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well some more news, howards did not give the ai's their checks. and the woman that was there representing them said that howards is going to pay them. that they will come back and picket and it will be back on the national news. i have the article, and i tried to find it on the website but didnt have time. this is the local papers website- laurelleadercall.com
im sure the article is there. LETS HOPE GUSTAV DOESNT HIT MEXICO! BECAUSE THEN THEY ARE ALL GOING TO JUMP THE FENCE. wont be too much going on till after wednesday due to gustav coming in. im headed north with my kids sunday night if it dont turn away from us.
Word that Howard Industries didn’t pay suspected illegal immigrants sparked a protest Thursday when family members of those former workers found out.
Reports the company withheld pay to the 595 people suspected of being in the United States and working at the Laurel plant illegally up until a U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid Monday were unverified. But, Vicky Cintra with the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance said she was onsite to help the families receive money owed to the former employees, and she is prepared to involve the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service if the company still refuses to pay. Cintra said Howard Industries security personnel immediately called law enforcement when she intervened on behalf of the former employees.
“They were trying to remove me because I said I was representing them,” Cintra said. “They said they had nothing to say to me. I am their representation.”
Cintra said she has been involved with similar, but not as large cases, before. The raid on Howard Industries Monday was the largest such operation in United States history. Cintra said she has contacts with the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service and has no problem getting them involved. She said she helped recover $1.5 million in another instance.
“People are going to get paid anyway,” she said. “We’re going to come back and do a picket. Get that in the national news again.”
She also said that she’s not afraid of law enforcement because, she said, she knows laws and won’t do anything illegal.
“I’m not going to do anything stupid,” Cintra said. “I can’t do people good if I am in jail, but I am going to exercise my first amendment right.”
Howard Industries has not responded to several requests from the Laurel Leader-Call except for the original statement Monday (published Tuesday and available in full at www.leadercall.com). The Leader-Call did receive an e-mail from an employee Wednesday, saying the company would probably have a statement Thursday. However, the Leader-Call did receive what was reported to be a statement to customers Wednesday. Again, the report is unverified with Howard Industries officials, but the document was on Howard Industries, Inc. Distribution Transformer Division letterhead.
The document reads, “ Statement Regarding the Events of August 25, 2008:
“Howard Industries has always conducted its hiring practices in strict compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations. It is the policy of Howard Industries to hire only U.S. citizens or those who have legal authorization to work in the U.S. We have not knowingly hired anyone who was not legally authorized to work in the U.S. Our Personnel Department uses every legal means possible to verify legal status, including the E-Verify system and fingerprinting. Prior to the availability of E-Verify, the company required Social Security matching to verify legal status, both systems being supplied by agencies of the federal government. Howard Industries has done nothing wrong and has not been charged.
“We know you have heard that on Monday, August 25, 2008, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted an enforcement operation at our Laurel Distribution Transformer Facility and our Ellisville Headquarters Facility. ICE completed their operation late Monday evening. ICE detained approximately 595 employees – some have already been released. Some of those detained possessed documentation but did not have it on their person at the time.During the course of their operation ICE agents forced us to discontinue our manufacturing processes for that day although our shipping operations were allowed to continue.Our employees were not allowed to use our e-mail system or company telephones.
“Manufacturing operations were restarted at our Laurel Facility on regular shifts Tuesday morning with the remainder of our 3000-plus work force. We began an immediate testing and hiring program to replace transformer production employees who may not be returning to work. We anticipate being fully staffed within one week.
“Howard Industries pays all of its production employees according to the same pay scale, and all production employees receive the same benefits. Payroll taxes are withheld and paid for all manufacturing employees in accordance with applicable tax rates.
“Howard Industries will be in full production by the end of this week. We anticipate that all finished goods will be shipped as previously scheduled. We will provide regular status updates to our customers. Customers are encouraged to direct any questions or concerns to their assigned Howard Industries Sales Representative, who will give the necessary assistance.”
