Reader comments
Treat workers with dignity

This another one of your Desnews Editorials with no substance that never considers these individual that are illegal are breaking the rule of law of which you never address. Of course your paper being a part of our business communities enjoys exploiting these same individuals you�re defending for dirt cheap labor which in all honesty you really care nothing about.

These raids are NOT a result of "Congress's failure to pass immigration reform." It is a failure of Congress and the Adminstration to understand that the Patriot Act was a mistake and now has given federal and local law enforcement agencies the mistaken impression that they can trample on the rights of ordinary citizens for the ever present justification of "national security." The events of 9/11, so recently memorialized, should be a reminder to us all that we need to be cautious in responding to trouble.

Obviously anonymous is not familiar with the article. The complaint is about the government rounding up American Citizens in the hopes that someone in that crowd might be illegal.

Imagine shutting down I-15 and making everyone sit in their cars while police did a car-to-car search, because an illegal was reported to be driving on the highway. That's not the way to enforce laws.

Anonymous, you may note that DesNews didn't say how many legal workers were arrested, because they have nothing but "opinion" that legal workers were detained.

"Congress must come up with a legal means for people to live and work in this country. A guest worker program would give federal authorities a better handle on the nation's immigrant population." Actually we have a guest worker program and those here legally have a thing called a visa.

I agree that ICE is wasting their time going after the illegals, when they should be going after the employers. This isn't going to happen because the Bush Administration is dedicated to the cheap labor. They promised to go after employers that failed to check bogus SSN against the data base, but you will notice that, due to a silly Ninth Court judge's opinion enforcement is now on hold. Very convenient.

More proof that Deseret News, along with the Bush Administration is a cheap labor supporter. Just last week we read reports that wages have stagnated in Utah. I wonder if that is caused by the flood of cheap labor immigrants taking jobs from Utahns? The economic laws of supply and demand apply to labor as it does for products.

Congress has come up with a legal means for people to live and work in the country. It's called "legal immigration". Unfortunately, we have Millions of people who defiantly disrespect this process and violate these laws. Rather than pander to the lawbreakers, politicians and editors should comdemn their criminal acts and encourage enforcement of the law. Trying to create smypathy for lawbreakers by parading stories of scared children is ridiculous. Should we release all murderers and rapists from prison if they have children?

Let's think--what kind of illegal activies are fairly common in *your* workplace? Maybe illegal drugs.

Imagine you and everybody in your workplace under 30 years old (because you fit the profile) being arrested and held while the police check for evidence of drugs. And indeed, imagine that the raids are "successful" and 5% of your fellow office workers are arrested.

The story is not (as Lee suggests) trying to "create sympathy for lawbreakers by parading stories of scared children." It is trying to create sympathy for law abiders who are arrested in an unimaginably un-American activity of law enforcement. I suspect more laws were broken by the enforcement agency than by those arrested.