Sham Raids: Proof Illegal Immigration Raids Are Just For Show

Previous raids on suspected illegal immigrants in December at or just last week have raised the prospect that ICE officials and the government in general are more interested in conducting "show raids" than actually confronting illegal immigration.

Want proof?

Just ask some of those suspected illegal immigrants constructing military housing targeted in a raid outside Buckley Air Force Base near Denver last year:

Illegal immigrants say they were working on a military housing project outside Buckley Air Force Base within days after a major immigration raid there last year.

Immigration officials said at the time that they were protecting national security and sending a message to employers with the Sept. 20 raid, which nabbed more than 120 workers.

Most of the workers were from Mexico and were quickly deported. Others came from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Three had outstanding criminal warrants and were turned over to Aurora police.

Julio Cesar Rodriguez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, told the Rocky Mountain News he was back on the job a few days after the raid.

So was Martin Torrez, who said he saw about a dozen workers who returned to Buckley after they were deported.

Several workers claim they were not fully paid for their work, which included hundreds of hours of overtime. A number also said they received off-the-books payments in cash.

Federal immigration officials said the raid was part of a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigrants who could pose a security risk to the nation's "critical infrastructure facilities."

The housing site is near the giant golf ball-like satellite monitoring systems on the base, which assist in global surveillance, missile warnings and homeland defense operations.

Lemme get this straight--the government targets suspected illegal immigrants out of concern for security risks and then, in its infinite wisdom, allows them back to work on housing near a potentially sensitive military installation?

Anyone else doubt that the raids are a sham?

ICE claims that precautions have been taken:

"ICE routinely and continuously works with representatives from critical infrastructure facilities - such as Buckley AFB - to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive areas."

Asked to respond to claims by illegal immigrants who said they were rehired at the Buckley site after the ICE raid, Rusnok said: "The process of ensuring that only properly authorized people work in sensitive area is an ongoing process. That's why ICE maintains close ties with representatives from these facilities."

Apparently ICE is more interested in targeting the cleaning staff at restaurant chains than maintaining a watchful eye on construction workers near a military base. How's that for priorities?