Marginalization of immigrants is horrifying

I talked to a friend yesterday, 8/9/08, and he told me that Hispanics were afraid to leave their homes for 2 days. They’d heard that the sheriffs were targeting Hispanics with driving infractions in order to arrest and deport them. Some businesses actually excused their Hispanic workers from work on Friday, 8/8/08.

In “Hispanics fear profiling as ICE plans roadblocks” from News-Record.com, a Catholic priest said, “If this had been a Sunday, I’d have cancelled Mass.” Such is the level of fear and I believe it is justified.

Ruth Sheehan of the N&O has written about the fallacy of the NC immigration crackdown going after serious criminals (rape, murder) in “A danger that she grasps”, 8/1/08, as Alamance County arrests people like the young librarian.

I can’t tell you how this situation reminds me of the beginning treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany and the WWII internment camps where Japanese-Americans were kept behind barbed wire. The police are targeting immigrants, by making it impossible for them to get driver’s licenses, and making it dangerous for them to report crimes.

Immigrants are being marginalized and victimized by cops and robbers alike.