Every Christmas season from December 24th to the Day of the Three Kings Mexicans and Americans of Mexican descent celebrate by sharing their tradition of hospitality and good will by making, or purchasing and then sharing, Tamales. The tradition runs deep in the Latino collective memory since Tamales predate Christ and most of western “civilization”. It is understood that the Aztecs greeted their incoming conquerors with the tightly wrapped festival food.

Apparently making tamales is a job that many Americans want. Monday in its continuing effort to insure that Americans can have Tamale making jobs ICE raided an American Tamale factory and deported twenty-one workers. To add insult to injury ICE agents named the raid “OPERATION TAMALE”.

Fifteen days before the celebration of the birth of Christ ICE agents embarked on “Operation Tamale” and divided families and sent fear into the hearts of hard working immigrants all over the country….fifteen days before Christmas, the official tamale eating holiday. ICE agents played Herod in the pageant play that has been enacted since right wing talk show hosts discovered that good ratings are born by bulling those that won’t complain to their sponsors. Immigrant bashing also has the added benefit of venting the anger of a working class rightly fearful of the economic results of an administration that feathers the pockets of the elite, while providing only the opium of modern day coliseum brutality to everyone else.

The Tamale tradition has now been marred by ICE leadership that saw not only no need for Christmas mercy but that deliberately named their cruelly timed raid in a racist and mocking manor.

The Administration must be held accountable on the racially targeted ICE raids now underway throughout the country. Questions must be asked: why is it that most of the raids have only garnered immigrants from south of the border, when only half of the undocumented are from that region of the world? How can Americans of Latino descent not feel targeted as an ethnicity when a raid is named after a traditional food during its yearly traditional moment?

While the leadership at ICE privately chuckles at its inside “Operation Tamale” joke all people of good will must stand tall and demand accountability and fairness. Answers are needed especially from the Presidential wannabes that currently are arguing about who is the best Christian while defiling a sacred Chritmas tradition and destroying the holiday season for hard working families.

Huckabee? Romney? Bush? Is this what Christmas means to you? Please explain.

EMAIL COMMENTS TO :Mario@mylatinonews.com

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