Thread: MISS-Stolen IDs found in raid, Feds say

Stolen IDs found in raid, Feds say
Eight suspected illegal immigrants accused of using identities to gain employment
From staff and wire reports • August 28, 2008

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HATTIESBURG — Eight detainees from Monday's immigration raid on Howard Industries in Laurel used stolen identities, including one of a dead person, to gain employment, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.



The eight appeared in U.S. District Court for a preliminary and detention hearing.

Prosecutors displayed as proof fraudulent resident alien cards, Social Security cards along with Howard Industries employment verification forms.

U.S. Magistrate Mike Parker ordered all held without bond because they could "assume another identity (and) easily flee."

If convicted of aggravated identity theft, each could face up to two years in prison or a $250,000 fine or both.

Ben Taylor, an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, testified the eight were identified when agents compared names of Howard Industries' employees with a compiled list of stolen identities.

Public Defender Abby Brumley requested detainee Paula Gomez be freed on bond to care for her sick, 5-year-old son, Brumley said.

"Her situation is different," Brumley said, because there was no one else to care for her son.

Gomez had worked at Howard Industries for three years under the alias Leonor Garcia, prosecutors said.

"She has been charged with a serious crime. We need to keep this defendant until the charges are resolved," Assistant U.S. Attorney Gaines Cleveland said.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris said there could be more identity theft cases after the remaining detainees are interviewed by ICE officials.

Of 595 detained workers, at least 475 detainees were sent to a federal detention center in Jena, La., where they are awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge. About 100 were released for humanitarian reasons.

Monday's raid - the biggest in the nation's history - began with a tip from a union member three years ago.

Union members said they resented immigrants, whom they said were often allowed to work as much as 40 hours of overtime a week when other workers were discouraged from doing so.

Howard Industries, which makes dozens of products from electrical transformers to medical supplies, is in Mississippi's Pine Belt region, an area known for commercial timber and chicken-processing plants.

Robert Shaffer, head of the Mississippi AFL-CIO, said Wednesday that members have long complained that companies in southern Mississippi hire illegal immigrants.

"Jackson, Hattiesburg, Laurel and all areas along the Coast, it's a little Mexico," Shaffer said.

In 2002, Mississippi lawmakers approved a $31.5 million, taxpayer-backed incentive plan for Howard Industries to expand. The company, with 4,000 workers, is the largest employer in Jones County, which includes Laurel.

About 2,600 of Howard Industries' workers are in the union. Shaffer said he did not know whether any of those detained in the raid were union members, or if nonunion workers were offered overtime while union workers were not.

Those detained are from Brazil, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and Peru.

On Wednesday, Howard Industries referred reporters to the statement it issued Monday. The statement said 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."

No executives were detained in Monday's raid, but a spokeswoman said the raid was just the first part of an ongoing investigation.

The unemployment rate in Jones County was 6.5 percent in July, slightly higher than the national rate of 6 percent but below the state's 8.5 percent rate.

William Gunther, an economics professor at the University of Southern Mississippi, said Mississippi has a labor shortage.

"That leaves businesses with a serious problem," he said. "That doesn't justify, but it certainly explains why they might be hiring individuals who show up and say, 'I'll work for you.' "

Hattiesburg American staff writer Earlesha Butler and Associated Press writer Holbrook Mohr contributed to this report.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs. ... /1001/news

Monday's raid - the biggest in the nation's history - began with a tip from a union member three years ago.

The wheels of justice turn, but it sure is slow.

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