Thread: ICE Busts Swift Processing Plants

Doesn't look like the crowd of illegal supporters at the Greeley plant caused any issues with stopping busses and vans from leaving the plant:


http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2006 ... S/61212016

Vehicles leave Swift plant

Staff Reports
December 12, 2006

10:33 a.m. Buses and vans are leaving the Swift & Co. beef packing plant moving through a corridor of Greeley Police Department cars which are blocking a crowd of several hundred who are chanting at the vehicles leave the packing plant.

The buses and vans were leaving southbound on 8th Avenue through downtown Greeley.

Earlier, Father Bernie Schmitz of Our Lady of Peace was at the scene, reciting the Rosary with several in the crowd.

Earlier, Father Bernie Schmitz of Our Lady of Peace was at the scene, reciting the Rosary with several in the crowd.

I am past my breaking point with the Catholic Church.

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2006 ... S/61212006



Trucks line up at Swift plant



WEB EXTRAS

Swift Raid Video Coverage

http://www.greeleytrib.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... s=Id=10995



Staff Reports
December 12, 2006

8 a.m. update: Cattle trucks are starting to lineup at the Swift & Co. beef plant after federal agents moved into the plant at about 7:30 a.m.

A cattle truck driver from Wyoming said he had no indication the plant would be shut down and predicted cattle trucks would be lined up into downtown Greeley if they are not allowed in to unload the cattle.




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Originally Posted by Newmexican

Sounds as though they kept them on waiting for the amnesty. Swift closed their plants on May 1, 2005, for illegal parade that we all enjoyed so much.

This is true! And this raid is way overdue and well-deserved! I hope it's Tyson's turn soon!

Originally Posted by cvangel

Originally Posted by Newmexican

Sounds as though they kept them on waiting for the amnesty. Swift closed their plants on May 1, 2005, for illegal parade that we all enjoyed so much.

This is true! And this raid is way overdue and well-deserved! I hope it's Tyson's turn soon!

Amen

Atleast super spineless Salazar stepped in to make a statement. I can't wait till that guys election day comes up.

http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm ... 91F64EC9C1

Federal agents raid Swift plant in Marshalltown
Federal agents are at the Swift meatpacking plant in Marshalltown today (Tuesday) examining the immigration status of employees. Gayle Monte...
Tuesday, December 12, 2006, 10:58 AM




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Federal agents raid Swift plant in Marshalltown

by John Schumacher, KFJB, Marshalltown

Federal agents are at the Swift meatpacking plant in Marshalltown today (Tuesday) examining the immigration status of employees.

Gayle Montenegro, a spokesperson for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, spoke with the media in Marshalltown: "We executed a civil search warrant...That search warrant allows us to question anybody regarding their immigration status. This is part of an investigation into a large identity theft ring that may have victimized hundreds of U.S. citizens."

Montenegro says the agents are executing warrants at five other Swift facilities across the country. "This is an investigation that began in February of 2006," she says.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency -- which she calls "ICE" -- is working with the U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission on this identity theft ring investigation. She says there will be a news conference in Washington, D.C. tomorrow (Wednesday) to provide more details of the investigation.

Janet Cruz of Marshalltown has friends and relatives working at the plant and she rushed to the plant gates this morning after she heard about the raid. "It is not fair because what are the little kids that go to school supposed to do?" Cruz told reporters.

One woman, who asked not to be identified, said she hasn’t been able to contact her husband who works at the plant. "I've got my husband's green card right here and they won't let me talk to him, they won't let me give it to 'em, they won't even let me do anything with it," she said. "I tried calling the load dock where he works and none of them will even help me. You'd think the supervisors would come and get it so they won't take one of their workers, but they won't do it."

Marshalltown Police Chief Lon Walker was notified early this morning that federal agents would be in Marshalltown, but local law enforcement is not involved in the raid. "We have some officers out there to just assist in traffic and crowd control, but other than that, we have not been involved," Walker says. The Marshall County Sheriff is not involved either, according to Walker.

Six Swift plants around the country were raided this morning. The other plants are in Worthington, Minnesota; Grand Island, Nebraska; Cactus, Texas; Hyrum, Utah; and Greeley, Colorado. Swift executives say operations at the six plants were temporarily suspended until the end of today, but "production levels will depend on the number of employees, if any, detained."

In a prepared statement, the company's executives said they believe that today's raid violates an agreement the company has had with the feds on how to handle job-related issues, and raises "serious questions as to the government's possible violation of individual workers' civil rights." The company's president said Swift has "never condoned" hiring undocumented workers and has "played by the rules."


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NBC News and news services
Updated: 2 minutes ago
GREELEY, Colo. - Federal agents on Tuesday raided six meatpacking plants across the country, targeting illegal immigrants who obtained jobs by stealing the identities of U.S. citizens.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had surrounded the Swift plant in Greeley as well as five other Swift plants. It was not immediately known how many people were rounded up in the raids.

Authorities say the investigation began in February and that they have identified hundreds of potential victims.



Similar raids were staged at Swift plants in Marshalltown, Iowa; Worthington, Minn.; Grand Island, Neb.; Cactus, Texas; and Hyrum, Utah.

ICE chief Julie Myers told reporters in Washington that agents had uncovered a scheme in which illegal immigrants and others had stolen or bought the identities and Social Security numbers of possibly hundreds of lawful U.S. residents to get jobs with Greeley-based meat processor, Swift & Co.

In Greeley, cars lined the street leading to the plant as family members stood outside. One person held a sign that said, “Presents! No tears at Christmas!”

One sheriff’s deputy described the scene outside the meatpacking plant in Hyrum as a circus.

“They’ve got three buses, a bunch of transport vans, a lot of cars and 150 or so agents,” chief Cache County deputy David Bennett said Tuesday.