Joined: May 18, 2007 Posts: 10306 Location: Alipacers Come In All Colors
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 3:54 pm Post subject:
stormydane wrote:
well some more news, howards did not give the ai's their checks. and the woman that was there representing them said that howards is going to pay them. that they will come back and picket and it will be back on the national news. i have the article, and i tried to find it on the website but didnt have time. this is the local papers website- laurelleadercall.com
im sure the article is there. LETS HOPE GUSTAV DOESNT HIT MEXICO! BECAUSE THEN THEY ARE ALL GOING TO JUMP THE FENCE. wont be too much going on till after wednesday due to gustav coming in. im headed north with my kids sunday night if it dont turn away from us.
Good idea. Play it safe. Katrina victims wouldn't listen and they were sorry, of course the blamed everyone but themselves, but your smart to get a jump on it and the traffic.
Stay safe StormyDane!!!!!! _________________ It's immoral to vote for any candidate who is not going to uphold the fundamental tenets of our Constitution.
Joined: Mar 30, 2006 Posts: 9823 Location: Santa Clarita Ca
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:56 pm Post subject:
August 29, 2008
Lamar schools: No parents detained in Laurel raid
By BRITTANY BROWN
More than 180 students were absent from Laurel schools Tuesday, following a Monday-morning raid at a Howard Industries plant in Laurel that detained 595 suspected illegal workers.
Superintendent Glenn McGee released a prepared statement late Tuesday saying the day's attendance was 2,822 students. The district's total enrollment this year is 3,005 students.
"There has been a steady drop in attendance over the past few school days, but the Laurel School District cannot, at this time, ascertain that the drop was due to the Department of Homeland Security Immigration Customs Enforcement raids at Howard Industries," he said in the prepared statement.
Officials at Lamar County, Petal, Hattiesburg, Forrest County and Forrest County Agricultural High schools said they do not have students whose parents or guardians were detained in the raid.
Ben Burnett, superintendent of Lamar County schools, said even if students whose parents or guardians have been detained are found attending school in the district, the school has no authority in the situation.
"I don't see where the school would have a role except continuing to educate the child," he said.
Lamar County has seen an increase in Hispanic students over the past five years, with the majority living in the Oak Grove area.
About 200 students in the county speak English as their second language, said Peggy Williams, director of instruction for Lamar County schools.
Williams, who works with the English as a Second Language program, said a teacher called her Sunday night with concerns from Hispanic parents that a raid was coming to the schools Monday.
"Somehow word had gotten out in the community that Immigration was in the area," Williams said. "But I never expected officials to come to the school. They won't target children."
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said the employees they detained Monday morning are in the country illegally.
Students, however, do not have to be U.S. citizens to attend public schools. All students are required to show two proofs of residence and a birth certificate before registering.
In Forrest County School District, no students were found.
"We found no students at our schools whose parents or guardians work at Howard Industries," said Debbie Burt, superintendent for Forrest County schools.
"The federal law prohibits schools from asking for any information regarding a student's immigration status," Burt said.
"We are not immigration agents. We are here to enroll students in our schools and educate them."
But that doesn't mean schools haven't taken proactive measures.
Burt said after Monday's raid she received a phone call at 5 p.m. from a representative with the Department of Homeland Security.
"They wanted us to be aware of what was going on," she said.
Burt said she and officials checked student information sheets to see where parents and guardians were employed.
"We worked into the night until we were satisfied that there were no students in our district involved with this," she said.
In Laurel, McGee's statement also said school officials are following the absentee policy and contacting parents to determine the cause of absence.
If contact cannot be made and students continue to miss school, he said officials will visit students' homes.
"District employees have worked diligently today to make contact with families," he said.
"Those employees have made contact with many families to determine their needs and will notify the local social service agency if necessary."
Julia Bryan, public information officer with the Mississippi Department of Human Services, said the state could become involved with children whose parents or guardians were detained.
"If we took these children into custody would depend on whether they're illegal or legal citizens," she said.
Bryan said DHS officials cannot confirm any intake of these children.
"In this particular case, we can't speak to any specific instance of children coming into our custody," she said.
"It is, however, the function of DHS to investigate and work with law enforcement to ensure the safety of children."
Officials in the Jones County School District did not return phone calls Tuesday seeking comment.
