Thread: Five arrested in immigration raids in Iowa

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06/22/2006
Five arrested in immigration raids


Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested five illegal immigrants at two southwest Iowa Chinese restaurants Wednesday.

ICE spokesperson Tim Counts said agents arrested two employees of the Panda Garden Restaurant in Harlan and three employees of the China Garden Restaurant in Atlantic for being in the United States illegally. He said one of those arrested was from Mexico and the others from Asian countries.

Counts would not release the individuals' names, citing agency policy. He said the five are being held in local jails and would have a hearing before a federal immigration judge to determine if they would be deported. Counts was uncertain when the hearings would be held. He said should a judge decide to deport the five, they would also have the right to appeal the decision.

Counts said at this point there are no charges against the restaurants, and did not know if any would be filed.

He said the Atlantic and Harlan police departments and Region IV Fusion Center assisted in the raid.

- Tom McMahon

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?news ... 5106&rfi=6

07/21/2006
Couple pleads not guilty in immigration case
TOM MCMAHON , Staff Writer

ATLANTIC - The Atlantic couple charged with employing five illegal immigrants pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Des Moines.

Shui Ming Lin and Xiu Wen Zhang are charged with employing Xing Xiang Dong, Qing Chen, Fun Man Chen, Xiu Zhu Lin, all of China; and Luis Garcia-Torres, of Mexico, in their Harlan and Atlantic Chinese restaurants.

U.S. District Court Judge Celeste Bremer set an Aug. 28 trial date. Lin and Zhang remain free on their own recognizance. If convicted, they face up to 10 years in prison and deportation.

In a related action, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ross Walters ordered the five illegal immigrants' attorney to respond to a government motion requesting they be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials for possible deportation. They are being held as material witnesses in Lin's and Zhang's cases.

U.S. Attorney Matthew Whitaker said the fives immigrants' depositions had been taken, and he asked the court to release them back to ICE for further administrative hearings, including deportation, as warranted.

Their attorney, Paul Rosenberg, said he is contacting an immigration attorney on the Chinese workers' behalf to assist them in applying for asylum. No such action is planned for Garcia-Torres, he said.

"People who return to China are treated differently than they are when they go back to Mexico," Rosenberg said.

He must reply to Whitaker's motion by Wednesday, July 26.

Restaurant owner convicted on harboring illegal immigrants

Mar 9, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa A restaurant owner has been convicted of harboring Hispanic and Chinese illegal immigrants in western Iowa.

Shui Ming Lin, of Atlantic, was charged after immigration officers raided his home and two restaurants in Atlantic and Harlan last June.

According to court documents, Lin was one of the owners of the restaurant where some of the immigrants were employed. All but one of those charged with being in the country illegally paid smugglers to get them into the country.

Lin's conviction in U-S District Court was announced this week by U-S Attorney Matt Whitaker. A presentencing hearing is set for May 29th.

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