Thread: 300 illegal immigrants held after S.C. I.C.E. raid (Now 331)

300 suspected illegal immigrants held after S.C. raid

10/07/2008
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Federal agents detained more than 300 suspected illegal immigrants Tuesday in a raid at a chicken processing plant that has been under investigation for months.

The raid took place during a shift change. Immigration officials kept the workers inside the House of Raeford's Columbia Farms plant and spent most of the morning trying to interview them and figure out exactly how many are in the U.S. illegally, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald said.

The number could be large. A recent review found that immigration paperwork for more than 775 of 825 workers contained false information, McDonald said.

Immigration agents scoured the plant for paperwork and other information for the investigation.

House of Raeford processes chickens and turkeys in eight plants in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana and Michigan. A sales manager at the Greenville plant referred questions to the company's Rose Hill, N.C., headquarters, where a woman answering the phone said there was no immediate comment.

Federal prosecutors and immigration agents have been investigating the plant's hiring practices for several months. Twelve people have been arrested, most on charges related to falsifying documents. Seven have pleaded guilty and three supervisors awaiting trial have fled, McDonald said.

The Charlotte Observer first reported in February that plant workers were in the country illegally and that company managers knew it.

Officials are arranging to care for the children of any workers detained in the raid, one of several nationwide this year.

In August, more than 600 suspected illegal immigrants were detained at a Mississippi transformer plant in the largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history. And in May, federal immigration officials swept into Agriprocessors, the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant, in Iowa. Nearly 400 workers were detained and dozens of fraudulent permanent resident alien cards were seized from the plant's human resources department, according to court records.
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Feds detain workers at Columbia Farms after morning raid
By Paul Alongi • STAFF WRITER • October 7, 2008

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Numerous federal agents have executed a search warrant today at House of Raeford’s Columbia Farms plant on Rutherford Road, said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald.

Plant workers said several other workers started running for the doors about 8:50 a.m. Agents blocked the doors, they said, and ordered about 300 workers into the cafeteria. Witnesses said agents ordered U.S. citizens to go to one side and non-citizens to go to other, witnesses said.

Agents had workers write down their names and other information and issued blue wristbands to those who were released.

The agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement were looking for information and evidence on unauthorized hiring practices, he said.

U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins said agents have detained workers inside although he didn't have numbers. He said more information will be released at press conference at 2 p.m.

No injuries have been reported.

McDonald said the search warrant is part of an ongoing investigation at the chicken plant that has led to previous arrests. Wilkins said 450 agents have been involved in the 10-month investigation.

On Sept. 24, a former plant worker pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Greenville to using falsified information to gain work at the Columbia Farms.

In August, seven other illegal aliens pleaded guilty to falsifying employment records at the plant in an investigation that began after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began investigating the plant on Nov. 30, 2007, according to records.

Agents began executing today’s warrant at 8:50 a.m., McDonald said. They are inside the plant and around the perimeter, McDonald said.

McDonald said he wasn’t aware of any arrests being made today.

October 7, 2008


Feds detain workers at Columbia Farms after morning raid

By Paul Alongi
STAFF WRITER

Numerous federal agents have executed a search warrant today at House of Raeford’s Columbia Farms plant on Rutherford Road, said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald.

Plant workers said several other workers started running for the doors about 8:50 a.m. Agents blocked the doors, they said, and ordered about 300 workers into the cafeteria. Witnesses said agents ordered U.S. citizens to go to one side and non-citizens to go to other, witnesses said.

Agents had workers write down their names and other information and issued blue wristbands to those who were released.

The agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement were looking for information and evidence on unauthorized hiring practices, he said.
U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins said agents have detained workers inside although he didn't have numbers. He said more information will be released at press conference at 2 p.m.

No injuries have been reported.

McDonald said the search warrant is part of an ongoing investigation at the chicken plant that has led to previous arrests. Wilkins said 450 agents have been involved in the 10-month investigation.

On Sept. 24, a former plant worker pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Greenville to using falsified information to gain work at the Columbia Farms.

In August, seven other illegal aliens pleaded guilty to falsifying employment records at the plant in an investigation that began after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began investigating the plant on Nov. 30, 2007, according to records.

Agents began executing today’s warrant at 8:50 a.m., McDonald said. They are inside the plant and around the perimeter, McDonald said.

McDonald said he wasn’t aware of any arrests being made today.

Paul Alongi can be 298-4746.

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http://www.foxcarolina.com/news/17642116/detail.html#-

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Federal agents raided a chicken processing plant in Greenville on Tuesday during what they called an illegal-immigration investigation.

The raid happened at the Columbia Farms plant on Rutherford Road around 9 a.m.

According to U.S. Attorney Walter Wilkins, the raid was part of a 10-month-long investigation into illegal immigrants who work at the plant.

>>>> Wilkins said before the raid 12 supervisors and managers at the plant have been arrested. They are all accused of falsifying documents to allow illegal immigrants to work at the plant. He said at least seven of them have pleaded guilty to the charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald said a recent review of immigration paperwork for 825 workers at the plant showed that 775 of them contained false information.

Wilkins said the purpose of Tuesday's raid was to ascertain the residency status of every person who works at the facility. He said anyone who is found to be in the United States illegally will be deported.

"Our purpose is not to shut down Columbia Farms, but to determine the status of their employees," Wilkins said.

Agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department, a division of the Homeland Security Department, were expected to be at the plant for a majority of the day while they interview all the workers, Wilkins said.[/b]

Heavy Fines and Felony Jail Time for ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS!!!!

Once again the politicians and their contributors consider United States citizens only as “units of laborâ€

Out of 825 employees ONLY 50 were legit???? Can't wait to hear the spin House of Raeford comes up with! This is a prime example of Corporate Greed, I hope every last one of those greedy {Mod Edit} goes down for this act of treason.

Harleybill posted acomment, we all need to especially since the illegal named olered through it in our face.

The number could be large. A recent review found that immigration paperwork for more than 775 of 825 workers contained false information, McDonald said.

And we wonder why Americans cannot find these jobs in America! The illegals need to be deported and the managers/supervisors need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent under the law!

This is evidence that these large immigration raids do not deter other companies from not only hiring illegal invaders, but overtly altering and manipulating documents to aid and abet these illegals in their quest for cheap labor!

Apparently, these companies believe that such a raid on their facility is unlikely, and thus, are willing to roll the dice by continuing to hire illegal invader labor!

These raids MUST continue, and prosecutions must be harsh for this type of behavior...

"House of Raeford will operate its integrated poultry
business in a professional and ethical manner."

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House of Raeford will operate its integrated poultry
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House of Raeford is dedicated to being the leader in
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Gallery: Immigration raid at Greenville poultry plant

Pictures of the raid posted at this link

http://www.thestate.com/slideshows/gall ... 91-t3.html

Didn't post on Pictures Worth A Thousand Words forum, wanted to keep one thread on the raid. So all our replies will be in one spot.