If you can't yell "fire!" in a theater....

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 24, 2006, 12:54 pm

Can you yell "immigration!" at a flea market? Apparently something close took place this weekend near my home.

http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_ ... rID=160457

Flea market turns chaotic over possible raid
4/24/2006 9:38 AM
By: Reagan Hackleman

A day of shopping turned into panic for hundreds of illegal immigrants in East Austin.

Word had spread through El Gran Mercado market that an immigration raid took place on Sunday. The flea market, on the corner of Pleasant Valley and Elmont Drive, is a known gathering spot for newly arrived immigrant families.

Witnesses said the market erupted into panic when people thought a raid was happening. Vendor Rose Leva said parents were seen running off without their children.

"I've never seen this in my life, you know. I just started looking everywhere and everyone was running, so I decided to do the same thing," Nancy Barrientos said.

Barrientos is an illegal immigrant who works at a booth at the market. She ran to her family’s car and hid inside for 10 minutes, scared to move a muscle. The only thing she could think about was her family.

"Separating from them and going back over there ... It just went through my head. I'm going to be far from them. It will be hard for me to get back in here," she said.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) could not be reached for comment on Sunday. However, nobody interviewed for this article actually saw any INS officers at the market.

"It's hard to describe it. You should of seen their faces, they were scared. Sometimes you feel sorry for them because they always have to live scared. They don't know what's going to come tomorrow, the really don't," Leva said.

Cartalas · Post by **Cartalas** » April 24, 2006, 1:05 pm

Midnight do you live in Texas?

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » April 24, 2006, 1:38 pm

This is interesting for the fact that if it were crackheads fleeing a bust, no one would even report the bloody thing.

The commonality is criminal behavior, why is the treatment different?[/i]

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » April 24, 2006, 1:47 pm

Awesome!

No I don't live in Texas, but I do think that is funny. I don't believe it is the same as yelling "fire" in a crowded room. They shouldn't be here illegally. No one would run if they did what they were supposed to.

Jice Virago · Post by **Jice Virago** » April 24, 2006, 2:35 pm

Cartalas wrote:Midnight do you live in Texas?

Quite possibly, the funniest thing Cart has ever said in this forum.

masteen · Post by **masteen** » April 24, 2006, 5:07 pm

BOMB! BOMB! BOMB BOM-BOMB BA BA BA BOMB!

Sargeras · Post by **Sargeras** » April 25, 2006, 12:54 pm

I thought that report was hilarious till I saw that parents ditched their kids just to get away.

That's fucked up

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 25, 2006, 12:58 pm

Sargeras wrote:I thought that report was hilarious till I saw that parents ditched their kids just to get away.

That's fucked up

Yeah, when I was watching it on TV, I thought the same thing. At first I could picture all of the people herding their children out of the market, and then they mentioned that the children were left behind. Those are the people (parents) who worry me the most.

Tangurena · Post by **Tangurena** » April 26, 2006, 1:15 am

I used to live in LA over 20 years ago. The company I worked for at the time used to have the factory floor empty out when rumors of La Migra circulated. Folks would clock out for lunch or for a smoke break, and...poof...gone for the rest of the day. They've since offshored all their manufacturing to China. Even illegals are too expensive.

Illegals panicking over immigration? Pffft, that isn't new. Nor news. If you want to stop illegals from coming here, put teeth in the laws prohibiting employers from hiring them. Stop making sweetheart deals with companies like walmart, requiring DoL to give them 21 days advance notice of I9 checks. $50k fine per illegal. That would end the torrent of them coming over the border.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » April 26, 2006, 1:30 am

Tangurena wrote:Illegals panicking over immigration? Pffft, that isn't new. Nor news. If you want to stop illegals from coming here, put teeth in the laws prohibiting employers from hiring them. Stop making sweetheart deals with companies like walmart, requiring DoL to give them 21 days advance notice of I9 checks. $50k fine per illegal. That would end the torrent of them coming over the border.

is this a joke? who do you think paid for the politicians that sponsored those kinds of legislation?

Cartalas · Post by **Cartalas** » April 26, 2006, 8:10 am

Sargeras wrote:I thought that report was hilarious till I saw that parents ditched their kids just to get away.

