Chattanooga Agencies Ask for Help to Fight Affects of Pilgrim's Pride Immigration Raid
The fallout from April's Immigration Raid continues in Chattanooga's immigrant community.
Local Social Service Agencies, already stretched to the max, have combined forces to help those affected.
Still, the need is great...
April 16th in Chattanooga hundreds of lives were disrupted in an immigration raid at Pilgrim's Pride Poultry Plant.
More than 100 accused illegal immigrants were arrested, leaving families without an income and children without caregivers.
Local social service agencies stepped in for assistance.
Rev. Mike Feely, Executive Director of the St. Andrew's Center says, "The reality is, like a lot of other situations, whether it's a flood or something else, two months later people are still in need."
Several of those agencies now make up the Hispanic Displacement Relief Coalition, including leaders from La Paz de Dios; the Holston Methodist Federal Credit Union; the St. Andrew's Center; Episcopal Metropolitan Ministry; Hamilton County Baptist Association; the Salvation Army; the Chattanooga Catholic Deanery Hispanic Ministry; the Partnership for Families, Children, and Adults; and Catholic Charities.
Kimberly George, Director of Marketing and Development for the Chattanooga Salvation Army says, "We've just kinda come together for better communication, so that we don't duplicate services and so that we can assist one another and we can stretch the funds further."
HDRC agencies provided more than $30,000 emergency assistance after that immigration raid.
Continued immigration activity adds to the problem.
Feely says, "Its not just these families, but these families all have brothers and sisters and other family groups with them. So the ripple affect it's a huge affect on the whole community."
Court hearings for those arrested are not expected until July or August.
Advocates say many have been released, but are not allowed to work.
That leaves household with little to no income, and a problem that isn't going away soon.
George says, "Gas prices are going up, food is going up and so we know that people's income is being stretched a little bit more."
Agencies in the HDRC ask the public to reach a little further to help cover the cost.
After huge initial support, they say donations have continued...but more help is still needed.
Feely says, "We've not found an exhaustion of people being interested in what's going on. But, and I think it's typical of our society, there's always the next story."
The HDRC agencies plan a town hall meeting to address concerns and look for solutions.
They say their mission is not political, but purely humanitarian.
Financial contributions may be made to La Paz de Dios or to Episcopal Metropolitan Ministry.
Send them all back!
the cost of a ticket home for all of them, families included, is much less than the economic costs to the commmunity. The people in the community that were outraged because their rights were violated ..those who are not LEGAL citizens have no rights here they are ILLegals!!! There are many people who are here on work visas that pay their taxes like the rest of us and contribute to the economy.
INS
Send them all back!~ I wish that the INS would actually do the job we pay them for!~ Everyday and Illegal is arrested in Chattanooga for DUI!~ Just look at the local jail list!~ Ship them back I don't mind pay for the ticket!~
Playing the "Immigrant" Card
This is what happens when you support unscrupulous companies that hire labor they know has been smuggled in illegally into a community (or assisted in that effort). After the worker is smuggled in, their family members, friends, long lost cousins are not far behind. What you end up with is a community that is saddled with the social and economic cost of supporting an illegal labor pool. These people are not immigrants. Of course I don't have to explain the increased costs associated with schools, hospitals and social services. So for Chattanooga its either raise taxes, go in debt or cut services. Don't you think it makes more sense for a company to be an integral part of a community then one that undercuts and burdens a community by importing illegal labor?
Why are we helping people
Why are we helping people who have no legal right to be here? What about the actual citizens who are here legally who are starving and living on the streets? Where are the heads of people who are giving away money to the illegals. They should be sitting in jail too for helping criminals. We need to worry about those citizens who are here legally paying taxes and trying to make a life for themselves within the confines of the law just like everyone else. We need to worry about our legal residents who have no food, shelter and education first then start worrying about those who do not help out when it is time to pay the bills for the country.
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Enough With It
In case some of the more sanctimonious have already forgotten about a recent article in the CTFP:
"White people of European descent will no longer make up a majority of the US population by the year 2042 - eight years sooner than previous estimates... Immigration and higher birth rates among US minorities, especially Hispanics, are accelerating the demographic changes."
In 50 years Japan will still be governed and populated by ethnic Japanese and that’s the way it should be. In 50 years China will still be governed and populated by ethnic Chinese and that’s the way it should be, India by Indians, Africa by Africans, and so on throughout the non-white world. But according to the Census Bureau in 34 years European Americans will be a minority in the land of their fathers as will all white people be minorities in their own countries governed by blacks, Indians, mestizos and whatever other racial amalgamation rises up out of the stew. To some people this will be a good thing because without white people there will be no more upheaval about all those things only white people seems to care about. Women's rights, child welfare, animal rights, the environment, civil liberties, and all other “cherished” moderate causes will at long last vanish into history under the yoke of non-white extremism and Third World impulses. And what about the next 34 years, and the next if current projections apply?