Dear Governor Kulongoski,
NPR’s March 8th Morning edition and the March 9th Boston Globe
reported on an egregious and shameful dereliction of our
responsibility to the most helpless in our country: a Massachusetts
factory was raided on March 6th, and scores of workers accused of
being in the United States illegally were flown to a Texas detention
center before state authorities could determine whether there was
anyone able to take care of their children. According to the Globe:
Two young children were hospitalized yesterday for dehydration after
their nursing mothers were taken away, state officials said.
Another 7-year-old girl called a state hot line seeking her detained
mother. It was unclear last night where their mothers were.
I can’t express how angry and ashamed this news makes me. Let us
assume all of the people transported to Texas were indeed in the
U.S. illegally; there is no imaginable justification for abandoning
their children in this way. When we imprison a murderer who is a sole
caregiver, we take better care of their dependents than this. There
is simply no legitimate law enforcement need that could justify such
negligence.
I have three questions:
– Oregon has its share of illegal immigrants. I am firmly in favor of
enforcing the laws that our state and national legislative bodies
have agreed on. What assurance can you give me that a disgrace of
the sort occurring now in Massachusetts will not happen in Oregon?
– Who is responsible for ensuring, when a sole caregiver is found to
be residing in Oregon illegally, that the children they care for
will be taken care of appropriately?
– What is that responsible party’s position on the Massachusetts raid?
Do they feel it was properly conducted? If so, would they do the
same here? If not, what steps have they taken to ensure this will
not happen again?
I understand that the Department of Homeland Security conducts
immigration raids, and that the DHS is a federal department, not
controlled by the state of Oregon. But if a debacle like this were to
occur here, Oregonians would hardly be satisfied to hear that there
was nothing to be done, and from what I have read of you, I do not
believe you would offer such an explanation.
Sincerely,
Jim Blandy
NPR segment:
Boston Globe Article:
