Illegals raid dismays Obama backers

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By Stephen Dinan

Immigrant rights groups blasted President Obama on Wednesday for breaking what they called his "personal commitment" to change Bush-era immigration raids after U.S. authorities raided an engine machine shop in Washington state and detained illegal immigrants.

The Obama administration itself seemed taken aback by the raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano vowing to Congress that she would "get to the bottom of this."

"The secretary is not happy and this is not her policy," a Homeland Security official said Wednesday evening, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the secretary's review is ongoing.

White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said "these raids are not a long-term solution."

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"Secretary Napolitano is conducting a thorough review of ICE, including enforcement," Mr. Shapiro said. "The president believes we must respect due process and our best values as we enforce the law. The real answer to our broken immigration system is to fix it. The president has said that we will start the immigration reform debate this year, and this continues to be the plan."

The raid in Bellingham, Wash., was the first major workplace enforcement action since Mr. Obama took office, but the second time a law enforcement action has angered the White House.

A similar backlash ensued earlier this month when the Drug Enforcement Administration raided medical marijuana dispensaries in California, despite Mr. Obama's campaign pledges not to interfere with state laws on the matter. In that instance, the White House said Mr. Obama hadn't put his people in place.

Homeland Security stepped up high-profile immigration work-site raids and took steps to improve border security after Congress in 2007 rejected President Bush´s immigration bill, which would have legalized illegal immigrants and rewritten the rules on future legal immigration.

During last year's presidential campaign, Mr. Obama criticized immigration work-site raids as "ineffective" and said the focus instead should be on employers who hire illegal immigrants.