An investigation into racist, anti-immigrant web posts revealed that at least three recent entries came from computers at the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection. Online comments charged immigrant farmworkers with “getting free benefits,” and “[riding] the gravy train.” Border patrol posts were discovered dating back to November 2008. The most recent posts responded to a news article on an afternoon immigration raid of a leisure boat carrying Mexican immigrant farmworkers and their families on Lake Ontario. The Mexican passengers were detained and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the paperwork that they presented was disregarded. A white passenger was not detained despite having no proof of citizenship. A recent report by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund correlated rampant anti-immigrant rhetoric to increased hate crimes. According to FBI statistics, hate crimes against Latinos rose 40 percent between 2003 and 2007. The Obama administration has chosen to continue the Bush administrations aggressive, anti-immigrant border policies.
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