OMG Immigration police seen detaining people denied asylum

Deporting illegal aliens?

U.S. Customs Enforcement and Immigration officers are caught by the local Phoenix affiliate of ABC News, ABC15, in the act of DOING THEIR JOB! Just look at what is going on downtown today.

This is a Breaking News report. According to the ABC15 live action reporter,

Our crews at the scene on Wednesday morning saw agents waiting outside and detaining people as they exited the building. ABC15 spoke with a few of the people who were being placed in vans, who said they initially came to the courthouse for asylum cases, which they say were then dismissed.

Case dismissed

The people being loaded into vans said, through the assistance of a Spanish interpreter, that they had gone to court for their asylum hearings, which the judge had "dismissed". One was from Venezuela, the other from Guatemala.

Does "dismissed" mean their requests for asylum were denied? Seems likely, to me. 

Let's say someone has been living in the United States for the past year, as these two women have. They've been receiving social services, housing, food stamps, and other benefits, despite illegally entering via our southern border. Illegal entry is a criminal act. Under successive presidential administrations starting with Obama or G.W. Bush, the consequences are held in abeyance if one claims to be seeking asylum in the U.S. 

Asylum hearings are not like civil lawsuits or non-immigration related criminal charges!  Dismissal of a lawsuit or criminal indictment would be a GOOD thing for a defendant. Dismissal of a request for asylum would NOT be a good thing for an asylum seeker. If dismissal were the outcome of these immigration court hearings, then arrest and deportation would follow. 

ABC15 doesn't seem to realize this, as they "reached out to officials to find out why people were being detained or arrested". ICE's response should surprise no one:

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is executing its mission of identifying and removing criminal aliens and others who have violated our nation’s immigration laws. All aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States, regardless of nationality... The agency publicly announces operational results when appropriate."

A developing story

ABC15 news didn't consider the ICE statement to be helpful in shedding light on the situation. 

Chrome browser still has memory problems

They have been standing outside since 7AM this morning, in the mid-May heat. The illegal aliens have had an easier time of it. 

Unlike the reporters, they were whisked away from the cool comfort of the courthouse into white air-conditioned vans.

104 degrees
in Phoenix

ABC15 News is not so fortunate. It is now 95 degrees downtown, with rising temperatures expected. Viewers were told that the reporting crew will stay put, to provide updates on this developing story.

Looking back at SB1070 and root causes

This could have been avoided. I recall Arizona State Bill 1070 and even wrote about it here, over 14 years ago. 

Illegal immigration problems are sometimes due to lack of political will. In the United States, the more significant cause is the benefit accruing to some members of both political parties by disregarding our existing immigration laws.

For the Democratic Party, the common trope is that Democrats do want illegal migrants, as they're equivalent to "undocumented Democrats" as a loyal voting block for the next several decades. The equally disparaging trope ascribed to Republicans is that they don't want illegal migrants because the GOP are all racists. 

In fact, both Republicans AND Democrats want more immigration, whether it is by illegal entry or under the auspices of the much abused H1-B visa program. Upper middle-class GOP and Dems enjoy the savings realized by having household help and home services provided by low wage migrants rather than paying fair wages to Americans. This extends to small business owners needing day laborers, low-skill jobs in agriculture (e.g. picking crops at harvest time), back-of-the-house restaurant workers, auto mechanics' helpers, farm hands, lowest level landscaping, paving, and abattoir workers, etc. These jobs are vital, although behind the scenes, for a developed economy to function.

Americans used to do these jobs, mostly when they first entered the workforce, but not necessarily. They paid sufficiently, and the prices of housing, food, medical care, clothing, and transportation were such that it was a living wage, usually sufficient to support a wife and a few children after a few years of saving... but this is a subject for another day.