Thread: CO:ICE agents at Swift plants W/arrest warrants UPDATED 7/11

ICE agents arrive at Swift plants with arrest warrants

Associated Press - July 11, 2007 2:54 AM ET

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) - Agents with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement returned to at least one Swift and Company meatpacking plant yesterday with arrest warrants for people suspected of identity theft in an operation that garnered union support.

Officials with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union say agents did not appear to use the "same level of intimidation and overkill" as raids in December that resulted in more than 1,200 immigrant workers being arrested in six cities.

ICE regional spokesman Carl Rusnok confirmed one "worksite enforcement operation" in Greeley, Colorado, but would not say how many people were arrested.

Dave Minshall is a spokesman for Local Number Seven. He says agents had at least 40 arrest warrants for suspects in Greeley; Cactus, Texas; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minnesota.

Five people were taken into custody, though it was unclear where the arrests were made.

Rusnok says details will be released in a news conference today.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

http://wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=6772534

Two people were arrested Tuesday as a result of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office's continuing investigation into the hiring practices at Swift & Co.

ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said two people were arrested on warrants unrelated to the agency's identity theft investigation. While ICE agents were at the plant, they discovered one person with a traffic warrant from the Greeley Police Department and another with a prior criminal offense that made the person deportable, Kice said.

However, spokesman Carl Rusnok called the arrests "targeted," saying warrants were executed on people identified as using stolen identities reported to the Federal Trade Commission. When questioned about the conflicting information, Rusnok declined to comment, deferring to a press release to be issued this morning.

Swift spokesman Sean McHugh said the company is fully cooperating with ICE, pointing out that no charges or accusations have been made against company officials.

Rusnok also wouldn't comment on reports of an increased ICE presence in Greeley. Weld District Attorney Ken Buck said there is an agent working at the Weld County Jail and additional staff working in the area.

"We have increased our ICE presence, whether you have a bricks and mortar building or not," he said.

Officials announced in April plans to move the ICE office in Brush to Greeley, but Buck said he's already getting a faster response to requests for holds and other immigration concerns.

ICE agents arrested 261 employees at the Swift & Co. plant Dec. 12, 2006, in what was being called "operation wagon train," an investigation into identify theft at six Swift locations throughout the nation. Of those, fewer than 20 were charged in Weld District Court.

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2007 ... /107110078

ICE agents reportedly arrest 5 at Swift plants

The Associated Press - Wednesday, July 11, 2007

GREELEY, Colo.

At least five people were arrested at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in Colorado and Nebraska amid a federal investigation into identity theft, but some of the charges were unrelated to the probe, union and immigration officials said.

It was the second such roundup since December, when 1,200 people were arrested at Swift plants in several states. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said they were cracking down on immigrants who steal identities to get jobs.

One person arrested in Greeley Tuesday was held on a traffic warrant and the other was an immigrant subject to deportation because of a previous offense, ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice told the Greeley Tribune in Wednesday's editions.

It wasn't immediately clear whether either person was suspected of being an illegal immigrant.

Dallas-based ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok declined Wednesday to confirm any arrests in Greeley. He said the agency would release details of the "worksite enforcement operation" later.

Three workers at a Swift plant in Grand Island, Neb., were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of identity theft, said Dan Hoppes, president of the UFCWU local there.

Hoppes said immigration officials came to the plant with five warrants but only three of the suspects were present.

Dave Minshall, a spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in Colorado, said ICE agents had at least 40 arrest warrants for suspects in Greeley; Cactus, Texas; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minn.

The UFCWU criticized the December raids for "intimidation and overkill" but said Tuesday's arrests were better-executed.

Greeley-based Swift says it is the world's second-largest beef and pork processor.
http://www.wctrib.com/ap/index.cfm?page ... =D8QAFNE00