Joined: Aug 04, 2007 Posts: 1674 Location: north carolina
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:43 pm Post subject:
welcome to ALIPAC "ICEFAN" By the waay, I have read on their web site that they do not take e-mails but that you have to call them to make reports on immigration infractions.
And again..........GO I.C.E. _________________ "When you have knowledge,you have a responsibility to do better"_ Paula Johnson
"I did then what I knew to do. When I knew better,I did better"_ Maya Angelou
i work for jones county school district. i drive a bus. i noticed that a few of them had returned. but one of my kids told me yesterday that some of the kids in his 6 th grade class and his teacher were crying because one of the hispanics was moving. she said her and her family had to move. she didnt say why she just said her dad worked at peco. peco is a chicken plant in a nieghboring town.
Joined: Apr 10, 2006 Posts: 31506 Location: Texas - The Lone Star State
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 6:34 am Post subject:
All this pay check drama is bull.
Howard does not have to release a payroll check to a family member. It would be irresponsible for them to do that. The last check, should be mailed to the last know address of the employee. It's against the law to withold wages, even if the person is illegal.
Dixie _________________ Englishmen, who have no right in this kingdom of France, the King of Heaven sends you word and warning...depart into your own country... Joan of Arc.
Joined: Mar 30, 2006 Posts: 9823 Location: Santa Clarita Ca
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:00 pm Post subject:
How could HI not know what was going on?
September 05, 2008 10:21 am
— To the editor:
Although I once worked at Howard Industries, I am not a typical disgruntled former employee. I simply reached a point at which I realized there was not much of a future for me there, even though I enjoyed a lot of my five years there. The way I saw some employees treated does make me quite proud that I was able to leave when I did, before things apparently really got bad. Conversations with former coworkers still at Howard Industries have indicated that the regular arrivals of ‘loads’ of immigrant workers have increased the percentage of “non-native” workers to well over 50% of the workforce. I have, for years, been told that it was ‘common knowledge’ in the plant that a substantial portion of the workforce were, at best, of questionable citizenship.
It strikes me as somewhat strange that Mr. Howard would go to the lengths he apparently has for sometime now to “recruit” employees from so far outside the Jones County Area, regardless of their status. Many times, I have read about or heard of his account of how people told him when he first started planning that he would not be able to find enough qualified workers in the Laurel Area to succeed. He has proclaimed a certain “pride” in having been able to prove those people wrong. I wonder when that “pride” apparently faded in favor of exploiting a seemingly endless supply of laborers not even legally qualified to be here. No matter who knew what, Howard Industries has helped facilitate the largest illegal immigrant “raid” operation in U.S. history. At least Mississippi is first on one list…
Roughly 600 “illegals” were at the Howard Industries plant at the time the “raid.” How many other illegal immigrants on the Howard payroll (working later ‘shifts’) were not present to be “rounded up” in the operation? Even if 600 is the total number of “illegals,” that is twenty-five percent of the total workforce. How could anyone in a management position not at least be curious, if not downright suspicious of something being “not quite right?”
I feel I am sufficiently familiar with Mr. Howard to safely state that he is far from ignorant, and is “business-minded” enough to be aware of at least most of what is going on within the business he has led for 40 years. I can’t quite believe that he just wasn’t aware…
After all the money that our elected officials have invested into Howard Industries to help provide jobs for area residents, I believe we all are due an explanation. It is likely that, at times, there were shortages of local people to hire. However, the near-immediate onslaught of applicants following the departure of the illegal workers indicates to me that there has been a substantial supply of local workers for quite sometime.
Many of us are encouraged that some of the problems that Jones County has faced due to the influx of what turns out to be (in many cases) illegal immigrants should decline significantly. I would, however, encourage everyone to remember that not everyone of Hispanic origin in our area is here illegally. Many of them, through no fault of their own, are currently suffering circumstances somewhat comparable to what we all endured following Hurricane Katrina; a monumental upset of their normal lives.
It occurs to me that the illegal workers were here only as a result of someone’s ability to organize an “immigrant worker supply” operation. Someone with no regard for the effect some of those individuals might have on our community. I would like to see the investigation continue until we all know exactly who the organizer(s) of that operation is and justice is served.
