Children Stranded After Immigration Raid
Mar 7, 3:18 PM (ET)
By RAY HENRY
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) - Dozens of young children were stranded at schools and with baby sitters after their parents were rounded up by federal authorities who raided a leather goods maker suspected of hiring illegal immigrants, authorities said Wednesday.
Immigration officials said 327 of the 500 employees of Michael Bianco Inc., mostly women, were detained Tuesday by immigration officials for possible deportation as illegal aliens.
About 100 children were stuck with baby sitters, caretakers and others, said Corinn Williams, director of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts.
"We\'re continuing to get stories today about infants that were left behind," she said. "It\'s been a widespread humanitarian crisis here in New Bedford."
Company owner Francesco Insolia, 50, and three top managers were arrested. A fifth person was arrested on charges of helping workers obtain fake identification.
Authorities allege Insolia oversaw sweatshop conditions so he could meet the demands of $91 million in U.S. military contracts.
Authorities released 45 detainees who were sole caregivers to children. No more releases were planned, said Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Eight pregnant women were also released for humanitarian reasons.
Those still in custody were given the option of letting their children stay with a guardian or putting them in state care, Raimondi said.
Investigators said the workers toiled in dingy conditions and faced onerous fines, such as a $20 charge for talking while working and spending more than two minutes in the bathroom.
"They were given no options. It\'s either here, or the risk of no income at all. Clearly, they were exploited because of the fact they were here illegally," U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan said.
"The whole story will come out, and at that point it will be a very different scenario," said Insolia\'s lawyer, Inga Bernstein.
Michael Bianco Inc., founded in 1985, specialized in manufacturing high-end leather goods for retailers including Coach Inc. (COH) and Timberland Co. (TBL) before landing a $9.4 million military contract in 2003 to make survival vests.
From 2004 and 2006, it won $82 million in military contracts to make products including lightweight backpacks. An Army spokesman did not return a call seeking comment about the status of the contracts.
How that kind of
**** occurs in Mass still amazes me...
and I\'m not talking about the poor immigrants seeking a better life for themselves.
I\'m talking about the
**** that fine them $20 for talking and using the bathroom!
karma
Nothing new for New Bedford. That seems right up its alley. You can\'t believe the hole that New Beige is till actually living in it. Sure its small but it takes a lot of bigger cities by surprise.
new bedford aside, i find it quite ironic that this place is getting shut down for being a sweatshop that tailored to our own military.
Makes sense to me. The government is known for always supplying the the lowest bidding contractor unless they are friends.
the whole thing is a mess. I have a solution to it though:
Anyone caught illegally in the US is automatically sent to the front lines. Period. No questions. You are not sent back home to simply sneak back in, you are sent into a war zone to fight. If you don\'t like it, don\'t come here illegally.
Now I\'m not saying people shouldn\'t come to the US and try to better themselves, yaddayadda, but there are hundreds of thousands that are trying to do it the right way and they are getting the shaft. If people know that if they are caught here they are going to automatically be sent into a war zone where they might die, they might consider going about applying for citizenship the proper way, and if not, hey, it solves the troop shortages crises pretty quickly.
As for people who knowingly hire illegal immigrants? same thing. Send them off to fight right along with them. See how long they keep hiring that way. Sure everyone is just trying to build a product at the lowest possible price, but you need to do it within the laws of the land, like proper health benefits, reasonable hours or overtime pay, minim wage, etc. I\'m not saying don\'t try to build your product the most effective way at the lowest price you can, go for it. But when you do it at the cost of breaking the law, no. Either change your practices or outsource your corporation to another country where you can continue your practices legally.
As for kids, that is a trickier situation. It\'s a perfect catch 22 because the liberals wont separate a child from its parents but if the child is born here it is a us citizen even though the parents are not, so the parents get a free ride. That one I have no answer for.
Anyone remember that scene in gangs of new york when they get off the boat?
"Sign this paper."
-what is it?
"You are now an american citizen. Now sign this paper."
-Oh, ok, what\'s that one?
"You are now enlisted in the northern army. You are going to fight the southerns and protect your country."
meanwhile the women and children are just standing there and the father is getting dragged away. oof.