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Shouldn't the Chicago City Council be able to pass something like this? Shaun Subject: FW: Press Release: Núñez, Assembly Members Call on Chertoff to Halt Unconstitutional Raids Press Release: Núñez, Assembly Members Call on Chertoff to Halt Unconstitutional Raids FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:    Richard Stapler April 17, 2008 (916) 319-2408 Núñez, Assembly Members Call on Chertoff  to Halt Unconstitutional Raids  ICE Actions Spread Fear, Deny Rights to Southland Workers SACRAMENTO - Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez (D-Los Angeles) and more than 28 Assembly Members today called on Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff to halt raids in California by his agency's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division after a series of incidents in southern California that have raised civil liberties concerns and imperiled families and businesses. The ACLU of Southern California will also soon feature materials pertinent to the raids on their website at http://www.aclu-sc.org/. Text of the letter: April 17, 2008 The Honorable Michael Chertoff U.S. Department of Homeland Security 245 Murray Lane, SW Washington, D.C., 20528 Dear Secretary Chertoff: It is with a feeling of great dismay and mounting frustration that we respond to your comments in the Associated Press article dated April 12, 2008, regarding the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) recent raids. As ICE continues with its record number of worksite raids throughout Southern California, a pattern of serious problems has emerged with regard to its interrogation, detention and deportation practices. Given your somewhat blithe defense of the department's actions, we felt it imperative to illustrate several examples of what actions you are defending. On February 7, 2008, ICE carried out a worksite raid at MicroSolutions Enterprise, a toner and ink manufacturing company in Van Nuys. This raid resulted in numerous very clear violations of constitutional rights as well as the egregious and offensive mistreatment of workers. Reports surfaced that during the raid workers were forced to self-segregate by documentation status. During the raid itself, ICE officials did not release legal residents and U.S. citizens until they were interrogated - ICE seemed to assume that the workers were guilty until proven innocent. Additionally, ICE officials denied workers access to legal counsel as they were questioned and continued interrogations even when workers requested the right to legal counsel. It was not until the ACLU, the National Immigration Law Center, and the National Lawyers Guild sued ICE that workers were allowed legal counsel during their interviews. Legal representation is especially a concern when a person may be a legal resident but simply does not have possession of his or her documents. Over 130 workers were detained and even those released on humanitarian grounds