Thread: ICE Busts Swift Processing Plants

Its nice to see the Greeley Tribune that prints a free paper in Spanish is moving the stories in Spanish to their website as well:

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2006 ... S/61212027

Operación contra indocumentados en seis estados de EEUU


Agentes federales arrestaron el martes a una cantidad desconocida de presuntos inmigrantes indocumentados en allanamientos simultáneos a plantas procesadoras de carne en seis estados, como parte de una investigación de robo de identidad.

Las seis plantas tuvieron que suspender temporalmente sus operaciones.

Las autoridades de Inmigración y Aduanas dijeron que los trabajadores fueron arrestados en las plantas de Swift & Co. por violaciones administrativas a las leyes de inmigración. Agregaron que en algunos casos, había órdenes previas de arresto que provienen de una investigación que lleva casi un año.

Julie L. Myers, directora del servicio, dijo a los periodistas en Washington que los agentes descubrieron una red dedicada al robo o compra de documentos de identidad y números de Seguro Social de centenares ciudadanos y residentes legales de Estados Unidos.

Los allanamientos se realizaron en seis plantas de las ciudades de, Greeley, estado de Colorado; Grand Island, Nebraska; Cactus, Texas; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa, y Worthington, Minesota, donde se procesa toda la producción vacuna de Swift y un 77% de su producción porcina.

Las autoridades no presentaron cargos contra la compañía.

''Swift nunca ha permitido que se contrate a personal no autorizado, ni tampoco ha contratado a personas de esas características'', destacó Sam Rovit, presidente de Swift & Co., en una declaración.

Las autoridades de inmigración dijeron que ellos y la Comisión Federal de Comercio habían identificado a centenares de posibles víctimas.

La compañía, con oficinas centrales en Greeley, no respondió de inmediato a un mensaje telefónico dejado la mañana del martes en busca de comentarios.

Swift usaba desde 1997, un programa piloto del gobierno para confirmar si los números de Seguridad Social son válidos. Funcionarios de la firma han manifestado previamente que el programa no detecta cuando dos personas usan el mismo número.

Centenares de familiares de los trabajadores se congregaron frente a las plantas de Swift, mientras algunos de ellos trataban de entregar los documentos de sus familiares en el interior de los locales. En Greeley, una larga fila de automóviles llevaba hasta la planta.

Un ayudante de alguacil calificó el ambiente que reinaba frente a una planta de Utah, como un circo.

''Tienen tres autobuses, un cantidad de camionetas van, varios automóviles y 150 agentes'', dijo David Bennett, subjefe del condado Cache.

El jefe de la policía de Grand Island, Steve Lamken, dijo que no permitió a sus agentes participar en la redada.

''Cuando todo esto pase, nosotros seguiremos a cargo de la comunidad, y si hay un sector importante de la población que tiene miedo de llamarnos, eso no es bueno para la comunidad'', manifestó Lamken.

Might not be all it seems...

http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGN ... 89c01ca7bf

9NEWS has learned that last week Swift & Company went to court in Texas to file a restraining order to stop the raid from happening.

9NEWS has also learned the raid was scheduled to happen Monday, but an agreement was made between Swift & Company and the Federal Government to delay the raid because Japanese businessmen, who are potential customers, were visiting the Greeley plant.

First posted here: http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=48478

Massive meat-packing raids
By Michelle Malkin · December 12, 2006 02:15 PM
The good news:

Federal agents raided six Swift & Co. processing plants in six states on Tuesday in search of illegal immigrants who stole the identities of lawful U.S. residents and used their Social Security numbers to get jobs at the beef and pork company.

Agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency executed search warrants at Swift's processing facilities in Greeley, Colo.; Grand Island, Neb.; Cactus, Texas; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minn.

ICE officials didn't give the total number of people arrested but said workers were being apprehended on administrative immigration violations and in some cases, existing criminal arrest warrants. The warrants allow federal agents to arrest anyone at the plant who is in the United States illegally.

The bad news:

No charges have been filed against the company.

And if there are employer sanctions, they'll be bargained down to nothing.

What won't make news:

1) It'll be just a matter of days before all of the illegal aliens caught are released. And then disappear.

2) The congressional representatives in each of these states--on both sides of the political aisle--will lobby behind the scenes to get any charges dropped.

