Not a day goes by that Laya doesn't dread going to work.

Working in the fields picking fruits and vegetables, enduring climatic extremes and spending long hours on your feet can be physically excruciating. But for Laya, worse than that is the thought that somewhere between the fields of California's Central Valley and her modest apartment in the small farming town of Mendota, she will be picked up by immigration authorities and once again be separated from her children.

Her dramatic story highlights the horrific consequences of the inhumane actions of immigration authorities that seem more like ethnic cleansing than law enforcement. The immigration raids and fugitive-search expeditions that have increased in recent months have millions of immigrants petrified.

Immigration authorities claim that the raids and door-to-door searches are intended to detain those who have deportation orders for criminal activity or those whose petition for legal status has been rejected by the courts. However, when agents encounter anyone else in the process who does not have proper documentation of their legal status, they are arrested on the spot, then detained and deported. They call these "collateral arrests." According to some media reports, of the almost 20,000 arrests as part of Operation Return to Sender, which began about a year ago, two-thirds have been collateral arrests.

Laya falls under that category. She was sleeping with her children when she heard the knock on the door. It was agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, looking for a woman with the same name as one of the residents of the house where she was staying. They soon determined that it was a case of mistaken identity, but they proceeded to arrest all those in the house who did not have "papers."

Laya was forced to dress in front of the male agents. She was given one hour to find someone to take care of her three small U.S.-born children; her 10-year-old daughter born in Mexico would go with her. It was the middle of the night -- there was no one to care for the kids, one of whom was a baby, but she was arrested and deported anyway.

"I'm just doing my job," the officer told her. Two weeks later, after paying smugglers thousands of dollars and living through tragic moments of anguish, Laya was reunited with her kids. Like many deported immigrants, she turned around and repeated the dangerous journey across the border, this time with her young daughter witnessing the ordeal.

While the Senate was discussing how to deal with the immigration issue, hundreds of people were being persecuted. Within a week there were two major immigration operations. In Ohio, as soon as word of the federal crackdown on immigrants was reported, hundreds of people took refuge in a local church in Painesville -- one of many across the country that have offered sanctuary to immigrant families who fear being separated by raids and random arrests. Activists say that about 100 immigrants were arrested during that operation. A couple of days later, another 100 workers from a poultry-processing plant in Butterfield, Mo., were detained, allegedly as part of an investigation into identity theft and Social Security fraud.

The bipartisan bill that was introduced for debate in the Senate contemplates a guest-worker program and a possible path to citizenship for the approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the country now. When questioned about the pending reform during a press conference, President Bush recognized the difficulties in dealing with the issue. "What do you do with the people already here?" he asked. It is impossible to kick them out of the country, he added: "Anybody who advocates trying to dig out 12 million people who have been in our society for a while is sending a signal to the American people that is just not real. It's an impractical solution."

Bush referred to immigrants as "good, decent, hardworking people who want to come here to work and feed their families." But in spite of his compassionate words of wisdom, his government's actions are sending a different message. It seems to be saying, "Let's catch and throw out as many as we can before a new law allows them to stay." Our government has the right to enforce its laws and detain those wanted for criminal activity, but it should put a stop to the so-called collateral arrests and stop separating innocent immigrant families.

Open letter to the Senate: Helpful tips on immigration

By Maria Elena Salinas
Syndicated Columnist

Dear Senate:

I would like to start off by commending you on your intention to debate the issue of immigration reform. I know it has been a bumpy road and that many of you, from both sides of the aisle, have been working arduously for weeks to come up with a compromise bill. That's understandable -- no one wants to spend so much time and energy on a project that's doomed to failure.

As a journalist, and as the daughter of immigrants myself, I have been a close observer of the immigration issue for decades. I've seen its ups and downs. I've watched how immigrants are welcomed when the economy is strong, and other times are blamed for all the ills in the country. Lately, the latter has been more palpable.

Sometimes when you are up there in your beautiful offices on Capitol Hill, it's difficult to know if the voices you are hearing are those of a vocal minority instead of a silent majority. So, I would like to take this opportunity to make some observations that may be of help as you try to tackle this very polarizing issue.

Let's face it. No matter how many provisions you discuss on a possible immigration-reform bill, there is just one issue that is going to make the difference between failure and success. So, my first piece of advice to you would be: Don't use the "A" word.

Run from it as if it were a contagious disease. There is an automatic "reject" button implanted in people's minds that is triggered every time they hear the word "amnesty."

Also, beware of those who say that a path to legalization of undocumented immigrants amounts to a reward for breaking the law. But as you try to avoid the "A" word, I would hope you don't close your mind completely to the concept of opening the door for millions of people who came to this country to work, have established roots, are otherwise law-abiding citizens and are willing to earn the right to be here.

Now, if you are concerned with what your constituents think of the issue and how that will affect your re-election, it will be helpful to know that according to most polls in the past six months, a majority of American voters favor an immigration reform that opens the door to legalization of undocumented workers.

Here are just a few examples: In a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted April 13-15, 78 percent of respondents said they would favor a government policy that would allow immigrants to apply for citizenship if they meet certain requirements. A Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted around the same time says 62 percent of respondents believe that undocumented immigrants living in the United States should be offered a chance to stay. And a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows that 77 percent favor a program that would allow undocumented immigrants living in the country to stay and apply for citizenship if they have a job and pay back taxes.

You know, even though more and more Americans seem to be open to the idea of giving undocumented immigrants a chance at legalizing their status, the opposing viewpoints seem to be getting more entrenched. I can tell by some of the reader mail -- or should I say hate mail -- that I have received after publishing columns on the immigration issue. There not only are people who want to deport all undocumented immigrants, but some suggest that they should be tortured and shot.

You were elected because of your leadership qualities. People expect you to implement laws that will make our country prosper and improve the quality of life of its citizens. Study after study shows that immigrants contribute more to our economy than what it costs to have them here. It is true that you have to make sure laws are enforced and that you must do whatever it takes to make our country secure, but don't fall for the argument that all immigrants are potential terrorists.

There is so much negativity surrounding the immigration issue, and now you have a golden opportunity to bring some civility and humanity to the debate. As a U.S.-born American citizen, I trust you will do the right thing.