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SEATTLE -- Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano held a closed-door session with representatives of various industries and advocacy groups impacted by immigration - a first of its kind meeting for the secretary.
Monday's "listening session" included immigrant advocates, labor unions, state officials, law enforcement officers, business leaders and farm working representatives among others. The meeting was closed to the media and public. The secretary is expected to hold similar meetings later on around the country.
Some of the people who attended left optimistic.
"First time in almost 20 years working with farm workers that immigration has ever asked our opinion on this issue," said Erik Nicholson, regional director for the United Farmworkers of America. "That's very encouraging."
Napolitano has been appointed by President Barack Obama as the lead official in his efforts to overhaul the immigration system. Moreover, Washington is a state that has attracted significant immigrant work force, from the agricultural fields of eastern Washington to the high-tech campus at Microsoft.
A work site raid in Bellingham, Wash., in February became a national flash point in the immigration issue after Napolitano ordered a review of the operation. It was the first raid under the Obama administration, which had signaled that it wanted to move away from raids to focus on scrutinizing employers who hire illegal workers.
Earlier this month, Homeland Security released a list of 652 businesses nationwide that will receive audits of their work force - 26 are in the Pacific Northwest.
"Secretary Napolitano believes it's important to speak directly to the many individuals and groups that are impacted by our work," Matt Chandler, spokesman for the department.
The meeting was used by some to express concerns about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's practices, including programs that further integrate local law enforcement agencies in tracking illegal immigrants with criminal records and the agency's focus those types of immigrants. Others said the meeting was a bit too brief.
Pramila Jayapal, executive director of OneAmerica, a Seattle-based immigrant advocate group, said her organization is concerned for due process rights and protections to people as immigration issues are reformed.
But Jayapal said Napolitano signaled that stepped up enforcement from local authorities would not stop. She, however, still liked what she heard from the secretary.
"It's clear to me that Janet Napolitano is engaging actively in that discussion, but we're going to continue to need the Obama administration to weigh in heavily," she said.
Earlier this month, critics of Homeland Security's new approach to enforcing immigration law said that enforcement is being gutted as work site raids are being minimized.
"Everybody wants criminal aliens out of the country, that's sort of the low hanging fruit," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington, D.C., group that lobbies for stricter immigration rules. "The Obama administration is gutting enforcement. They're gutting enforcement, except against action with people with criminal records."
Mehlman was not invited to the meeting Monday.
Monday's "listening session" included immigrant advocates, labor unions, state officials, law enforcement officers, business leaders and farm working representatives among others. The meeting was closed to the media and public. The secretary is expected to hold similar meetings later on around the country.
Some of the people who attended left optimistic.
"First time in almost 20 years working with farm workers that immigration has ever asked our opinion on this issue," said Erik Nicholson, regional director for the United Farmworkers of America. "That's very encouraging."
Napolitano has been appointed by President Barack Obama as the lead official in his efforts to overhaul the immigration system. Moreover, Washington is a state that has attracted significant immigrant work force, from the agricultural fields of eastern Washington to the high-tech campus at Microsoft.
A work site raid in Bellingham, Wash., in February became a national flash point in the immigration issue after Napolitano ordered a review of the operation. It was the first raid under the Obama administration, which had signaled that it wanted to move away from raids to focus on scrutinizing employers who hire illegal workers.
Earlier this month, Homeland Security released a list of 652 businesses nationwide that will receive audits of their work force - 26 are in the Pacific Northwest.
"Secretary Napolitano believes it's important to speak directly to the many individuals and groups that are impacted by our work," Matt Chandler, spokesman for the department.
The meeting was used by some to express concerns about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's practices, including programs that further integrate local law enforcement agencies in tracking illegal immigrants with criminal records and the agency's focus those types of immigrants. Others said the meeting was a bit too brief.
Pramila Jayapal, executive director of OneAmerica, a Seattle-based immigrant advocate group, said her organization is concerned for due process rights and protections to people as immigration issues are reformed.
But Jayapal said Napolitano signaled that stepped up enforcement from local authorities would not stop. She, however, still liked what she heard from the secretary.
"It's clear to me that Janet Napolitano is engaging actively in that discussion, but we're going to continue to need the Obama administration to weigh in heavily," she said.
Earlier this month, critics of Homeland Security's new approach to enforcing immigration law said that enforcement is being gutted as work site raids are being minimized.
"Everybody wants criminal aliens out of the country, that's sort of the low hanging fruit," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington, D.C., group that lobbies for stricter immigration rules. "The Obama administration is gutting enforcement. They're gutting enforcement, except against action with people with criminal records."
Mehlman was not invited to the meeting Monday.
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