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Taxi Drivers
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| Isaiah Thompson |
| After being told he was owed money, then turned over to I.C.E., handcuffed, and detained at PPA headquarters, Oliver was let go. 23 drivers were charged. |
Today, taxi drivers, supporters, and clergy members gathered at PPA headquarters in a "prayer vigil" for taxi drivers detained and/or charged with being here illegally after being netted in a sting set up by the PPA and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Last week, the Daily News reported that PPA officials, in collaboration with ICE, sent notes to 26 taxi cab drivers (cabs are governed by the PPA), telling them they were owed credit card payments, and should come by PPA headquarters to collect.
In fact, the notes were bogus: the drivers were greeted at the door and, they say, ushered into another room where they were handcuffed and detained by ICE officials.
Here's an account from Oliver (he preferred not to give his last name), one of the three men released without any charges, with whom I spoke today:
PPA sent us a letter saying they're holding some money if you come over and pick it up. I have the letter in my car! When I got there, there was a lady who asked me for my ID, I gave it to her, she checked the list, and said ok, this man will escort you inside to get your check. When I came in , they push me to the wall and say, "Police! Police!" I said, "What have I done? What have I done? What is the problem?" They didn't answer. They just took me to a warehouse in the back, where I saw the other drivers, handcuffed, sitting on the floor. I saw one of the immigration officials and I said 'I am a citizen! I've been a citizen for seven years my passport is outside in the car.' They said, 'Really?' They went out and brought it back and they said 'We're sorry - we're very very sorry - we made a mistake."
According to ICE spokesman Mark Medvesky, the operation was the result of a perceived vulnerability: taxi drivers have "access to parts of the airport that the general public does not have."
ICE, he says, approached PPA and asked to review drivers' records, ultimately coming up with the 26-person list. The 23 charged with being here illegally can challenge their deportations in immigration court.
The sting raises a few questions:
- After an extensive review of some 5,000 records, ICE only found 26 people of interest, and charged even fewer: was the .04% percent rate enough to justify such a search or such an elaborate sting? Was ICE expecting to find more than it did?
- If taxi drivers pose a threat to airport security why perform such a search now? And why aren't similar stings being conducted in other cities (spokesman Medvesky affirmed that they aren't).
- Was the method of arrest sending bogus notices to cab drivers and bringing them to PPA headquarters (not a federal facility, that is, but that of their employer) appropriate?
- Is the timing of this sting political? Medvesky says no, pointing out the operation was in the works before the city canceled its collaborative arrangement between police and ICE officials.
Ron Blount, president of the Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania, suggests that the timing had more to do with PPA's recent losing court battle against the Taxi Workers' Alliance. The PPA, he suggests, is trying to curry favor with Harrisburg at a time when the agency finds itself suddenly without teeth.
You got to the heart of the matter. IT IS POLITICAL
You got to the heart of it. IT IS POLITICAL. Both ICE and PPA are political. The perceived threat at the AP IS BULLSHIT. I work the airport sometimes driving a cab and I don't have access to areas the public doesn't have. Ride with me, I'll show you.
Thanks for the comments as always. Hey Steve (I know Mr. Chervenka from past reporting), Why not flush out your own take on *how* or *why* it's political (if you care to)? I'm interested to hear it, and I'll bet other readers are, too. - Isaiah
[...] PPA and ICE got cozy for taxi driver sting. Why? :: The Clog :: Blog Archive :: Staff Blog :: Philad... [...]
What percent rate of airline passengers took the towers down, Isaac?
