Staff Photos by Gillian Bolsover
La Paz de Dios’ bus is packed during a trip to the Guatemalan Consulate in Atlanta on July 1. The trip was organized to allow those affected by the Pilgrim’s Pride arrests to get their Guatemalan passports and register their children.
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They knew they were here illegally but decided to take the risk, hoping for better than what they left behind. They got jobs, rented homes and built lives in Chattanooga. For a while, the risk paid off. Then, one morning four months ago, their luck ran out. On April 16, supervisors at the Pilgrim’s Pride plant called some employees to a meeting in the cafeteria. “Someone stood in front of us and introduced himself (in English),” said 28-year-old César Mazariegos, who was arrested in the raid. “As soon as he said the word ‘immigration,’ we all stared at each other. We knew what that meant. Immediately after, we were surrounded by agents carrying weapons.” Since the raid, dozens of Chattanooga families have faced financial hardship and the harsh reality of being caught as illegal immigrants, a reality that can include jail, monitoring bracelets on ankles, lawyers, federal judges, deportation, even the fracturing of a family.
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Sunday's headline article "Families Broken Apart" makes much of the plight of the illegal aliens arrested at Pilgrim's Pride. It incorrectly labels them as "immigrants". Immigrants enter the United States with passports and immigrant visas that permit them to legally reside in the US indefinitely. These legal residents have most of the rights afforded US citizens, with the exception of voting and holding some public office.
The illegal aliens arrested at Pilgrim's Pride committed numerous violations, many of which were felonies, of state and federal laws.
The ICE operation only touched the tip of the iceberg, but it calls attention to just what a serious illegal immigration problem North Georgia and East Tennessee have. Instead of lamenting the plight of those who broke the law, we should be thanking those who enforce it, and the fact that 100 new jobs were made available to US citizens and residents.
Doug Sullivan
Resident Agent in Charge (retired)
US Dept. of Homeland Security/ICE
Dalton, GA
Thanks ICE agents and keep up the good work!
I dont understand why we cant leave them alone. I understand if they were all here just causing problems, but most of them just come to work and make a life for their families.