Here's an excerpt from an online website that is pertinent to this discussion:

"Religious, Labor and Civil Rights Organizations Call for an Immediate End to Immigration Raids


Statement
Philadelphia [January 3][2007] — The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and more than 60 human rights organizations across the country urge President Bush to issue an executive order that declares an immediate moratorium on community and work site raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Our organizations, representing labor, religious and civil rights groups across the country, urge the administration to work with Congress to build humane, rational and fair immigration policies. We call for this action after witnessing the worksite raids that occurred at Swift meatpacking facilities in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas and Utah.

We call upon the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Office of the Inspector General of Homeland Security to immediately investigate allegations of civil rights violations, including the racial profiling of the more than 1,200 workers apprehended in the raids.

Strong-arm tactics and the excessive use of force in the raids were evident. Workers who appeared to be Latino were separated from non-Latino looking workers. Federal officials refused to provide timely information to family members, clergy or attorneys, and in some cases threatened to arrest those seeking information about their loved ones.

Some of those detained were relocated to Camp Dodge, a military detention facility. Attorneys and clergy were not allowed into the detention center for several days. The ICE national telephone inquiry line did not provide information to relatives or attorneys about the whereabouts of detainees for nearly 48 hours.

Workplace raids continue a campaign of terror that criminalizes workers who are only seeking jobs and a better life. They do nothing to fix the nation's broken immigration system and only serve to polarize how immigrants are perceived. They promote discrimination and racial profiling, and sow fear and uncertainty in the nation's immigrant communities. Such actions weaken the social and economic fabric of our community and threaten the basic civil and human rights of immigrant and non-immigrant communities alike.

The December 12 raids occurred on an important religious holiday for many families — a day to pay tribute to the Patroness of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe. To target Latin American immigrants, many of whom are Catholic, on such an important religious holiday shows a grave disrespect for their religious beliefs.
With Congress poised to address immigration reform in the new year, if the administration is truly committed to a fair immigration policy and justice for the nation's families, workplace and community raids must be stopped now.

Campaign Endorsers
In the spirit of the season and our nation's commitment to justice for all, we urge the Bush administration to take immediate and decisive leadership to address this deplorable community crisis and inhumane action. We urge organizations and individuals alike to join us in this call for an immediate halt to immigration raids and to urge the Bush administration and Congressional leaders to take immediate actions that produce a constructive and fair policy resolution to the nation's immigration debate.


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Click http://www.afsc.org/immigrants-rights/news/groups-call-for-end-to-raids.htm
for the list of this campaign's endorsers.