita, a Guatemalan whose husband José was among those arrested in Chattanooga, said she may have to move and likely will cancel her spouse’s cell phone service.

“He asked me to find another house to rent or to find someone to come live with us because I can’t afford to pay the $700 monthly rent on my own,” said Felicita, 27, who does not speak English and asked not to be identified by her last name because she and her husband are in the country illegally.

In all, federal agents arrested 311 workers Wednesday at Pilgrim’s Pride plants in Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, Florida and West Virginia.

The Rev. Mike Feely, director of the St. Andrew’s Center, a resource for Chattanooga’s multicultural communities, said taking care of household items can be an additional frustration for the families of those arrested, especially if they do not speak English.

“It’s tough, not only working through the system, but also with translations, to cancel the cell phone or find a place to live, and certainly financially tough,” said Mr. Feely, who is helping the families of those arrested. “We are hoping to make a difference, hopefully to be able to help people, whether it’s with bus fare or other things that will make life at least a little bit easier through this tough time.”

On Thursday, Felicita went with a volunteer from La Paz de Dios, a Hispanic outreach organization, to pick up her husband’s car at the Pilgrim’s Pride plant. Since she can’t drive, the car will remained parked outside their residence until he tells her to sell it, she said.

“I think I’m just going to go back to Guatemala if he is deported,” said Felicita, who is the mother of a 2-year-old boy. “I would struggle more if I stay here on my own with the baby.”

In a phone call to his wife Friday, José said he didn’t know what the court process was going to be like.

“The only thing he said is that they were told they were going to see a judge, but he doesn’t know when or where,” said Felicita.

Mr. Divine said that if a detainee waives his right to an immigration hearing, it could be only a couple of days before deportation.

In Chattanooga, 36 workers arrested Wednesday were released with ankle-bracelet monitors as an alternative to detention.

Some of them have been scheduled to report to their case officer in Gadsden, Ala., 90 miles from Chattanooga, on the first Tuesday of every month. Their first meeting is May 6, and they must continue going to Gadsden until their immigration-court hearings in Atlanta or Memphis.

Dates for the foreigners’ hearings have not been determined, according to the “notice to appear” documents they were given by federal agents.

In 2005, the Department of Homeland Security arrested more than 1.29 million foreigners in immigration enforcement operations. Of those, 85 percent were Mexican, according to the Office of Immigration Statistics.

But the government’s ability to deport illegal immigrants can be affected by the practice of some countries to block the repatriation of their citizens and “the penchant of released illegal aliens with final orders to abscond,” according to a report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.

The U.S. government also doesn’t have enough employees to make sure foreigners who are supposed to be deported actually leave the United States, a department report stated.

The government “is unable to ensure the departure from the U.S. of all removable aliens,” the report stated.

Of the 774,112 illegal aliens apprehended from 2003-06, 280,987, or 36 percent, were released largely because of a lack of personnel, according to the report.

“This presents significant risks due to the inability of Customs and Border Patrol and ICE to verify the identity, country of origin, and terrorist or criminal affiliation of many of the aliens being released,” the report stated.

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