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Construction Workers Arrested in Immigration Raid in Belltown
By Tom Herriman
"The INS came in and ran amok," said Jim Riddle (left) about the INS raid on a job site on first Avenue where 14 of his co-workers were arrested. Riddle and Joel Stillings (right) are members of Plumbers Local 32. |
The raid by 20 armed INS agents in bulletproof vests took place at a luxury condominium high-rise on the 2900 block of First Avenue. The INS detained 14 construction workers.
Among those detained were several Latino drywall workers who had organized into a union within the last two months. The 2929 First Avenue job is all-union.
Carpenters Union organizer Jimmy Matta was among those challenged to prove that he was "legal."
"It was because of my skin color," he said. "The first people they targeted were Latinos."
"Mexicans were automatically placed in handcuffs," said Jeff Kelly, a Carpenters Union official. "I tried to protest when they arrested one of our organizers, Odriel Garcia, and put him in handcuffs, and they arrested me too," Kelly said.
"They assumed Garcia was illegal because he's not fluent in English. But he's a citizen and a full-time union staff member," Kelly explained.
"They arrested journeyman workers who have been in construction trades for several years," said Matta. "The industry is coming more and more to depend on immigrant workers."
One-half to two-thirds of workers on Seattle area construction sites are Latino, Matta said.
"Because of these raids, there were six families where the kids were asking, 'why hasn't daddy come home from work yet?' " said Kelly. "These arrests rip people away from their families...people who have lived and worked here for many years."
Eleven of those arrested were sent back to their countries of origin. Two have been released on bail posted by their unions while they appeal their immigration status. A third worker is still in jail waiting for his appeal to be processed.
"These raids underscore the injustice of current immigration law," said Ron Judd, Executive Secretary of the King County Labor Council, AFL-CIO. "The labor community opposes these law enforcement sweeps, and we will be mobilizing our political and community allies to develop a comprehensive response. We are particularly concerned that the INS raided a job site at which there has been union organizing activity."
Reader Comments
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| martin eden | Dec 07, 2002 | seattle | union electrcian |
| I know this is an old article, but I remember the incident like yesterday. This article hightlights the mistake the INS did by arresting a foreigner with union membership but bad English(Gee, how could they possibly think he was illegal). They deported eleven illegals, and I am very glad they did. What this article does highlight is that immigration is hurting us. The AFL/CIO has betrayed American workers(union and non-union) by defending foreigners. I believe and so does the vast silent majority of American workers believe, the borders should be closed. The AFL/CIO are traitors and construction unions should leave it and start a new one, one that represents us. It is economics 101 that immigrants hurts wages and drives up housing prices. The crap that is being fed to us only helps out the privileged. We all know how hard it is for blue-collar families to survive in Seattle. It doesn't make any sense to make it tougher for us by bringing in more competition for jobs. | |||
