Last week, Reuters and the Fayetteville Reporter, ran stories about illegal immigrants that are now afraid of going to work because they believe that they might get stopped by police and deported.

In Los Angeles, several of the individuals interviewed only spoke Spanish and spoke of being terrified to walk outside their homes because the police might snatch them at any moment and deport them.

The-seven day Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sweep, dubbed “Operation Return to Sender,” targeted jails across five counties in the Los Angeles area, where police took 423 of what they called “criminal aliens” into federal custody for deportation, after being held on charges unrelated to their immigration status.

Federal agents from seven teams also fanned out in local communities, where they nabbed 338 undocumented immigrants, more than 150 of whom were classed as “immigration fugitives” — foreign nationals who ignored final deportation orders.

So, these people have come to America, illegally, were discovered that they were illegal, given deportation orders, ignored these orders, been arrested, are now being processed back to their home countries, and now we are supposed to have sympathy for those that haven’t yet been caught?  I’m sorry, but if you want me to feel sorry for you, try coming to America legally.  Try following the rules.  Try obeying the law of the country you claim that you want to live and work in.

At the Smithfield Packing Company in North Carolina, the 21 employees that were arrested by immigration officials are being deported.  The employees’ families say they do not know where they were and fear being arrested themselves.  It is clear from the article that they are being held in the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, 700 miles away from Tar Heel, where the packing company resides.

Because ICE officials arrested the employees on administrative rather than criminal charges, it will not release their names. Raimondi would not elaborate on whether the workers could also be charged criminally or whether other workers could be targeted.

An ICE spokeswoman told The Associated Press that administrative immigration charges can include being in the U.S illegally or overstaying a work visa.

Again, how can I feel sorry for people who continue to skirt the law?  Why can’t they ask where their families are being held?  Oh, that’s right.  They’re illegal too.  And most haven’t bothered to learn to speak English.  Well boo-hoo for them.

Salvador Salazar, Hispanic ministry coordinator at St. Francis DeSales Church in Lumberton, said several people contacted him in a panic asking for help looking for their loved ones. One was a mother with three children.

“They’re very concerned about how they’ll live,” Salazar said.

I’m sorry this mother and her children can’t live in America now that their illegal breadwinner is getting deported.  Stop trying to tug at my heart strings, go home, and return legally.  I cannot and will not feel sorry for people who refuse to follow the law.  I’m sorry your country is such a shithole that you don’t want to stay there.  How about you lift a finger or two to try to make your country better instead of coming to mine, refusing to assimilate and crapping all over my system of laws?  What would happen if I went to Mexico illegally or overstayed my visa?  That’s right.  I’d get deported, at best, beaten and possibly killed at worst.

The arrests stem from information gleaned about the employees since Smithfield joined the IMAGE program last year. Under IMAGE, which stands for ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers, Smithfield must now cross reference all employees’ names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and genders.

Smithfield has been criticized for joining the program, but Pittman has said the company had no choice if it wanted to avoid immigration raids. He said ICE told the company it was coming on Wednesday and said it wasn’t a raid.

Immigration officials showed up in unmarked cars and plain clothes, Pittman said. The workers were then sent into a room with ICE officials, questioned and arrested, spokesman Raimondi said.

Union and church officials repeatedly pointed fingers at the pork processing plant for the arrests. Some people said the workers who were most vocal about unionization were some of those arrested.

“Many of these workers have given their life blood to this company for (years) and now are being summarily handed over to be arrested and discarded. It is unconscionable and continues Smithfield’s pattern of callous disregard for the wellbeing of its workers.”

Because of discrepancies with employee records found through IMAGE, about 500 more immigrant workers are expected to lose their jobs starting the second week of February, Pittman has said

So, a company worries that they may have immigration raids and some of their workers might be in the United States illegally.  They proactively join a program to help them employ people who are legally allowed to work in America.  This program identifies at least 500 people that are questionable, of which 21 are being deported right now and the people in the community have the gall to say that, because an illegal worker worked hard, the company should protect them?

I’m sorry but, no company cares for its workers.  It never has.  These people are simply trying to cry “poor me” and “what are my family going to do?” in an effort to make regular folks feel sorry for them.  Companies must follow the law, just like a regular citizen and, when they don’t, there are stiff penalties.  Normally, I hate big business, but, in this case, the workers really have no leg to stand on.  The only thing I’m sorry for is that these people were able to get around the law for so many years before being caught.

In November, hundreds of workers walked out of the plant, protesting the firing of 75 employees who were unable to provide verifiable documentation that they were working legally.

After mediation with the Rev. Carlos Arce, of St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Red Springs, Smithfield rehired the 75 workers and gave them 60 days to provide verifiable documentation, or they’d be fired.

For months, Smithfield has been running employee information through the IMAGE program. Each of those workers gets 60 days to provide proof they are eligible to work in the U.S.

Just why are these people allowed to bend the law so much?  When I get hired for a job, I must provide proof of eligibility the day that I get hired.  If I forget, I’m usually allowed to bring the documentation in the next day but that’s as far as it goes.  I don’t get 60 days to find a small piece of paper proving who I am.  I’m not allowed to bitch and moan if I forget these papers.  If I don’t have them, I don’t have a job.  These companies need to stop bending over backward for people that clearly have questionable work eligibility.

I won’t be sitting at home crying over people who are fearing deportation because they are here illegally.  They have broken the law, twice.  First, by entering the country illegally, and, second, by obtaining illegal identities so that they could get a job and work.  If you want to come here, go to an American Embassy in your home country and follow the rules.  There is no excuse for people who flaunt the law and then want you to feel sorry for them when they get caught.

I hope these arrests continue and illegals are fearful enough that they go back home.  You want to come here legally, I’ll be the first person at the border welcoming you.  If you can’t be bothered to do that, get the hell out and don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.