Thread: Immigration agents arrest 34 at tomato farm

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ ... -apnewyork

Immigration agents arrest 34 at tomato farm


August 30, 2006, 3:59 PM EDT

NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (AP) _ Immigration agents arrested 34 suspected illegal workers at a tomato greenhouse Wednesday in the latest in a series of workplace raids.

The workers each face criminal charges of using a fraudulent green card and false use of a Social Security number.

They were arrested around 8 a.m. at the Fortistar Hydroponic Tomato Greenhouse in this city north of Buffalo.

A call to Fortistar's corporate office was not immediately returned.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have stepped up worksite enforcement efforts. Earlier this month, 41 alleged illegal aliens were arrested after being hired to clean at the Erie County Fair.

Here comes the $10.00 Tomato.....LOL

How come these stories never enlighten us to what will happen to the employer that hired the illegals? All we seem to be doing, for the most part, is treating the symptoms - isn't it about time we cured the illness? Confiscate the farm and throw the employers in jail!

Originally Posted by MW

Confiscate the farm and throw the employers in jail!

Right on! I think that's fair action and should be put into effect. The illegals are being charged with fraudulent SS cards, but I wonder who helped them? Maybe the farm owners/operators? We do need to shut down those who are contributing to the crimes by providing fraudulent documents.

Originally Posted by jimpasz

Here comes the $10.00 Tomato.....LOL

right on!!

They aren't far from the Canadian border up there. I wonder if they will "migrate" to Canada when the judge tells them to appear in court to be deported six months down the road and then turns them loose.

My tomatoes are free. I just go outside and pick what I need for the day.

Originally Posted by MW

How come these stories never enlighten us to what will happen to the employer that hired the illegals? All we seem to be doing, for the most part, is treating the symptoms - isn't it about time we cured the illness? Confiscate the farm and throw the employers in jail!

I was thinking the very same thing. Great, they arrest the illegals,, but what about the employers who hire them?

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20 ... 030970.asp

Crackdown targets illegal aliens

34 workers arrested in North Tonawanda

By DAN HERBECK
News Staff Reporter
8/31/2006



A government crackdown on illegal aliens targeted a hydroponic tomato greenhouse in North Tonawanda on Wednesday, as federal agents made 34 arrests.
Authorities said they expect that most of the men and women arrested at the Fortistar tomato facility on Shawnee Road will be deported to Mexico within a week.

They also were required to plead guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges, under a tougher government policy on illegal immigration. In the past, government attorneys in Buffalo deported thousands of illegal aliens but rarely prosecuted them criminally.

"Illegal immigration poses an increasing threat to our security, public safety and economy, and hard-hitting interior enforcement will reinforce the strong stance we already take at the border," U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn said after the arrests.

A defense attorney, though, said the federal government was acting unnecessarily harshly.

"They're throwing the book at people, but it seems a rather harsh punishment for people who are only here because they're trying to start a new life in America," responded David G. Jay, an attorney for one of the Mexican men arrested. "Many of us have ancestors who came to this country to start a better life, and in the old days, our country welcomed them with open arms."

The Bush administration has said it has to try new tactics to stop the flow of illegal aliens into the United States. More than 11 million undocumented aliens - many of them farm workers - reportedly live in the United States.

Prosecutor John E. Rogowski, who presented the cases in federal court, said most of the people arrested on Wednesday immediately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of entering the country without an inspection.

"They will be deported," said Peter J. Smith, a supervisor of immigration investigations for Homeland Security in Buffalo. "All the people who are being prosecuted criminally are people who were found to have false identification, including false Social Security numbers."

Two men, including Jay's Mexican client, Ruben Baltazar, 24, will face more serious felony prosecutions for illegally entering the country.

"The government has said he is charged with a felony because he was already deported once before - from El Paso [Texas] in June of 2001," Jay said of Baltazar.

Rogowski said the second man charged with a felony could not be found on Wednesday and is considered a fugitive.

The arrests were made at the 12.5-acre Fortistar hydroponic greenhouses, where company officials said 3.5 million pounds of tomatoes are grown annually. The company also runs a power co-generation plant in North Tonawanda.

A manager at the greenhouse referred a reporter's questions about illegal aliens to a company official in White Plains, but that official was not available.

In recent months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from the Department of Homeland Security have made three of the largest roundups of illegal aliens in area history.

Defendants were taken from North Tonawanda by bus to downtown Buffalo.Many appeared nervous or confused as they listened to an interpreter explaining the proceedings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott.


e-mail: dherbeck@buffnews.com

and in the old days, our country welcomed them with open arms."

In the OLD days, we had no indoor plumbing, would you like to go back to that?