July 22, 2009 Report: NY, NJ immigration raids violated rights

This story is about the findings from The Immigration Justice Clinic at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law whom analyzed ICE office reports from Long Island, NY and New Jersey police departments.

I found this article very interesting, especially since what is essentially being reported is a violation of the Constitution. It brings up interesting questions about how, usually consistently, immigrants are viewed as below the law (even legal immigrants) and are taken advantage of. This is how many legal immigrants and U.S. citizens who are of foreign background are attacked unfairly (in reference to Professor Shutika's post about the U.S. citizen wrongly deported, as one example). The AP report also goes on to mention how this has happened before and I suspect this is on a usual basis. It talks about how many of the targets were simply suspected based on their Latino looks or language spoken. This is very similar to the Prince William County initiative, led by "Help Save Manassas" to pass local laws to allow police officers to do the same thing without fear of penalty. It also calls for the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General to conduct an investigation.
“These are violations that go to the very heart of the Constitutional expectation of privacy in this country,” Markowitz said.

I feel this article will provide some good background information and viewpoints when we discuss immigration in general next week before delving into the personal perspectives in the books. I'd love to hear your all's thoughts on the topic.