Raid Rumors Are Putting Fear Back Into Immigrants.

Source: Washington Post

Rumors are spreading about round-up raids of "undocumented workers" (most likely thanks to recent round-ups at different places across the country, one would think), so many scared immigrant workers are staying home.

MIAMI -- Thousands of illegal immigrants stayed home this week amid rumors of immigration roundups that federal officials say were unfounded, leaving some industries scrambling for workers.

Len Mills, executive vice president of Associated General Contractors of South Florida, estimated at least 50 percent of workers on construction jobs in the region had not shown up for work.

"This is costing millions of dollars a day, and I don't know who is going to pay for it," he said.

Rumors of random sweeps were rampant from coast to coast Friday, prompting many immigrants to stay home from work, take their children out of school and avoid church. Their absences added to immigrants' fears, as some thought their friends and co-workers had been arrested.

Mills said he believed even some legal workers were afraid.

"Everybody's edgy," said Chris Ruske, owner of a southern New Jersey nursery. "There's an awful lot of rhetoric, and you wonder what's true. You wonder if the immigration Gestapo are coming to get you."

Construction and agriculture were among the industries most affected.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Dean Boyd said the agency has received hundreds of calls about immigration raids in recent days. Such rumors are typical after a raid like the one last week in which more than 1,000 employees of pallet manufacturer IFCO were arrested at more than 40 company sites nationwide, he said.

"However, we don't conduct random sweeps," he said. "All our arrests are the result of investigations, evidence and intelligence."

Interesting.

This looks like an attempt to scare people out of the May Day boycott, honestly.

Tags: [immigration issue], [immigrants are staying home, afraid of raids], [more than 1000 undocumented workers have been rounded up], [feds deny random sweeps], [May Day], [May Day boycott], [immigrants' rights]