New England Immigration Raid Nets Hundreds of Illegals

This week immigration officials descended upon a manufacturing facility in New Bedford, Massachusetts and immediately removed more than 350 illegal aliens working there. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials appeared at 8am on Wednesday morning at the Michael Bianco Inc. factory and rushed the building. Upon their entry, workers reported that they thought there was a fire so they ran for the exits. That in turn caused a crush of people inflicting injuries on the workers including a broken ankle to one woman.

Most of the group taken into custody were women, many with small children at home. The Michael Bianco Inc. factory makes protective gear for the U.S. military. It holds 91 million dollars worth of government contracts.

How does a business that employs hundreds of illegal workers secure a large military contract? Were social, health and humanitarian workers standing by so that no minor children, disabled or injured people were in jeopardy? Those, and many more questions have been raised by this now high profile action taken by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.

Officials charge that up to 66% of the 500 workers at the MBI factory are illegal. Three of the top company officials, Francesco Insolia, Ana Costa and Gloria Mello were arrested on charges of knowingly hiring and retaining illegal workers. The three were subsequently released from federal custody but must report to court later this month.

The Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, made a public statement that he was not made aware that the raid was going to take place and has concerns about humanitarian issues. Buses were waiting to whisk away the illegals, after "processing". Over two hundred of them were immediately transported to Texas where they are currently on the verge of deportation.

A U.S. district court judge issued a ruling to halt the deportation until certain issues surrounding the raid and arrests can be resolved. Social workers from Massachusetts are now on their way to Texas to work with Immigration and Customs officials to release some of those detained back to Massachusetts to attend to their children. Although Immigration officials did release 35 women at the scene and 24 a short time later, many children are left without one or both parents as a result of the arrests.

Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. James Church in New Bedford has stayed open since the raid to assist families broken apart and frightened. The church is supplying food and a sympathetic ear to those who feel the need to talk to someone they trust about their plight. Among the minor children left behind are a seven-month-old still breast-feeding infant that had to be hospitalized for dehydration. Other children are staying with family members, baby-sitters and reportedly in one case, the landlord.

In addition, there are charges against the Michael Bianco factory of unfit working circumstances. Although the owners dispute the charges, they include locked exit doors and unfair fines for workers. Fines are allegedly charged for lateness and bathroom breaks longer than 2 minutes. Safety inspectors have not been inside the building in 10 years. However, it is not yet known why city and state officials have not been aware of this situation before now. The raid follows eleven months of investigations by federal officials.