BOSTON -- Sen. Edward Kennedy has called the raid by federal immigration authorities on a New Bedford factory a "human tragedy" that is the result of an "utterly unconscionable" failure of government.

In an Op-Ed column published in Tuesday's New Bedford Standard Times, Kennedy said the aftermath of the raid reminded him of "the tragedy and human suffering that we all witnessed after the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina."

Last week's raid swept up 361 workers at Michael Bianco Inc., a leather goods factory. The workers are charged with violating federal immigration law. The raid, which has been defended by President George Bush, separated many children from parents who were sent to detention facilities in Texas.

Kennedy wrote, "These men and women had not harmed anyone. They were victims of exploitation, forced to work under barbaric conditions by an employer who knew that they could not afford to complain. Their children, many of whom are United States citizens, had done nothing wrong at all. None of them had any reason to expect that the Department of Homeland Security would decide to make an example out of them."

President Bush defended the round-up against criticism during a stop in Guatamela, which is home to many of the workers. "The United States will enforce our law," Bush said. "It's against the law to hire somebody who's in our country illegally."

After a request from the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, the Department of Homeland Security released the parents of some children with no one else to care for them.

A DHS spokesman said at least 20 percent of the 361 immigrants taken into custody had already received deportation orders.