Joined: Mar 30, 2006 Posts: 9823 Location: Santa Clarita Ca
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:35 pm Post subject:
Friday, Sep 5, 2008
Posted on Fri, Sep. 05, 2008
AG to decide if company broke Mississippi law
By SHELIA BYRD
Attorney General Jim Hood's office is determining whether a new state law was violated by Howard Industries in Laurel, the site of the largest workplace immigration raid in U.S. history.
"We'll look at what they've done and determine if it's a violation of state law, as well as determine if we need to enforce it," Hood told The Associated Press.
The law passed by the 2008 Legislature and signed by Gov. Haley Barbour requires public and private employers in the state to use the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify system to check new workers' immigration status.
The law took effect July 1 for state agencies and for private businesses with state contracts. It takes effect Jan. 1 for all other businesses.
Under the new law, any company found guilty of employing illegal immigrants could lose public contracts for up to three years and lose the right to do business in Mississippi for one year.
The law also says it's a felony for an illegal immigrant to accept a job in Mississippi. Conviction carries up to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The agencies in charge of enforcement of the law are the Department of Employment Security, Mississippi State Tax Commission, Department of Human Services, secretary of state and attorney general.
"Our folks have tried to get a meeting of all those agencies that have authority," Hood said this week.
On Aug. 25, nearly 600 suspected illegal immigrants were taken into custody during the U.S. Immigration and Enforcement raid. Eight of them faced criminal charges for allegedly using false Social Security and residency identification. Most of the others were sent to a federal facility in Jena, La.
For the new state law to have any effect, Mississippi officials must determine if the company has a current state contract, and if so, whether any of its illegal workers were hired since July 1. Officials also must determine if the company used the E-Verify system.
Michael Howard, president of the Laurel company, wasn't available for comment, his secretary said Thursday.
After the raid, Howard Industries said in a statement the company "runs every check allowed to ascertain the immigration status of all applicants for its jobs. It is company policy that it hires only U.S. citizens and legal immigrants."
"We do not have a contract with them," Charity Elkins, administrative assistant at the state Department of Finance and Administration's purchasing and travel office said Thursday.
DFA oversees the state budget after legislators approve it, and also oversees most state buildings.
Elkins said there's no centralized purchasing for Mississippi; each agency handles its own contracts.
David Litchliter, executive director of the Department of Information Technology Services, said his agency has "convenience" contracts for commodities, such as computers, with Howard Industries. That means a school district, for instance, could choose to negotiate with the company because it's been cleared by the state, he said.
"If Howard used the E-Verify system to check those employees, then they're not liable if they checked out," said state Sen. Lee Yancy, R-Brandon, one of the authors of the new law.
http://www.sunherald.com/306/story/795210.html
— What began as a slow Jones County Monday morning on Aug. 25 quickly turned into an national event. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement shut down Howard Industries’ Pendorff transformer plant and the company’s headquarters in Ellisville for a day, interrogating employees and scrutinizing files. When the dust settled, 595 employees were accused of being in the country illegally. It turned out to be the largest illegal immigrant round-up in United States history.
Howard Industries has publicly responded to local and national media once since the raid started. A written statement from the company claims owners and management had no wrongdoing in the hiring of the illegal immigrants. The statement also claimed the company uses every legal background check on prospective employees.
Attorney General Jim Hood announced Friday that his office is investigating to see if Howard Industries violated any state laws. And, if the outcome through the legal system finds criminal offenses, the question of city, county, and state incentives arises. Much of Howard Industries’ recent growth has come through local tax exemptions and state-backed financial incentives. As local officials were finalizing plans for the Howard Technology Park in Ellisville in 2002, Howard Industries was also awaiting the outcome of a special session of the Mississippi Legislature. Lawmakers were scheduled to debate a $31.5 million incentive package. As reported by the Laurel Leader-Call July 28, 2002, “Last week was a busy and anxious one for local leaders as the Howard family met with (then) Gov. Ronnie Musgrove to complete the deal for the incentive package. The Howards will be investing $80 million in an expansion project for Howard Computers and a new power transformer plant.”
