Kerry revives proposal to change immigration raids

Carolyn Hileman* | September 24, 2007

Six months after federal officials arrested 361 illegal immigrants at a New Bedford factory and were criticized for separating mothers from their families, Sen. John F. Kerry is proposing changes to prevent “inhumane” treatment of immigrants in future raids.Sen. Kerry, D-Mass., is trying to revive guidelines he first proposed in May as an amendment to the failed immigration reform bill.

Critics had charged federal officials failed to sufficiently consider the impact on families during the Michael Bianco Inc. raid.

In a similar, standalone bill he filed Thursday, Sen. Kerry is calling for detainees to be held as close to home as possible and federal authorities to work with state social-service agencies.

“It’s asking for a fairly sensible, common-sense approach to how you deal with groups of people in those kinds of situations,” Sen. Kerry said in a telephone interview Friday.

The senator acknowledged his bill, like other immigration reform measures before it, faces an uphill battle in Congress.

Sen. Kerry has argued the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s handling of the Bianco raid was “inhumane” and “haphazard,” separating parents from their children, and he has sought to create stronger standards.

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