Thread: CA: Williams wary of immigration trouble after cannery raid

Williams wary of immigration trouble after cannery raid

Sunday, June 1, 2008
By Susan Ferriss

WILLIAMS – News that federal agents raided a big tomato cannery here six weeks ago hit residents like ketchup splattering on a white shirt.

Java Stop café owner Carol Ornbaun said that while the agents were hauling boxes of documents out of SK Foods, family and friends were frantically ringing cannery workers’ cell phones to see what was up.

“I also heard,â€

Ordaz’s customers are mostly Mexican American and Mexican workers, including many from SK Foods. They can wire money to Mexico from her shop, cash checks and get help filling out various types of insurance or employment paperwork.

Looks like Ordaz is running a business in which her economic survival is dependent upon aiding and abetting the illegal invaders working at SK Foods. ICE needs to pay a visit to this SK Foods...

The processed tomato industry is a prime candidate for being relocated to Mexico. Unlike the fresh tomato which needs to be cleaned and which by appearance is not obvious as to whether it has processed tomatoes are first boiled and hermetically sealed. If they are so dependent on the illegal Mexican labor we can eat tomatoes grown and processed by Mexican labor without our paying for their education and health.

Last month, federal agents carried out two high-profile immigration raids elsewhere, fueling fears in Williams of a similar crackdown

In Iowa, immigration agents detained 389 workers at a meatpacking plant on May 12 in a raid that federal officials say is the largest criminal enforcement operation ever carried out by immigration authorities at a workplace.

Now why in the world would the raid on Agriprocessors, in Iowa, have caused such concern for a tomatoe processor in small town CA?

There have been plenty of raids throughout the country targeting large employers, raids which have not caused so much as a raised eyebrow among employers in other parts of the country. Yet this one has? Why is that?


SK Foods – and the town of Williams – are part of California’s lucrative tomato empire, which supplies one-third of the world’s processed tomatoes. More tomatoes for processing are grown in the Central Valley than anywhere else in the world.


It's very interesting to the see the shift which has occured with the Feds now going after the top dogs in business as opposed to focusing on smaller employers. And for them to be paying such close attention to the state of CA recently is even more interesting.

And with the way Villaraigosa, Nunez, and the others are having a collective stroke over this scrutiny of businesses out there, a reaction which goes well beyond the usual rhetoric about leaving these "poor hard working people alone to feed their families" crap.....it makes you wonder what kind of nerve has been struck. If these things are not somehow getting too close for comfort as far as that bunch is concerned.

Who knows....maybe all is not lost in CA and we'll see this whole thing crash and burn on the reconquistas running that state yet.

“Growers have contracts,â€