The Associated Press picked up the story July 30, 2002, interviewing lawmakers from across Mississippi. The report stated lawmakers were told Howard Industries planned to create 2,000 new jobs by 2012. The $31.5 million, according to the Associated Press, was to help recruit and train workers, build new buildings, and improve roads and water lines. Lawmakers passed the package, offering taxpayer money to help with the expansion. However, some lawmakers were weary.
“It’s like a corn crop,” then-Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi said. “There’s no need of planting a corn crop unless you know you’re going to get more out of it than you put in it.”Sen. Mike Chaney, R-Vicksburg, said in 2002 that private companies should look to private sources for money.
“They need to get their cookies from private sources, not the state,” he said.
The Associated Press also reported in 2002 that Billy Howard said he could easily develop the jobs in other states if Mississippi’s lawmakers weren’t cooperative.
“Billy Howard, chief executive of Howard Industries, told lawmakers Monday that his company could develop new jobs in other states if Mississippi lawmakers don’t offer incentives,” the AP article in the July 30, 2002, edition of the Leader-Call reads. “He said other states are interested, but he didn’t name them.”
The article also set forth requirements expected of Howard Industries, including the requirement that a large number of jobs were to be created at new facilities at the Howard Tech Park.
“. . . Howard Industries will be required to create 700 new jobs by 2007 and 2,000 new jobs by 2012,” the article reads. “He (then-Miss. Development Authority Executive Director Bob Rohrlack) said if Howard falls short of those goals, the state will take away $3,000 for each job that was not created.”
The AP reported Howard Industries employed more than 3,500 at the time. According to other documentation, Howard Industries reported about 3,300 employees from 2000 until April 2005, when the number was closer to 3,000. The number of employees increased to 3,600 in December of 2006 and to 4,000 in 2008. The numbers are not broken down by facility, but are a total from each of the plants in Sandersville, Laurel, Ellisville, and Mendenhall.
Howard Industries has also received support from the City of Laurel and Jones County which isn’t uncommon for large employers. According to Leader-Call reports from January 22, 2003, the Laurel City Council gave its approval for an order that would exempt then-recent expansions and equipment purchases at Howard Industries from ad valorem taxation. The exemptions would cover taxes that would have been levied on new equipment purchases and materials totaling $27,833,281. A similar deal was also reached for about $535,000 for Morgan Brothers Millwork, Inc. at the same meeting. The exemptions would last 10 years.
On March 22, 2005, according to published reports in the Leader-Call, the Jones County Board of Supervisors approved a $20 million bond issue for Howard Industries unanimously. The move allowed the state of Mississippi to loan the funds to Jones County, which in turn loaned the money to Howard Industries. The deal was a continuation of a process started in 2003.
“The Howard Tech Park is projected to bring 300 new jobs to Jones County,” the Leader-Call article reads. “Andy Dial, Beat 4 supervisor, questioned (Attorney Larry) Harris about the consequences if the actual number of jobs falls short of the projected number to be provided by Howard. ‘Howard would have to pay the state $15,000 for every job they are short,’ said Harris.”
Laurel city leaders are also in the midst of a deal to help Howard Industries expand to the old Delphi plant in the industrial park.
The Laurel City Council in July approved another change order to the Howard Industries’ Delphi project. With a vote of 6-1 — with Councilman Johnny Magee voting against it — the council approved changes to the ongoing Howard Industries’ Delphi Building Improvement Project.
The council’s vote approved a fourth change order for additional work at the Delphi building project on the condition that a letter from Howard Industries agree to pay the additional $829,946 is received.
Last year, the city approved an approximately $6.7 million bid from Larry J. Sumrall Contractors, Inc. for the improvement project.
In December, the city council approved Change Order No. 1 for $1.24 million. Then in February, Change Order #2 for $1,660,321. In April, the council agreed to approve change order No. 3 for an additional $333,354.
According to Customs officials, on August 25, 595 illegal immigrants were arrested at Howard Industries in Laurel. Eight of them have been charged with aggravated identity theft. 106 were identified as being eligible for an alternative to detention based on humanitarian reasons.
A large number of the immigrants were taken to a customs enforcement (ICE) facility in Jena, Louisiana. The Mississippi Immigrants' Rights Alliance (MIRA) Director Bill Chandler says collect calls to his office from detainees suggest they're not being treated well.
