Latinos protest rumored immigration crackdown

By The Associated Press

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Immigration officials deny conducting any large raids recently and say only a few illegal immigrants 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.

The Rev. Virgilio Zea, assistant pastor at St. Joseph's, read a Bible passage about Mary and Joseph fleeing persecution.

"Mary and Joseph are in solidarity with us," Zea said of the farmworkers. "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 immigrants 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 the agency, denied that widespread raids were taking place, despite talk 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, could find no evidence of widespread sweeps to detain undocumented workers, said executive director Mike Gempler.

But there has been surprise over the more concentrated immigration-enforcement effort over the past few weeks, he said.

"I don't think that's been seen for some time," he said.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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