The National Commission on ICE Misconduct and Violations of the Fourth Amendment Rights 

For Pascual Talamantes it was supposed to be just another normal day at his JBS-Swift meatpacking plant in Grand Island, Nebraska. When he left home, he didn’t know that a couple of hours later he would be handcuffed and humiliated. His crime? Try to make a living and provide for his family. 

Talamantes, a U.S. citizen, was among hundreds of workers – many of them Latino – who on December 12, 2006, were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

Clad in black and heavily armed, scores of federal agents stormed six JBS-Swift plants in Grand Island, Neb.; Greeley, Colo.; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; Cactus, Tex.; and, Worthington, Minn. 

The overwhelming majority of those held that day were U.S. citizens. Regardless of the plant they were from, their accounts of what they endured at the hands of ICE were remarkably similar: ICE followed much the same “game plan” at each location.

The UFCW responded immediately and took an active role in organizing a National Commission, whose main purpose was to investigate immigration enforcement under the Bush Administration.

This National Commission was made up of former elected officials, labor leaders, academics, civil rights leaders and immigration and legal experts.

“This commission was formed to examine allegations of abuse and misconduct by ICE agents during the course of immigration raids,” said Joseph T. Hansen, Founding Chair of the Commission and International President of the UFCW.

Upon its creation, the commissioners set out to achieve the following objectives:

• Conduct hearings on allegations of ICE abuse and misconduct in locations across the country;
• Hear from workers and their families on the impact of ICE raids; 
• Hear testimony from community leaders, academics, constitutional experts and the business community;
• Inform the public and elected officials;
• Issue a report on the findings with a plan of action to protect workers’ constitutional rights from any future abuse.

At each hearing, clear patterns began to emerge regarding the tactics used by ICE agents and how the procedures used by these officials were compromising the rights of workers.

Pasqual Talamantes described his ordeal to the Commission: “I was held for six hours. No water, no food. I asked [the agent] to please hurry the process. My children were in school, and it was getting very late. He told me they were federal agents, that they had all the authority to hold me and that they were going to make sure they investigated me thoroughly.”

The Commission heard repeated testimony suggesting racial profiling in the conduct of tagents during the Swift raids. Witnesses testified that workers who appeared to be of Latin American national origin or minorities were singled out by ICE and subjected to even greater scrutiny.

Fidencio Sandoval, an American citizen and Swift worker at the Grand Island, Neb., plant, recounted for the Commission what he went through the day of the raid and how he was treated differently by ICE agents because he appeared to be Latino: “When they said all the U.S. citizens come over to this place, I went up there and I stood right by my boss. My boss showed his driver’s license and then he was free to go. I showed my driver’s license and my voting registration card and that was not enough. He [the ICE agent] said, no, you need either your passport or citizenship certificate.”

After more than a year of holding regional hearings, interviewing witnesses and soliciting input from a wide range of workers, elected officials, policy experts, psychologists, and religious and community leaders, the National Commission released a comprehensive new report documenting the devastation and destruction that immigration raids had on families, workplaces and communities across the country.

The report, Raids on Workers: Destroying Our Rights, offers a critical analysis of one of the central components of the Bush Administration’s immigration strategy and provides a detailed account of how heavy handed enforcement tactics led to systemic abuse of workers’ rights and a willful disregard for the rule of law.

The result is the most expansive analysis of the Bush Administration’s use of workplace raids and its total failure to address the wider problems of our nation’s broken immigration system.

“What we have uncovered is that during the Bush Administration, ICE agents repeatedly trampled on innocent workers’ constitutional rights. These were not isolated incidents, but systemic problems that occurred in almost every region of the country. No government agency is above the law, and no worker should have to face the mistreatment and misconduct that these hardworking men and women were subjected to under the Bush Administration,” said Hansen.

In addition to examining the impact of the raids, the Commission’s report lays out a clear path to a sensible, legal, and effective immigration enforcement policy that is consistent with the following objectives:

• Target enforcement at criminal employers who abuse the immigration system and exploit an undocumented workforce;
• Coordinate enforcement with the Department of Labor to protect workers and preserve their rights before any possible detention or processing;
• Treat workers and their families with respect so they will be more inclined to assist in the prosecution of criminal employers, and to build trust between law enforcement and the community;
• Vigorous oversight over ICE’s activities;
• Stronger enforcement of existing federal labor laws;
• Coordinated humanitarian efforts in the wake of workplace enforcement actions;
• Enhancement of legal protections against abuse.

The Commission report also emphasized the need for passage of meaningful comprehensive immigration reform legislation – and concluded that piecemeal immigration proposals would never solve the underlying issues. The report lays out a series of elements that should be included in immigration reform legislation, including a path to earned legalization, family unification and stronger sanctions of employers that break the law.

Immigration has been a critical issue for the Latino community. The current broken immigration system has affected thousands of Latino families across the country – separating families, leading to abuses by unscrupulous employers, and lowering the standards of living for all working Americans.

So far, the National Commission’s report has already helped to shape the debate on immigration reform.

During this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month, we should look forward to the issues that are more relevant to the Latino community and the challenges that lay head. Together we can press forward for equal rights and opportunities for all workers – regardless of their race, sex and place of origin – so everyone can live the American Dream.