"There were (calls) from different individuals that there were abuses, particularly holding them in recreational areas without beds, without toiletries," he says. "There's other people with medical issues, people without their medication."
Attorneys from the Alliance have headed down to Jena to corroborate some of the claims.
MIRA holds periodic meetings to inform immigrants that they have rights. They're told only to give their name and fingerprints if they're arrested by ICE.
Chandler says MIRA is raising money for the families of the detained immigrants. So far, about $30,000 has been raised to help them with living expenses.
"We're in the process, along with churches and unions, in raising money to help the families that are left behind that were dependent on those workers for income, with support for their daily lives," he says.
ICE spokesperson Temple Black says the arrested immigrants are still being processed in Jena. Black says ICE follows all laws that are mandated in holding the immigrants.
"We work very closely with state agencies, and the situation is monitored very closely," he says.
WLBT News has placed a call to the U.S. Attorney's Office to get more information on the immigrants being held in Jena.
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MIRA Claims Mistreatment of Immigrant Detainees
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Joined: Mar 30, 2006 Posts: 9823 Location: Santa Clarita Ca
Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:47 pm Post subject:
Dos Mundos
Hundreds arrested in Mississippi raid
Written by Edie R. Lambert
Thursday, 11 September 2008
At 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 26, federal agents raided a manufacturing plant in southeastern Mississippi, rounding up 595 plant workers suspected of being in the country illegally.
In a statement issued that day, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that those arrested at Howard Industries had been interviewed, fingerprinted and photographed by ICE agents and processed for removal from the United States. About 475 were transported to a federal detention center in Jena, La., to await a hearing before an immigration judge, probably in late September.
A public health service medically screened and interviewed detainees. As a result, 106 of them were released through “alternative detention based on humanitarian reasons.” They were fitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet, which allowed them to go home and make arrangements for their children and told to appear in September in federal court, where an immigration judge will rule whether they will be deported.
.
The screenings revealed nine unaccompanied 17-year-olds – one girl and eight boys – who were turned over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Eight detainees are facing criminal charges. They recently appeared in U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg and were charged with aggravated identity theft for allegedly using false Social Security and residency identification.
A U.S. magistrate ordered the immigrants held without bond. They’re in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Service. If convicted, each could face up to two years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.
The workers rounded up in the raid represent numerous countries, including Brazil, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and Peru. The ICE contacted local consular officials, community groups and others about the raid, according to the press release.
Individuals seeking custody status and detention location of relatives detained in the raid may call 1-(866)-341-3858 toll free (English only).
The detainees face possible criminal prosecution as well as deportation. Back in March, Gov. Haley Barbour signed a law aimed at discouraging illegal immigration in Mississippi. The law, which took effect July 1, makes it a felony for an undocumented immigrant to accept a job in Mississippi.
Authorities haven’t announced whether they’ll bring state charges against the arrested workers, according to several newspapers serving Laurel, Miss.
The raid is part of an ongoing investigation stemming from a tip provided by a union worker, ICE spokesperson Barbara Gonzalez said.
Multiple media outlets have reported “simmering tensions” between union workers and immigrants in the large factories in rural Mississippi where Howard Industries is located. On Aug. 26, ABC News aired comments from one of the detained workers, 21-year-old Fabiola Pena, who said her “fellow workers applauded when the immigrants were taken into custody.”
The 40-year-old plant is the largest employer in the county with 4,000 workers. About 2,600 are union members, according to Associated Press reports.
Immigrant rights groups, Catholic Charities and churches are assisting the families of workers swept up in the raid. An estimated 30-40 percent of Iglesia Cristiana Peneil’s parishioners were arrested, the pastor Roberto Velez reportedly told the Laurel Leader-Call newspaper. Velez, who has fielded phone calls from frantic relatives, said there’s a lot of speculation and rumors.
Weather woes are complicating aid efforts. Over the weekend, the Red Cross set up temporary shelters in Laurel for as many as 1,100 Gulf Coast evacuees from Hurricane Gustav.
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Joined: Mar 30, 2006 Posts: 9823 Location: Santa Clarita Ca
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 1:54 pm Post subject:
Published September 19, 2008 09:43 am - Howard Industries is going to pay former employees for time worked before the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid Aug. 25.
