On May 1st, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a thoughtful, informative story on the Star Packaging raid. Georgia Pabst wrote the story, running on page B1, of the paper.
Here are some nuggets from that story, that may not have been printed in local papers, with my comments following:
1. From City Councilman Maxwell Taylor, aged 20:
I was shocked because I didn’t see a bust of this proportion coming,” said Common Council member Maxwell Taylor, 20, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. “It was real unfortunate because some of my Hispanic constituents were almost afraid to gather because of fears about what the police would do about immigration.”
But Taylor believes the police did the right thing.
“If people are in this country illegally, then they have to go back,” he said. “I think this sends a message to other business owners in town.”
John Adams:
If Taylor thought that anyone in the Whitewater Police Department was going to tell a twenty-year old anything about the raid, he’s kidding himself. A seat on Council means little from their point of view. By the way, if your constituents are afraid to come outside and gather to meet you, then maybe it has something to do with your opinion that some Hispanics “have to go back.” They may not be citizens, and they may not speak English well, but for goodness’ sake is it not obvious that they can put two and two together better than Taylor?
2. From Marilyn Kienbaum, City Council President, aged 80:
Council member Marilyn Kenbaum [sic], 80, worried about the fallout from the raid.
“I didn’t think it was handled right,” she said. “Some (of the workers) had children. It was a real hardship.”
She said the food pantry she runs got busy after the raid because “people who had been working all of a sudden weren’t.”
John Adams:
Sixty years produces a greater compassion from Kienbaum than Taylor. She’s right, of course — they had families and children. Kienbaum thinks about the full consequences; Taylor’s so young all he understands is a simple, crudely applied rule. I’ll wait sixty years, and see if he thinks it’s all that simple when he’s eighty.
3. Larry Meyer and the Whitewater Police Started this Action:
“We went to assist the Whitewater police,” said Gail Montenegro a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago. “They asked us to assist in anticipation of encountering illegal aliens, and we did that.”
John Adams:
If someone in the Whitewater Police Department tries to tell you that it was not their operation, that it was basically an immigration matter, remind him or her that Immigration and Customs Enforcement disputes the WPD story.
4. Whitewater Police Wanted Our Social Security Numbers?
Police also agreed to stop asking motorists pulled over on traffic violations for Social Security numbers. Although it was meant as a way for the city to collect unpaid fines, it was viewed by Latinos as immigration related, he [Police Chief Coan] said.
John Adams:
They’re not serious, are they? We Wisconsinites have always prided ourselves on respecting the privacy of others. Many Wisconsinites will balk at giving a phone number or Social Security Number on a contract of sale! Why would anyone ever think that we’d give it easily at a traffic stop? Have you ever known anyone who was asked for a Social Security Number at a traffic stop? I’ll write separately on the Identity Theft Excuse in another post. For now, a few questions about SSNs at traffic stops: (1) how long were the Whitewater Police asking for these numbers, (2) how many people at traffic stops did they ask, (3) how many of those people they asked in Whitewater were white? If you doubt that Social Security Numbers likely were requested disproportionately from Hispanics, then you doubt the presence of the nose on your face.