La Migra

I can't quite get my mind around Tuesday's stunning DHS raids on meatpacking plants around the country - "the largest federal immigration raid in U.S. history," which rounded up about 5,000 people.

The official story is that the raids were intended to break up identity-theft rings which were being run by and for illegal immigrants. It's turning out that the raids had other goals, too, such as intimidating workers who are often interested in unionizing. That's not good, but far less good are the tactics the raiders apparently employed. The invaluable summary articles at TPM Muckraker mention niceties such as paramilitary dress and equipment, mass arrests, extended detentions without charges, segregating detainees by skin color, taking both parents in some families, and threats of deportation, like the agent who taunted one woman by asking, "Do you think it's going to be cold in Mexico?"

5,000 people swept up by the Feds, at least some American citizens, many still being held incommunicado. Where's the libertarian outrage?