Howard Industries is going to pay former employees for time worked before the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid Aug. 25.
The company released a written statement Thursday, saying federal laws are being followed that provide for payroll issues.
“For several weeks, Howard Industries has actively attempted to forward the paychecks of its former employees to their rightful owners,” the statement reads. “Any former employee who appeared in person with appropriate identification has been given his or her paycheck. However, many of these individuals are being detained by immigration authorities and are unable to present in person.
“Obviously, the company must make certain that the paychecks are given to their rightful owners. We are presently working with the United States Department of Labor in an effort to turn the checks over to the government, which will in turn deliver them to their owners. We are following government procedures for the turnover of the checks, and are optimistic that this situation will be resolved in the near future.”
Over the past few weeks, several groups including the employees’ union, an immigrations rights activist group, and others have demanded paychecks for employees.
Reports the company withheld pay to the 595 people suspected of being in the United States and working at the Laurel plant illegally up until a U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid were unverified. But, Vicky Cintra with the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance said she available to help the families receive money owed to the former employees, and she is prepared to involve the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service if the company still refuses to pay.
“They were trying to remove me because I said I was representing them,” Cintra said. “They said they had nothing to say to me. I am their representation.”
Cintra said she has been involved with similar, but not as large cases, before. The raid on Howard Industries was the largest such operation in United States history. Cintra said she has contacts with the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service and has no problem getting them involved. She said she helped recover $1.5 million in another instance.
“People are going to get paid anyway,” she said. “We’re going to come back and do a picket. Get that in the national news again.”
She also said that she’s not afraid of law enforcement because, she said, she knows laws and won’t do anything illegal.
“I’m not going to do anything stupid,” Cintra said. “I can’t do people good if I am in jail, but I am going to exercise my first amendment right.”
IBEW Local Union 1317 attorney Roger Doolittle previously told the Leader-Call many of the people arrested or detained were members of their union. He said the union has filed an official grievance against Howard Industries for denying pay for time worked.
“We have filed a grievance on behalf of many employees who were arrested or detained for the wages that have not been paid to them,” Doolittle said.
He continued by saying federal labor laws require those employees to be paid. There was public support for those same workers who didn’t get paid just after the raid, too. Doolittle said the next step would be filing a labor board charge.
Joined: Dec 07, 2007 Posts: 7164 Location: Tarheel State
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 11:18 pm Post subject:
The government will say, "oh we did not think of that in time." _________________ Politics of Illegal Immigration - Census, E-Verify, and I9s: http://tinyurl.com/3ru8w5
Joined: Mar 30, 2006 Posts: 9823 Location: Santa Clarita Ca
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 11:32 pm Post subject:
Laurel 09/19/08Families and workers demand payment from Howard Industries
Posted: Sep 19, 2008 08:03 PM PDT
Updated: Sep 19, 2008 08:03 PM PDT
Some 200 family members along with representatives from the Mississippi Immigration Rights Alliance are demanding employees detained in last months raid at Howard Industries get paid.
Nearly 600 workers were detained in the August 25th raid in Laurel. Now, family members say they have not been paid for work done up until that time.
According to Howard Industries, the company has tried to forward the paychecks of former employees to the rightful owners.
They also say they're working with the U.S. Department of Labor to turn the checks over to the government, which will deliver them to the owners.
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Families and workers demand payment from Howard Indus...
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Joined: Mar 30, 2006 Posts: 9823 Location: Santa Clarita Ca
Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:26 am Post subject:
September 20, 2008
Howard executives' computers among items seized in raid
Emma James and Earlesha Butler
Hattiesburg American
HATTIESBURG - Federal agents who raided Howard Industries last month seized 23 computers, including those of the CEO and the president, as well as copious records of payroll, employee earnings and unclaimed wages, two search warrants reveal.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on the Laurel facility on Aug. 25 resulted in the arrest of 595 alleged illegal workers - the largest raid of its kind.
Filed on Sept. 15 at U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg, the two search warrants detail what ICE agents were cleared to seize in the raid, as well as an inventory of what they took from Howard corporate offices in Ellisville and at its plant in Laurel.