Bennett said ICE officials didn’t notify the sheriff’s department about the raid.

“They didn’t ask for our help,” Bennett said. “We were lucky to find out.”

Company complains
In a press release, Swift said the raids violate agreements it worked out with the federal government and could violate its workers' civil rights.

"Swift has never condoned the employment of unauthorized workers, nor have we ever knowingly hired such individuals. Since the inception of the (federal government's) Basic Pilot program in 1997, every single one of Swift's new domestic hires, including those being interviewed today by ICE officials, has duly completed I-9 forms and has received work authorization through the government's Basic Pilot program. Swift has played by the rules and relied in good faith on a program explicitly held out by the President of the United States as an effective tool to help employers comply with applicable immigration laws," the company said.


Swift, a global company with annual sales of more than $8 billion, added that five of the six facilities raided are unionized — all except the one in Utah — and that no charges have been filed against the company "or any current employees."

The six plants represent all of Swift's domestic beef processing capacity and 77 percent of its pork processing, the company said.

Several rings suspected
Myers said immigration officials were “looking very aggressively” at who may have sold the identities to the workers in several cases. She said ICE had uncovered several different rings that may have provided illegal documents.

Some immigrants targeted had genuine U.S. birth certificates and others had other kinds of false identification, Myers said.

“The significance is that we’re serious about work site enforcement and that those who steal identities of U.S. citizens will not escape enforcement,” Myers said

ICE officials at the plants in Greeley and Worthington, Minn., said the total number of arrests might not be released until Wednesday, when a news conference was scheduled in Washington.

“We have been investigating a large identity theft scheme that has victimized many U.S. citizens and lawful residents,” said ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez, at the plant in Greeley.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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Identity Theft At the Heart Of Raids Aimed At Illegal Immigrants
December 12, 2006

Federal agents raided the Swift & Co. plant in Grand Island as part of an operation aimed at illegal immigrants using stolen identities at the company’s plants in six states.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents also hit plants in Greeley, Colorado; Marshalltown, Iowa; Worthington, Minnesota; and Hyrum, Utah, according to ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice.

ICE officials said the nationwide raids involved thousands of illegal immigrants. They will be interviewed in an effort to check on their status and identities.

Production was halted at all the Swift plants. The company denied any wrongdoing. In a prepared statement the company said:

“Operations at the affected Swift facilities have been temporarily suspended pending the anticipated end-of-day completion of the interview process. Shortly thereafter, Swift expects to resume operations, but production levels will depend on the number of employees, if any, detained for further interviewing or otherwise unable to return to work.”

The six facilities represent all of Swift's domestic beef processing capacity and 77% of its pork processing capacity. The company also operates a pork processing facility in Louisville, Kentucky,” the statement said.

The investigation that led to the raids began in February, according to an official statement.

"Evidence uncovered during the ICE investigation indicates that large numbers of undocumented workers may have illegally assumed the identities of U.S. citizens and improperly used their Social Security numbers to gain employment at Swift facilities," the government statement said. "ICE agents and the Federal Trade Commission have identified hundreds of potential victims."

At least 400 likely victims, including citizens and legal immigrants, were identified during the investigation.

ICE officials said more information would be released Wednesday. A telephone number was set up for relatives of those who may have been taken into custody: 1-866-341-3858. Spanish-speaking government employees were available.

Swift & Co. immediately issued a statement from its headquarters in Greeley, Colorado.

It said, in part:

“Swift believes that today's actions by the government violate the agreements associated with the Company's participation over the past ten years in the federal government's Basic Pilot worker authorization program and raise serious questions as to the government's possible violation of individual workers' civil rights.”

Company President and CEO Sam Rovit defended current hiring practices.

"Swift has never condoned the employment of unauthorized workers, nor have we ever knowingly hired such individuals,” he said. “Since the inception of the Basic Pilot program in 1997, every single one of Swift's new domestic hires, including those being interviewed today by ICE officials, has duly completed I-9 forms and has received work authorization through the government's Basic Pilot program. Swift has played by the rules and relied in good faith on a program explicitly held out by the president of the United States as an effective tool to help employers comply with applicable immigration laws."

Rovit said the company was “committed to maintaining production at all Swift facilities while, to the extent necessary, actively managing customer service levels. While the specific financial impact of today's government actions is not yet known, we are currently comfortable with the financial flexibility afforded to us by our existing credit agreement."

To access the company’s full news release, click here.

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Originally Posted by TexasCowgirl

Originally Posted by duece212

I just saw this as well. I've been waiting so long for something to be done here locally, today is a good day in Greeley Colorado

Our pro-illegal newspaper is having a heyday with this:

http://greeleytrib.com/

Everyone should check out the website here that duece posted. Looks like illegal supporters are blocking busses and trying to prevent our laws from being enforced. Terrorism, plain and simple.

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Crowd moves to block exit



Staff Reports
December 12, 2006

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The crowd gathering at the Swift & Co. beef packing plant in north Greeley is apparently going to try and block buses and vans leaving the plant with employees picked up by Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials this morning.

The crowd is moving to the north exit of the plant on the east side of 8th Avenue in an attempt to prevent the buses and vans from moving.

http://greeleytrib.com/article/20061212/NEWS/61212013

I can tell you from experience you don't block the govt. from doing this. You may succeed the first day, but they usually come in more prepared the second day.

I previously worked at a steel company when the union decided to strike. They sucessfully prevented the railroad was making a switch at the plant. This prevented the shipment of several orders. At the time, the RR was owned by the govt. When the RR came back in two days, they made the switch. The train was covered with well armed federal guards and police dogs.

So, when the govt. wants to show FORCE, it doesn't hold any punches.