McCain, Obama Silent As Raids Continue

Marisa at Latina Lista has a question for the presidential candidates:

Do you support a moratorium on immigration raids?

The latest immigration raid took place in Greenville, South Carolina at a poultry plant where approximately 300 undocumented immigrants were detained.

In an AP article, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman was quoted as saying, "They're all illegals. We have charged them with being in violation of U.S. immigration laws."

Yet, an immigration attorney rebuked that statement by saying "A judge has to say that, they can't just say that." But ICE's generalization of the detainees is not surprising as more reports surface that this branch of government is increasingly acting like the judge and jury before these people even get the opportunity to stand before a judge.

Greg Siskind notes that immigration has not come up in any of the general election debates so far.

I don't think it is a coincidence. Public opinion polls are showing the issue has dropped dramatically on the list of important subjects for Americans. And this is a good thing since people can make intelligent choices when they are not being whipped in to a frenzy on the issue. Immigration is now about where it has historically been in terms of the public's attention to the subject and this will hopefully send the message to Congress that it is time to get back to business and attend to modernizing the immigration system as needed. The paralysis we've seen over the last two years needs to come to an end.

I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of slipping something through while the public is otherwise engaged, though the negative attention that migrants have been receiving in recent years has mostly come from a bitter, vocal minority.  The electoral demographics are changing, and Congress had better take notice.