Japanese cops raid Filipino hostess bars

Another video clip from the same show that featured a Chinese guy being searched and arrested:

In this clip we are shown police and immigration officials raiding Filipino hostess bars. They are looking for illegal immigrants, so they raid four bars at once to avoid tip offs and catch everyone by surprise. Quite a few of the people they demand passport/ID from have valid visas, but some others do not (2 females and 2 males).*

Some noteworthy things about the video:

There is a dramatic scene at the beginning of the clip showing the inspector putting on a bullet proof vest. Was he expecting the hostesses to be carrying guns?
The first bar they raid contains no visa violators.
One 23-year-old hostess who is arrested for illegal immigration tells the police she has a 1-year-old child. The child was born in Japan and has no nationality because the mother did not fill out registration papers of any kind.
Scary music!

*Children are included in the total.

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20 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - March 23, 2009 at 8:54 am

Categories: Foreigners in Japan Tags:

Dchama

wow, video blurring technology has really come far…wtf?
Togu

What about human rights?? They cannot simply raid without papers from a judge. I don’t like how japanese police treat gaigokujin’s
- sliders_alpha
  
  in america maybe, but what about japan?
- ponta
  
  Quick googling tells us
  
  Foreign residents of the United States, whether here legally or not, answer to a different set of rules.
  
  Immigration agents are not required to obtain warrants to detain suspects. The agents also have broad authority to question people about their immigration status and to search them and their homes. There are no Miranda rights that agents must read when making arrests. Detained immigrants have the right to a lawyer, but only one they can pay for.
  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/weekinreview/14preston.html
  
  　第二節　在留の条件
  　（旅券又は許可書の携帯及び呈示）
  第二十三条　本邦に在留する外国人は、常に旅券又は仮上陸許可書、乗員上陸許可書、緊急上陸許可書、遭難による上陸許可書、一時庇護許可書若しくは仮滞在許可書を携帯していなければならない。ただし、外国人登録法（昭和二十七年法律第百二十五号）による外国人登録証明書を携帯する場合は、この限りでない。
  ２　前項の外国人は、入国審査官、入国警備官、警察官、海上保安官その他法務省令で定める国又は地方公共団体の職員が、その職務の執行に当り、同項の旅券又は許可書の呈示を求めたときは、これを呈示しなければならない。
  
  http://www.moj.go.jp/NYUKAN/NYUKANHO/ho05.html
  
  the relavant law in English
  
  Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act
  
  http://www.moj.go.jp/ENGLISH/information/icrr-01.html
  - The Overthinker
    
    That’s immigration agents, not Police.
    
    Anyway, the US is hardly a beacon of human rights. Unless perhaps you are a well-off straight white Christian male.
    - ponta
      
      前項の外国人は、入国審査官、入国警備官、警察官、海上保安官その他法務省令で定める国又は地方公共団体の職員が、その職務の執行に当り、同項の旅券又は許可書の呈示を求めたときは、これを呈示しなければならない。
      
      01：09　The police was with Tokyo immigration agents anyway.
    - The Overthinker
      
      You are missing my pointa, ponta. I was referring to your US example when I said “immigration agents.”
    - ponta
      
      Understood.
      Checking some cases of workplace raid in the U.S. it seems they are carried out by immigration agents, though the Border Patrol also has authority to check and arrest illegal immigrants, turning them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
      .
  - TrueBlue
    
    If you are going to use an immigration lawyer, my friends opinions are to never ever go to Acroseed (english.visajapan.jp). My friends had some bad experience there where the Acroseed “lawyers” were plainly bad, racist themselves, and a waste of money.
_kovert

Glad to see them cracking down on this. These people are taking horrible, demeaning, low paying jobs that should be going to Japanese girls.
- ponta
  
