Immigration: The human side

A key piece often missing from the immigration debate -- remember that? -- is the human story. People are turned into numbers, and many forget that people labeled as "immigrants" and "aliens" have become real, live members of our communities.

A dispatch yesterday by LA Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske does an excellent job capturing this reality. Examining the aftermath of Arkadelphia, Ark., after a major immigration raid at the local poultry plant one year ago, Hennessy-Fiske (formerly with the Raleigh News & Observer) reveals that, in this quiet Southern town, community ties trump conservative ideology when it comes to the immigration issue. Here's how the story starts:

ARKADELPHIA, Arkansas --- The immigration agents arrived at the Petit Jean Poultry plant just before the 7:30 breakfast break, armed and dressed in khaki uniforms. They went straight to the room where more than 100 Mexican workers in tan smocks were cutting up chicken, then shouted in Spanish for everyone to freeze.

Some workers started crying. A few made quick cellphone calls, alerting relatives to care for children who would soon be left behind. The plant manager watched as 119 workers --- half his day-shift crew --- were bound with plastic handcuffs and taken to a detention center, from which most would be deported to Mexico.

Immigration officials said they were cracking down on document fraud and illegal hiring. But what happened after the raid last July came as a surprise to many people in this conservative Bible Belt region: Instead of feeling reassured that immigration laws were being enforced, many felt that their community had been disrupted.

The Petit Jean workers had come to be more than low-wage poultry processors. They were church friends, classmates and teammates in the local softball league. And so some residents responded to the raid by helping workers fight deportation, driving them to court and writing to lawmakers for help. Others donated money, food and clothing to the families of workers detained or sent back to Mexico.

Now, one year after agents arrived at the poultry plant, the Petit Jean crackdown shows the effects of an immigration raid can reach far beyond the illegal workers and businesses involved. Many residents say they feel sympathetic to undocumented workers and angry at the government.

Read the whole piece here, it's one of the better looks at the reality of the immigration debate "on the ground."