On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2008 the last of two of twenty former employees of a West Burlington, Iowa concrete company were sentenced in Davenport, Iowa’s U.S. District Court on immigration, identity-theft, and document fraud charges, according to a press release by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The press release said that in the beginning in early 2007, ICE agents began investigating IPC employees’ use of bogus documents. “On April 19, 2007, ICE agents, with assistance from the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General and local law enforcement agencies, executed 17 criminal arrest warrants. Three other employees were subsequently arrested.”<\/p>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/holaamericanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/HI-SummerSeries-300x250-SP.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n
All 20 were from Mexico and were indicted on May 16, 2007. After their release from prison, most of who were given 24 months and one day of prison, all of them are processed for deportation. Ages ranged from 20 to 46 years old.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u0096\u00baLocal Level now the Most Active in the Immigration Debate<\/b><\/i>
Anti-immigration activists are focusing on the state and local level, as a result of failures at the national level on the issue. According to the Chicago Tribune more than 1,500 laws were introduced nationwide in state legislatures. Also this year, more than 350 laws have introduced as well.<\/p>\n
The local police have also stepped up their enforcement of immigration. More than 100 police agencies, according to the AP in Los Angeles and Orange County in Calif. are waiting or are already receiving training from ICE to find the undocumented and turn them over to ICE. Immigrant supporters argue that local police enforcing federal law will keep people from reporting crimes.<\/p>\n
Just recently in Rhode Island, Governor Donald Carcieri signed a bill that would empower state police and correctional officers to enforce immigration law. At a press conference about his order, he was quoted as saying, “If you’re here illegally, you shouldn’t be here.”<\/p>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/holaamericanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Diabetes-Spanish-300x250-2.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n
\u00e2\u0096\u00baPennsylvania Farmer Leaving the Tomato Business<\/b><\/i>
Keith Eckel employed 180 people, had a tomato crop valued between $1.5 and $2 million, but said that because of Congress, he will have to leave the business. He was quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer saying that the system is broken. “It’s a sad day; we’re closing a part of our business that we really love.”<\/p>\n
Eckel’s problems are echoed throughout the nation as farmers have doubts on whether they can have a work force on their farms. He also said that no one would work in 90 degree weather except immigrants. Workers at his company averaged $16.59 an hour, “and they earned every penny of it.”<\/p>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/holaamericanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Progress-Iowa-Spanish-300x250-1.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\n