The records seized include:
Form 941 - Employer quarterly federal tax returns for 2007 and 2008.
I-9 (employment verification forms) and miscellaneous employment hiring documents for Howard employees.
Employee earnings reports for July and August 2008.
An active employee roster with addresses dated August 2008.
Unclaimed wages and checks for 2007 and 2008.
46 CDs with miscellaneous payroll information.
The warrant for the Laurel facility said agents took 14 boxes of miscellaneous documents as well as computer data from computers belonging to Howard Chief Executive Officer Billy Howard, President Michael Howard and employees Linda Howard, Scott Rawls, Pam Braddock and Kyle Stringer, among others.
A third warrant for the Laurel facility was sealed and not available to the public.
Calls to Howard Industries and Howard attorney Dick Yoder were not returned Friday.
ICE officials took questions Friday but were not able to answer them.
"Our investigation is still ongoing," ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez said.
"We would have to clear that information with investigators to ensure that no information is released that might compromise the investigation."
In addition to all employment documentation and information on current and past employees, the warrants granted permission for ICE agents to search for "any and all records and documents advertising for employment and the transportation of potential employees from other parts of the State of Mississippi, the United States, or a foreign country, to the United States, the State of Mississippi, or Laurel, Mississippi, for possible employment at Howard Industries."
The warrants also included the clearance to take documents or records relating to any action, including the manufacture, alteration or counterfeiting of identification documents at Howard Industries.
Of the 595 workers arrested, ICE deported 43 this week while 423 others are being held in the LaSalle Detention Facility in Jena, La., waiting for immigration hearings.
An additional 100 are in alternative detention - mothers who were fitted with ankle monitors and ordered to report for hearings.
A ninth detainee who was arrested was denied bond Friday during a preliminary and detention hearing in U.S. District Court.
Federal prosecutors said Friday that Tomas Juarez-Perez of Laurel used fraudulent resident alien and Social Security cards, along with an I-9 employment verification form to gain employment at Howard Industries.
Prosecutors said Juarez-Perez used the alias of Jose Rodriguez to earn employment at the company.
Meanwhile, federal Public Defender John Weber III, who represents Juarez-Perez, said the aggravated identity theft charges came after an immigration judge ordered on Sept. 10 that Juarez-Perez be deported to Mexico.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mike Parker ordered Juarez-Perez to remain held without bond. Parker said Juarez-Perez's ability to acquire fake identification cards made him a "substantial risk of flight."
"Based on the documents offered into evidence ... none of the documents are lawfully his clearly," Parker said.
Officials would not say where the detainee was being held.
Juarez-Perez's wife of a year and a half, Juilia Gonzalez, said her husband knowingly used fake ID cards because "it was the only way to get money for his seven kids" in Mexico.
Gonzalez, an American citizen, said Juarez-Perez had been in the U.S. nine years and never attempted to gain U.S. citizenship.
"He's a good person. He just worked for his kids," she said. "That's the only thing he did wrong."
Juarez-Perez is the ninth Howard Industry suspected illegal worker prosecutors brought aggravated identity theft charges against.
The eight other detainees were indicted Sept. 10 by a federal grand jury on three separate counts, including aggravated identity theft, fraud or misuse of identification documents and misuse of a Social Security number.
If convicted of aggravated identity theft, all nine could face more than two years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine, with another year of supervised release.
Joined: Mar 30, 2006 Posts: 9823 Location: Santa Clarita Ca
Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:06 pm Post subject:
Monday, Sep 22, 2008
Posted on Mon, Sep. 22, 2008
Howard to pay family of detained workers Howard Industries is set to release about 200 paychecks to family members of workers detained in an August 25 immigration raid.
Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance attorney Patricia Ice told a crowd composed primarily of family members Sunday that an agreement had been reached with Howard Industries lawyers to release the checks to the families.
Nearly 600 workers at Howard Industries' transformer factory in Laurel were rounded up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Two others left the country voluntarily.
Most of those who haven't been deported are being held in a Louisiana detention facility awaiting hearings. Nine people face federal charges related to identity theft, according to court records.
http://www.sunherald.com/306/story/832269.html
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