ICE getting busy, it seems (Updated)

Couldn't happen fast enough, in my book. Agents from the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency have conducted immigrations violation raids that have resulted in the arrest of seven company executives and hundreds of employees. From the story at Fox News:

Immigration agents arrested seven executives and hundreds of employees of a manufacturer of crates and pallets Wednesday as part of a crackdown on employers of illegal workers.

Authorities raided offices and plants of IFCO Systems in at least nine states, the culmination of a yearlong criminal investigation, law enforcement officials said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested seven current and former IFCO Systems managers on charges they conspired to transport, harbor and encourage illegal workers to reside in the United States for commercial advantage and private financial gain, said Glenn T. Suddaby, the chief federal prosecutor in Albany, N.Y., where some arrests were made.

ICE spokeswoman Jamie Zuieback confirmed an unspecified number of raids and arrests, but declined to provide additional details because the investigation was continuing. One official, speaking on condition of anonymity because numbers were still being tallied, said the arrests were in the hundreds.

This is exactly the internal approach that should be pursued as regards the matter of illegal aliens in the country. If they can't get work, they'll be less likely to come here illegally. This doesn't remove the need for improved border security at all but it's an excellent compliment to that tactic. I approve. As usual, the AP strives to paint the issue in precisely the wrong light:

In Houston, Jose Rivera, an immigrant from El Salvador, went to one of the company's Houston operations to search for information about his 22-year-old son, an IFCO Systems employee who was arrested Wednesday. Rivera said a brother, who worked at an IFCO operation in Louisiana, also was arrested Wednesday.

"I really feel angry because this is an injustice," he said through a translator. "It's an injustice because one person, who come from another country, why can't you work?"

Rivera said his son has worked for IFCO for about a year and a half.

The injustice, Jose, is that you think your son should be above the law. If he's a legal immigrant then he's got nothing to worry about. If, on the other hand, he got here without complying with those pesky – what do you call them? Oh yeah – laws, then he shouldn't have been in a position to be working here in the first place. To be honest, I'm now suspicious that Jose's status isn't as legal as it ought to be, the AP's labeling of him as "an immigrant from El Salvador" notwithstanding.

This report is good news and I hope we hear more just like it in the future.

Update: Michelle Malkin isn't impressed with this action at all, by the way.  I must admit I didnt' really expect her to be. She's got the weight of some very specific data at her back that this effort amounts to little more than a drop in the bucket, and a very late drop at that. She's correct. However, I'm forced to ask if she'd be happier if this raid hadn't happened at all? The start of any correction is a single action in the face of historical lack of such actions on a given matter. I agree (and I said this above) that we need more just like this. We need ICE to get serious about investigating employers who ignore immigrations laws and smacking them upside their heads when they find them. But to just dismiss any action on this while at the same time decrying a lack of action on this doesn't make sense to me, all due respect to Ms. Malkin.

I'm behind her 110% on not proceeding with any kind of guest worker program – on not even discussing such a program – until we've cleaned up the illegal alien mess and secured our borders. But I'm not going to look at this announcement as a bad thing.