The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 73/No. 35      September 14, 2009

 
Iowa: Immigrant’s arrest
highlights rights abuse
 
BY DAVID ROSENFELD  
HAMPTON, Iowa—The early morning arrest on August 6 of Alberto Casteñeda is an example of a growing pattern of blatant violations of the rights of immigrants. The New York-based Cardozo Immigration Justice Clinic has issued a report documenting such violations, especially illegal entry into homes and onto private property without a search warrant.

Seventeen-year-old Casteñeda, a high school student, was in his car about to drive to work when agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ordered him to get out. Casteñeda said that he wanted to speak to a lawyer first. The cops responded by smashing in the driver’s side window, arresting him, and spiriting him away to Des Moines, where he was put on a flight to Chicago—all before he had a chance to talk with an attorney.

A week after Casteñeda’s arrest, the car with the bashed-out window remained in the driveway of his house with a black garbage bag taped over it. Neighbors told the Militant that the family rapidly moved out, fearing the return of immigration cops and the possible arrest of other family members.

The Des Moines Register ran a front-page article on the arrest and the conclusions of the Immigration Justice Clinic report. The report explains that the stated purpose of ICE’s National Fugitive Operations Program is to detain immigrants who have outstanding arrest warrants or deportation orders. But the report shows that this is often used as a pretext for sweeping up anyone, especially Latinos, who may not have papers to legally reside in the country. The Justice Clinic documents the practice of ICE agents routinely breaking into homes without legal authorization or permission from the homeowner.

Last year ICE opened a permanent fugitive unit in Des Moines. The Register reported that ICE has made 1,130 arrests in a five-state area that includes Iowa since October of last year. Some 470 of the arrests were of immigrants who had not been ordered to leave the country but “were encountered during the arrests of fugitives,” according to ICE.

Many Latinos who live in Hampton, a town with a population of roughly 5,700, work at nearby hog farms. In the two weeks before Casteñeda was arrested, at least eight other immigrants were arrested in the town, including another teenager who worked at the Fareway supermarket.
 
 
Related articles:
U.S. attempt to deport Egyptian student fails  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home