That's fucked up

Their Children were citizens they had nothing to fear.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » April 26, 2006, 9:47 am

Cartalas wrote:
Sargeras wrote:I thought that report was hilarious till I saw that parents ditched their kids just to get away.

That's fucked up
Their Children were citizens they had nothing to fear.

rofl

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » April 26, 2006, 11:50 am

Follow up story. It's time for the conspiracy theorists to throw in their thoughts. Apparently all of these "raids" are coming right before the May 1st demonstrations for a reason. I guess it's too bad that nobody has actually SEEN any of the INS officials.

http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_ ... rID=160594

Fear keeps immigrants from work
4/25/2006 10:57 PM
By: Allie Rasmus

Jorge Garcia left his construction job early Monday and didn't go back the next morning.

Instead he spent the day at home. Just about everyone he knows, did the same, the undocumented immigrant said.

"Many people didn't go to work ... We're afraid to go to H-E-B to buy food," Garcia said.

The mood in his community is one of fear and uncertainty, he said. It's been that way since last week when people first started to talk about possible immigration raids in Central Texas.

Garcia said his supervisor at the construction site told him immigration agents were in town and that he should leave work early.

"I know many people who stayed home for fear," Garcia said.

Nonprofit groups such as PODER and the Texas Civil Rights Projects received dozens of calls from immigrants living in Austin all describing a similar story.

"It has sent a wave of terror through the community," Susana Almanza of PODER said. "That the raids were going on at the flea markets and grocery stores. They've all been eyewitness accounts as to these particular raids happening."

Some of those witnesses say one raid happened Sunday at a flea market.

"All of a sudden people just started running. It was like a stampede," Mahmood Wadiwalla, owner of El Gran Mercado said.

Wadiwalla never saw any immigration agents or vehicles on his property, he said.

"I got in my car and drove around and I didn't see anything. Problem is everybody's just so nervous about the situation that as soon as they hear something, they just get frantic," he said.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement division in Austin and San Antonio did not return calls to confirm whether the raids happened. We were unable to interview anyone who saw immigration agents at any of the alleged raids.

"You don't have all of a sudden a surge of people calling us, or calling the media or calling their churches at the same time, unless there really is something going on," Jim Harrington of the Texas Civil Rights Project said.

Garcia hasn't had any encounters with immigration agents in Austin, he said. It's possible the fear in the community may not be based in fact, he said.

"Sometimes it just a false alarm," he said. But he's fearful enough to not take risks. "I'd prefer to miss a day of work than get sent back to Mexico."

There are many other, he says, that feel the same way too.

Bubba Grizz · Post by **Bubba Grizz** » April 26, 2006, 12:51 pm

We had a scare up here in North East Wisconsin a few days ago. There were no officials but the people thought there was going to be raid. Many companies had to shut down due to lack of workers.

At first glance and without thought I am happy that there will be crackdowns on this.

Then I tried putting myself in their shoes. Having a family to provide for always under the fear of actually losing your family is not a happy thought. It is really quite frightening to think about having to be taken away from my family or have them taken away from me.

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » April 26, 2006, 1:12 pm

If I feared for not being with my family, I would start by not willfully breaking federal laws.

They should make it a federal crime to knowingly employ an illegal alien....thus aiding and abetting. Some jail time and heavy fines for business owners might put a fast end to it.

Midnyte_Ragebringer · Post by **Midnyte_Ragebringer** » April 26, 2006, 1:15 pm

Kilmoll the Sexy wrote:If I feared for not being with my family, I would start by not willfully breaking federal laws.

They should make it a federal crime to knowingly employ an illegal alien....thus aiding and abetting. Some jail time and heavy fines for business owners might put a fast end to it.

More logical arguements! Logic and common sense doesn't work in todays world though, so you lose you fucking racist hateful bastard!

Nick · Post by **Nick** » April 26, 2006, 1:24 pm

I guess it's just hard to take all the racism and hatefulness seriously as someone who really couldn't give a fuck whether someone was an illegal alien or not.

I'm a bit more worried about my government spending billions on murderous hegemonic jaunts overseas than some poor fucker singularly having a miniscule impact financially in comparison trying to make a life for himself here.