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# These are lean times indeed
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/these-are-lean-times-indeed-editor/
- Published: 2006-12-19T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T23:24:27.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By John Brown III Santa Monica*

I am outraged by the facts and statements reported in your recent article about the meatpacking plants being raided in six states (“Meatpacking plants raided in six states,” Dec. 14, page 10). Don’t they know that Santa is watching them? What justifies these glaring hypocrisies, callousness and anti-American actions?

This is what I noted as I read this holiday gift: “No charges were filed against Swift.” This company, which estimated that a raid would remove up to 40 percent of its 13,000 workers, asked a federal judge to prevent the raids. At the same time, its CEO claims that the company has never knowingly hired illegal workers and does not condone the practice. If it is illegal to hire these people and they have hired them by the thousands, why are they not being charged? Why are they only targeting the poor employees and not the rich company who employs them? Why are they not enforcing the immigration laws equally?

Sen. Wayne Allard says, “I’m glad that ICE is enforcing our immigration laws in light of the illegal immigration crisis we face across the country.”

Are they really enforcing the laws? In addition, “advocates of stricter immigration control praised the raids and pointed out that they targeted people suspected of com-mitting other crimes in addition to being in the US illegally.” The Immigration and Customs Enforcement numbers show 65 out of 1,282 people were arrested for “other crimes.” Meanwhile, 94.9 percent of the people were held for “immigration charges alone.” Do these proportions make sense? Is this a viable part of the war on terror? Who pays for all of this enforcement of our laws if the deep pockets are allowed to go free?

The current immigration crisis we are facing, if it is a crisis, is a direct reflection of what you think it means to be American and live free in an open democratic society. We need to work harder to stay together and not let politics and sound bites determine the fate of millions of human beings and fellow citizens. God bless us all. Happy holidays and Merry Christmas!

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 19, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/121906.pdf?ref=smdp.com)