The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 72/No. 9      March 3, 2008

 
(front page)
Workers rally against raids
in California factory, homes
 

Militant/Arlene Rubinstein

Workers from Micro Solutions Enterprises and others rally outside the Federal Building in Los Angeles February 14 to protest February 7 raids by the immigration police. Some 150 workers were arrested in raids at the plant and workers’ homes.

BY ARLENE RUBINSTEIN  
LOS ANGELES, February 14—A busload of workers from the Micro Solutions Enterprises plant in Van Nuys, California, was greeted by cheers when they joined a protest against immigration raids at the Federal Building here today. One week before, 100 Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided the printer supply plant at the afternoon shift change.

“My brother was arrested,” said Alma Ledezma. “They put him in the detention center in this building. But he is back to protest and his family is here to support him. He is wearing the bracelet they put on his foot.” The majority of workers arrested have been released pending immigration hearings. But many are forced to wear electronic tracking devices.

“They try to intimidate you,” said Manuel Ledezma, who worked at Micro Solutions. “They told us, ‘If you don’t talk it’s going to be worse for you.’ I think they think we don’t have any rights.

“The company has graciously offered me my job back—until my deportation,” he added.

Although ICE alleges it had warrants for eight workers accused of providing false information to get hired, more than 150 have been arrested. These include 130 workers at the plant, a woman who sells tamales who was in the building at the time of the raid, and workers grabbed in raids at the homes of Micro Solutions workers who missed work the day of the raid. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit charging that the raid was illegal.

Workers at the plant, family members, and supporters have been holding weekly meetings at the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church in nearby Sun Valley. The defense fight is being organized by a coalition of groups, including the garment and hotel workers union UNITE HERE and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

“They are very lucky” in contrast to many workers arrested by la migra, said Alex DeLeon, a truck driver whose cousin works at Micro Solutions. “They have an opportunity for a fight.”
 
 
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‘If elected, we will stop raids, deportations’
SWP vice presidential candidate protests arrest of 150 workers near Los Angeles
Immigrant workers rally in Minnesota  
 
 
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