Local immigrant raids stir action (Ann Arbor News)

Local immigrant raids stir action
by Geoff Larcom The Ann Arbor News
Saturday March 22, 2008, 7:35 PM

"The most important thing is to listen and learn what is happening."
- Laura Sanders, a longtime Ann Arbor social worker.

Her voice cracked and tears welled in her eyes as she spoke in Spanish, her children by her side.
"They took my husband away last Wednesday and left me alone with my children," the woman said through a translator. "I don't understand. I just came here to work. Please help me find a way so my children can see their father again."
The woman said she doesn't want to be sent back to El Salvador. Her family had fled poverty and unemployment for a chance to work in the United States.
"It's not about me," she said. "It's about my children. I don't want my children to suffer."
The emotional moment crystallized the concerns voiced by a group of more than 100 people who gathered for an emergency meeting Saturday morning at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Ypsilanti.
The contingent included members of area religious groups, immigration rights organizations, activists and University of Michigan Law School students who form the Washtenaw County Interfaith Coalition for Immigration Rights.
They gathered to raise awareness and plan a response to a series of recent raids on area immigrants' homes by federal agents from the U.S. Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
U-M law student Josh Ludmir, a member of a student group that educates about immigrant rights, translated during the meeting, which lasted about two and a half hours.
"There is a huge, diverse community in Washtenaw County that won't tolerate these violations of human rights," said Laura Sanders, a longtime Ann Arbor social worker who helped to organize the event.
Sanders spoke of what she called several "horrific" violations of human rights that have occurred in Washtenaw County in recent weeks.
About two dozen immigrants attended the meeting, where about a half-dozen shared their concerns or stories with the audience.
A man who works in an auto shop tearfully spoke of his fears after officials came by and took down employees' license plate numbers.
"The only reason we are here is because of our families," Ludmir quoted him as saying. "I hope at some point to be able to obtain documentation and (we'll have) immigration reform."
Minsu Longiaru, an attorney with the Washtenaw County Workers' Center, said that in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the federal government has greatly stepped up its efforts to detain immigrants and is pressuring local law enforcement officials to get involved. About 300,000 undocumented immigrants were detained last year, Longiaru said.
Last week, four members of the coalition went to Detroit to speak with immigration officials in a failed attempt to post bond for an area man recently detained by agents.
Margaret Harner, a member of the First Congregational Church who also helped organize Saturday's event, said the group was well-received. But they hope federal officials will come to a future public meeting of the coalition to discuss the treatment of immigrants.
The group discussed strategies to help, including talking to politicians, writing an economic impact statement, fundraising and establishing a sanctuary for those affected by raids.
"The most important thing is to listen and learn what is happening," Sanders said.
Geoff Larcom can be reached at 734-994-6838 or glarcom@annarbornews.com.