Thread: 13 alleged illegal workers arrested at dairy operation

13 alleged illegal workers arrested at dairy operation
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
By TOM GILCHRIST
TIMES WRITER
BAD AXE - Federal agents seized 13 alleged illegal immigrants from a dairy farm here Tuesday, two months after agents removed suspected illegal immigrants from another large Huron County dairy operation.

About two dozen armed agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided the dairy farm of Johannes and Anthonia Verhaar at about 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Mark Krebs said agents arrested 13 workers from Mexico, hauling them away in handcuffs to spend the night in jail while federal investigators try to determine their identities and whether the workers can remain legally in the United States.

''We're trying to make sure just who we have in custody,'' said Greg Palmore, a Detroit-based spokesman for ICE, the investigative agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

''When conducting operations such as this one, we've encountered people who have 12 or 13 different aliases,'' Palmore said.

''That's why we take fingerprints and try to validate who each individual is.''

The raid came about as part of an ongoing investigation by Krebs, of the Michigan State Police post at Bad Axe.

While probing an alleged crime at the Verhaar farm earlier this winter, Krebs said he obtained supposed names and Social Security numbers of various Mexican immigrants working at the sprawling business, where employees milk 2,500 cows.

Krebs said FBI officials had problems with all of the Social Security numbers of the workers.

''The FBI said they're all fake numbers,'' Krebs said. ''Either different names had been assigned to those numbers, or some numbers weren't even valid, and if they were valid, it wasn't for the name that I had associated with it.''

Police said ICE agents also arrested about 14 other alleged illegal Mexican immigrants in mid-March at a large dairy farm in Bloomfield Township northeast of Bad Axe.

Palmore said on Tuesday he wasn't sure if any of those 14 had been deported yet.

''It's a slow process,'' Palmore said. ''We have to methodically go through and identify each individual, and then we have to find what their status is, whether they're eligible to become a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident.''

If a detainee isn't eligible for either privilege, Palmore said, he can ask for a hearing before an immigration judge, who determines whether the person should be deported from the country.

Both Johannes Verhaar, 42, and Anthonia Verhaar, 44, declined comment about Tuesday's raid.

Krebs said the Verhaars are not U.S. citizens, but are here on work visas allowing them to remain here for employment purposes.

Krebs said the Verhaars claim the Mexican workers are here legally, though the detective disagrees with that claim.

A worker at the farm, 16-year-old Dominic Galleck of Ubly, said Johannes Verhaar ''is a real good guy to work for, and stuff is kept pretty clean around here.''

Four dead cattle carcasses remained on the ground near where Galleck was working. He said employees had yet to bury the remains.

Michigan State Police said they're investigating whether the Social Security Administration has received money on behalf of the workers arrested Tuesday at the Verhaar farm.

''I want to find out if (the Verhaars) have been taking out the FICA (Social Security taxes) from the workers' wages, and sending them in,'' Krebs said.

If the Verhaars did send money to the federal government and if the Social Security numbers for the Verhaars' 13 workers were bogus numbers, Krebs said he aims to find out whether Social Security Administration officials notified any authorities of the situation.






©2007 Bay City Times
© 2007 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.
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"Krebs said the Verhaars are not U.S. citizens, but are here on work visas allowing them to remain here for employment purposes."

I don't understand. If they aren't U.S. citizens, how are they operating a farm? Are they permanent residents? Either I'm missing something, or something isn't adding up here. I thought that people on work visas are here to work for other people...didn't know they had their own farms and businesses.

Ostrich

I googled for the state police and then sent them an email asking how the Verhaars had a farm when they were here on work visas. I'll let you know if I receive an answer!

''I want to find out if (the Verhaars) have been taking out the FICA (Social Security taxes) from the workers' wages, and sending them in,'' Krebs said.

Anyone care to bet that they did?

May 14, 2007 12:49 AM

Workers at Bad Axe Farm Deported to Mexico
BAD AXE, Mich. (AP) - Eleven of 13 workers arrested during a raid at a Huron County dairy farm have been deported to Mexico, while the other two are challenging deportation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.

Michigan State Police, meanwhile, are continuing their investigation of Johannes and Anthonia Verhaar, whose farm was raided Tuesday. The farm is located near Bad Axe in Michigan's Thumb region, about 100 miles north of Detroit.

The raid was held as part of an ongoing investigation by Detective Sgt. Mark Krebs of the Michigan State Police, who said the Verhaars have claimed the Mexican workers were legal immigrants.

"I want to find whether the Verhaars are sending in the money that's supposed to be taken out of these 13 workers' weekly paychecks, for FICA (Social Security) taxes and state taxes and federal taxes," Krebs told The Bay City Times for a Sunday story.

The Verhaars, natives of the Netherlands who are in this country on work visas, could be deported if convicted of tax fraud, Homeland Security officials said. Krebs said he didn't know if they would face criminal charges for allegedly employing illegal immigrants.

A person answering the Verhaars' telephone Sunday said the couple had no comment.

Michigan dairy farmers for years have hired Mexican employees because of their good work ethic, said Jack Laurie, a former Michigan Farm Bureau president who lives near Gagetown in Tuscola County.

"We hired a lot of Hispanic labor when we were milking cows. ... Those workers are darn good help and they're dependable," said Laurie, who sold his own dairy farm to an Irish investor in 2003.

The government must combat illegal immigration, Laurie said, but added: "At the same time, we need to remember we have to have, in agriculture, some foreign labor available in order to get the job done. For the good of the employer and employee, we have to create a situation where the workers don't have to keep looking over their shoulder for (immigration) agents."

---

Information from: The Bay City Times, http://www.bc-times.com


©2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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While these small raids are great, why are they not targeting the larger employers of illegals? Late last year Swift was targeted, but they are small fries compared to Cargill, and Tyson who I know employ thousands in their slaughter and packing houses. Why not Pilgrims Pride, fast food chains etc.....
Don't get me wrong I know they need to start somewhere, but it seems like they are making piddly arrests 13 here, 50 there, to show that they are buckling down, but in reality these numbers are meager compared to what they could be!

Well said, my friend. Well said! They should go after the major meat packers, McDonald's, Wendy's, maybe a few country clubs, a few major hotel chains, etc.

Ostrich