  In other words, you are saying.
  1) These job are horrible, demeaning, and low paying.
  2)Japanese girls rather than Filipino girls should take these jobs.
  As for 1), I don’t know what kind of job they are doing. I rarely drink. I don’t go to this kind of shops. Specifically in what respect this kind of job is horrible and demeaning?
  As for 2), why do you think Japanese girls should take the horrible, demeaning jobs instead of insisting that nobody should the horrible and demeaning jobs.
  - LB
    
    Ponta, I believe kovert’s post was meant to be sarcasm…
helical

I think I remember how Japanese police officers frequently wear stab-proof vests (防刃ベスト) rather than bullet-proof vests and a controversy on whether wearing them on top of uniforms rather than under would make for a more intimidating appearance … or some nonsense like that.
I’m not sure if modern ones have fixed the flaw, but I also remember hearing how bullet-proof vests are much weaker against stabbing attacks than they appear to be.
- Buster
  
  Bullet proof vests are … bullet proof… but usually ineffictive against knives, yes.
Level3

So can someone clear something up for me? Are the Japanese employers of illegals ALSO being arrested for breaking immigration law? If not, why not?

Workplace raids (especially of places that actually advertise the fact the workers are foreigners and have a history of dodgy visa practices) are certainly a good high-probability target, and thus an efficient use of police manpower. Much better than randomly stopping people on the street for looking foreign.
- ponta
  
  一方、事業主側に課される処罰には不法就労助長罪があります。事業活動に関し、外国人に不法就労活動をさせたり、あるいは、業として外国人に不法就労活動をさせる行為に関しあっせんしたなど、外国人の不法就労活動を助長した者は、入管法第73条の2第1項の罪により、3年以下の懲役又は300万円以下の罰金に処せられます。
  
  　また、集団密航者を本邦に入らせた者からその密航者を収受した上、不法就労活動をさせた者は、上記入管法第73条の2第1項の罪のほか同法第74条の4の罪により5年以下の懲役又は300万円以下の罰金（営利目的があれば1年以上10年以下の懲役及び1,000万円以下の罰金）に処せられます。
  
  　なお、退去強制を免れるための目的で不法入国者又は不法上陸者をかくまう等の行為をした場合、入管法第74条の8の罪により3年以下の懲役又は100万円以下の罰金（営利目的であれば5年以下の懲役及び300万円以下の罰金）に処せられます。また、上記の入管法第73条の2第1項（不法就労助長罪）を犯した場合、労働者派遣事業、有料職業紹介事業の許可の欠格事由となります。
  http://koyou.acroseed.com/bassoku/000147.html
  
  0206 The owner was was not Japanese, and it seems she was not arrested at the time.
  We don’t know if the owner was later prosecuted or not.
  For your reference,
  
  Immigration raids curry restaurant chain in Tokyo
  http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=8890
  
  NPO法人嶋田逮捕
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXmeoY4jCtk
  - ponta
    
    To answer your question, as far as this case is concerned, it seems that the foreign owner(mama) was not arrested at the time.
    But there are cases where the employers, foreigners and Japanese, were arrested.
    Let’s discuss on an open forum where you’ll get more information and more perspectives and the false and misleading comments and posts will be corrected instead of the true information blocked and you don’t have to kiss a blogger’s ass when you comment.
    (I praise and appreciate James and others for running this blog,though)
RMilner

Many countries have special laws for immigration or other areas of law enforcement. In the UK, customs agents can go anywhere without a warrant.

I disagree with these sorts of laws however Japan cannot be singled out as unusual.
- ponta
  
  I disagree with these sorts of laws however Japan cannot be singled out as unusual.
  
  I like the way you put it.
  People are encouraged to say disagreement. However too many times, I’ve seen comments and posts that simply assume without critical examinations that Japan is Others, Euro-American system is better. I admit that some Japanese are also subject to this criticism, though.
T13

They are not up to US standards yet. No SWAT team blowing doors off hinges, slamming everyone to the ground, zip ties on hands behind back, then taking everyone in for questioning, confiscating all cash. (never to be returned after they are let go). Maybe they will eventually get there.

Japanese cops raid Filipino hostess bars

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