19 MAR 07 / "ICE Storms New Bedford"

A raid earlier this month on a New Bedford defense contractor, M. Bianco, Inc., conducted by Immigration & Customs Enforcement agents reveals why Congressman Tom Tancredo's intention to deport the approximate 12 million illegal immigrants currently in the United States would be impossible to implement. Tancredo, a potential one-issue Republican candidate for president from Colorado, has been making the rounds on the talk show circuit trying to convince Americans that mass deportation is possible.

But how can we deport 12 million when we have so much trouble with the 361 that were arrested in the New Bedford raid?

The illegal immigrants were arrested and sent to detention facilities in Massachusetts, Texas, and New Mexico. Scores of them were parents of children born in the United States and therefore citizens of the United States. ICE agents had not considered the problem of who would care for the children of parents who were being detained to face possible deportation. Relatives and friends of the detained parents have had to step in to care for the young children, some of whom were found to be sick and were given medical treatment. In the end, many of the parents were released.

Immigration is a divisive issue for Republicans because it's widely misunderstood. Many see only the costs, which are often exaggerated. The benefits to the American economy, however, are considerable. Immigrants help keep productivity high and inflation low. Their entrepreneurial spirit helps to drive small business expansion. Immigrants can also alleviate the burden of rising costs associated with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid since they significantly expand the tax base and make the United States demographically younger. This helps national security. The United States can't compete militarily and economically with countries like China and India without immigration because our native born birth rate is too low.

The New Bedford company was operating on an $90 million federal contract and employed skilled tailors who were making leather packs and ammunition pouches for the U.S. military as well as leather goods for other high-end retailers like Coach. Owner Francesco Insolio was motivated to hold costs down by hiring illegal immigrants who would work for minimum wage. The raid was the culmination of an investigation in which federal authorities discovered sweatshop conditions American workers would not tolerate. Immigration reform would help ensure that companies abide by federal and state labor laws.

The Republican Party needs to consider what happened in California from the fallout of Proposition 187. In 1994, Governor Pete Wilson sponsored the popular ballot initiative which produced a backlash among members of the Hispanic community and has relegated conservatives to the minority in that state for some time to come.

Deporting immigrants may be what's right under the law, but it's not the right thing to do. That's why the nation's immigration laws need to be changed.