Hope this will enlighten. It's politcal because the Philadelphia Parking Authority is all political. It's board is appointed by the Governor. All the jobs are given to friends, particarly the Republican friends. They constantly do things to suave a good image of themselves through the money they collect. Search the last three years of the PPA in the news and you will find ghost employees, cozy relationships with pols, and PR from them about how much they do for the city. Regarding the taxi/Ice issue, (from their gifted takeover of the taxi industry as regulators), they recently lost most of their power thourgh a Supreme Court of PA decision and then from the Commonwealth Court stating that they have reigned over the taxi industry unconstitutionally and must follow the document laws, which requires a long review of proposed regs before they can regulate. This is supposed to be done by every state agency so that the people you are regulating are not taken advantaged through misuses of power. So now they need the legislators in Harrisburg to give them the power to regulate without following the doc law by enacting new legislation. To put taxi drivers in a bad light may convince legislaturs to enact a law giving them back absolute power. Their proposed taxi and limo budget for the upcoming year includes 3.7 million in salaries to pay the taxi and limo division of the PPA. Most of this money comes from fines and fees of taxi drivers. Perhaps, if taxi drivers are a targeted bunch of illegal immigrants, they would need a new department, and need to hire more for their staff?
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| Courtesy of Media Mobilizing Project |
Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) worked with the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) to bring in local cabbies with the promise of getting them their owed credit-card payments. It was all a ploy, of course, and 23 taxi drivers got arrested and their names were placed on a deportation list.
Cabbies are currently holding a prayer vigil over the recent crackdown until 2 p.m., at PPA's offices. And they're asking an interesting question: Was this retribution from the PPA for a recent lawsuit?
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(h/t Phawker)
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Fabricio Rodriguez, philly news now. philly news now said: Cabbies hold prayer vigil over recent ICE crackdown at PPAs office: Courtesy of Media Mobilizing Project Last we... http://bit.ly/azuXux [...]
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| Credit: Media Mobilizing Project |
| After two years of facing charges, Blount's name is cleared. |
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
How many seas must a white dove sail?
How many times must the leader of Philadelphia's taxi drivers union clear himself of the same charges before the PPA will deign to even meet with him?
Who knows although you'd think we'd have an answer to the last question, after Taxi Workers Alliance president Ron Blount was acquitted in PPA court yesterday on two-year-old charges of assaulting a passenger.
In September, 2008, the newly elected Blount was hit with a felony charge - one that had been thrown out and then re-instated of allegedly attacking and choking passenger Megan Saunders after she tried to pay with a credit card.
Last October, after a year of facing that charge, Blount was acquitted by a jury in Common Pleas court.
At the time, the Phialdelphia Parking Authority, which oversees the taxi industry and which has had an acrimonious relationship with Blount from the time he was elected to lead the TWA didn't hesitate to use the charges as a talking point against him. As I reported in my profile of Blount and the TWA in September '08:
The morning after Blount was elected during the time when he faced only misdemeanor charges the Metro quoted PPA taxi division chief James Ney, saying he was "quite concerned with the president they've elected, who has outstanding charges against him ... We're wondering why the drivers would elect someone like that."
When Blount was fully acquitted by a Common Pleas court in October, the PPA pursued its own case against him in yes, it exists PPA's own administrative court, where PPA judges (whose salaries are paid by the PPA) have the power to impose fines, revoke cab licenses, etc.
In the two years since his original criminal charges, the PPA has declined to meet with Blount citing, since last October, the administrative case against him.
Yesterday, Blount appeared before a PPA judge to defend himself, again, against charges filed by Saunders who, she revealed on the stand, had been driven to court yetserday by the PPA.
The judge found Blount innocent of everything except failing to take a credit card a violation for which he may have to pay a $250 fine.
So: is the PPA, after Blount's two acquittals, ready at last to meet with him?
Absolutely kind of. The PPA will meet with him, Jim Ney, director of the taxi and limo divsion of the PPA, told the Metro today . . . "but thats not going to happen until we see the actual opinion."
[...] Taxi union president beats PPA on its own court literally [...]
Blount is not credible, didn't believe him then or now
it s only a matter of time , the PPA are a legal mafia, it s about time that the city of philadelphia get rid of those kind of blood suckers, they are after the low income people of this wonderful city, it s time for people to stand up for their right, and i m talking about everyone including the taxi drivers, those innocent people work really hard to meet ends meat. PPA calls itself a state agency but in fact does not comply with any of the rules nor the constitution, this is America, the land of the free, God bless this country, the truth shall reveal soon and the PPA will soon be history, a bad history.
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