On Sept. 22, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 21 workers at the Honua Kai construction site in Kaanapali, on the island of Maui in Hawai'i. Twelve of the workers were from Mexico, eight were from Brazil and one was from Slovakia. All were placed in deportation proceedings. The Maui Police Department assisted in the raid. ICE coordinated the arrests with Ledcor Construction, the general contractor for the Honua Kai project. According to ICE, all 21 workers arrested in the raid worked for Global Stone Inc., a subcontractor based in Orem, Utah.

Jury selection began under unusual security measures Sept. 29 in the federal trial of five men accused of planning an attack on Fort Dix, NJ, where reservists are trained for duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. The men—all foreign-born Muslims in their 20s who have lived for years in New Jersey—are charged with conspiracy to murder soldiers and attempted murder. They'll face life imprisonment if convicted. No attack was carried out and attorneys for the men say there was no plot. (AP, Sept. 29)

On Friday, Sept. 26, a "chemical irritant" was sprayed through a window of the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton mosque, where 300 worshipers were gathered for a Ramadan prayer service. The spray targeted the room where babies and children were being kept while their mothers were engaged in prayers. The service and ritual fast-breaking were interrupted so those suffering from tearing, coughing and shortness of breath could receive treatment. "It's very disturbing," said ISGD board member Tarek Sabagh. "Something like this has never happened before." (Dayton Daily News, Sept. 27)

Our September issue featured the story "Big Oil & the Big Easy: Catastrophe and Counterinsurgency in New Orleans" by Frank Morales of The Shadow, outlining military "anti-terrorism" measures to protect Gulf Coast oil infrastructure and arguing that "the federal response to Katrina represents an escalation of the tactics of domestic counter-insurgency." We also featured the story "New Orleans Public Housing Defenders Face Terror Charges" by Bill Weinberg from AlterNet, on the use of "anti-terrorism" laws against activists engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience to protest the demolition of public housing projects. Our September Exit Poll was: "Why is there no international movement to demand right of return for New Orleans refugees?" We received no responses.

From Sept. 12 to 16, agents from ICE Fugitive Operations Teams arrested 59 immigrants in 14 Colorado cities. Only 30 of the 59 people arrested had failed to comply with deportation orders; the other 29 were people without legal immigration status who were encountered by ICE during the raids. Of the total 59 people arrested, 20 had criminal convictions. The arrests took place in Aurora, Aspen, Basalt, Canyon City, Carbondale, Colorado Springs, Cortez, Craig, Denver, Durango, El Jebel, Glenwood Springs, Pueblo and Thornton. (ICE news release, Sept. 18)

From Sept. 12 to 15, agents from four ICE Fugitive Operations Teams arrested 144 people in Chicago and nearby areas in an operation targeting people who have failed to comply with deportation orders. (ICE calls such people "fugitives" or "absconders.") Of those arrested, 110 had final orders of deportation; 34 were people without legal immigration status who were encountered by ICE officers during the raids. Those arrested during the four-day operation are from 26 countries: Albania, Belize, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lithuania, Malawi, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia and Yugoslavia.

On Sept. 18, ICE agents raided several homes and apartment buildings in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood in an operation targeting people who allegedly produce and sell fake identity documents. ICE agents executed search warrants simultaneously at five locations in the area: an office where fraudulent identification documents were allegedly produced; two residences; and two photo studios that allegedly produced photos for fake documents. Activists on the scene reported that ICE agents stormed buildings, hid in garages and interrogated people on the street. Word of the raid spread quickly; tensions in the heavily Mexican neighborhood have been high since ICE made dozens of arrests at a Little Village shopping mall in a similar April 2007 operation targeting a false document ring. (AP, Sept. 18; ICE news release, Sept. 19)

On Sept. 17, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents executed federal criminal search warrants at four sites in the northern California towns of Vacaville, Vallejo and Hercules—in the North Bay area northeast of San Francisco—as part of an investigation into the hiring and possible harboring of unauthorized workers at local Chinese restaurants. The raided sites included the King's Buffet restaurant in Vacaville, one Vacaville residence, the Empire Buffet in Vallejo and one Vallejo residence. Agents also conducted what ICE called "a consensual search"—without a warrant—at a home in Hercules. (ICE news release, Sept. 18)