Finally, I've noted the Bush administration's penchant for politically-timed immigration raids before. These raids may be a prelude to the coming bipartisan amnesty.
***

On a related note, a source tells me that ICE head Julie Myers, a crony appointee with virtually no law enforcement experience, has been rejected by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee:

Julie L. Myers, to be Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security; vice Michael J. Garcia, resigned, to which position she was appointed during the last recess of the Senate.
Received: February 10, 2006 Referred: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Latest Action: December 09, 2006 - Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

http://michellemalkin.com/index.htm

Originally Posted by AlturaCt

Might not be all it seems...

http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGN ... 89c01ca7bf

9NEWS has learned that last week Swift & Company went to court in Texas to file a restraining order to stop the raid from happening.

9NEWS has also learned the raid was scheduled to happen Monday, but an agreement was made between Swift & Company and the Federal Government to delay the raid because Japanese businessmen, who are potential customers, were visiting the Greeley plant.

First posted here: http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=48478

Oh yea thats great lets bend over and kiss some body elses butt.

How does that happen? Do the feds schedule raids with drug dealers too?

Originally Posted by duece212

How does that happen? Do the feds schedule raids with drug dealers too?

To tell you the truth it is the 1st Law enforcement raid I have ever heard of being scheduled with the suspects.

Originally Posted by Charlesoakisland

To tell you the truth it is the 1st Law enforcement raid I have ever heard of being scheduled with the suspects.

This just drives home the fact that the government is money first, enforcement second. I am still blown away that this was scheduled!!!

Heres a few more interesting tidbits from
http://www.agriculture.com/ag/futuresou ... d=75600723


DJ UPDATE: Federal Agents Raid 6 Swift Meat Processing Plants
1:44 PM, December 12, 2006

(Adds detail about suspension of operations at affected plants, comment from
Nebraska police chief and background.)


GREELEY, Colo. (AP)--Federal agents raided meat processing plants in six
states Tuesday and arrested an unknown number of suspected illegal immigrants
in an identity theft investigation, temporarily suspending operations at all
six plants.

Hundreds of family members gathered outside the plants, with some trying to
deliver documentation to relatives inside.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said the workers were being
arrested on administrative immigration violations and in some cases, existing
criminal arrest warrants stemming from a nearly yearlong investigation.

ICE chief Julie L. Myers told reporters in Washington that agents had
uncovered a scheme in which illegal immigrants and others had stolen or bought
the identities and Social Security numbers of possibly hundreds of U.S.
citizens and lawful residents to get jobs with Greeley-based meat processor,
Swift & Co.

Six Swift processing facilities were raided Tuesday, in Greeley, Colo.; Grand
Island, Neb.; Cactus, Texas; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington,
Minn., representing all of Swift's domestic beef processing capacity and 77% of
its pork processing capacity.

"Swift has never condoned the employment of unauthorized workers, nor have we
ever knowingly hired such individuals," Swift & Co. President and CEO Sam Rovit
said in a written statement.

Since 1997, Swift has been using a government pilot program that confirms
whether Social Security numbers are valid. Company officials have previously
said one shortcoming may be the program's ability to detect when two people are
trying to use the same number.

No charges had been filed against the company.

In Greeley, cars lined the street leading to the plant as family members
stood outside. One person held a sign that said, "Presents! No tears at
Christmas!"

About 100 people gathered in a circle and prayed, as workers walked
single-file, still wearing their hair nets, plant coats, boots and helmets.

Vanessa Sanchez, 15, of Eaton, Colo., arrived at the plant at 8 a.m. with her
mother with documentation for relatives inside but said they were not allowed
to deliver the papers.

"They shouldn't be doing this. There are kids whose parents work in there and
the kids are in school and know one knows who is going to pick them up this
afternoon," said Sanchez, who was out of school for an Our Lady of Guadalupe
celebration service.

One sheriff's deputy described the scene outside a meatpacking plant in
Hyrum, Utah, as a circus.

"They've got three buses, a bunch of transport vans, a lot of cars and 150 or
so agents," chief Cache County deputy David Bennett said Tuesday.

Bennett said ICE officials didn't notify the sheriff's department about the
raid.

"They didn't ask for our help," Bennett said. "We were lucky to find out."

Grand Island Police Chief Steve Lamken said he met with immigration officials
Tuesday morning and refused to have his police officers take part in the Grand
Island raid.

"This is our community," Lamken said. "When this is all over, we're still
here taking care of our community and if I have a significant part of my
population that's fearful and won't call us then that's not good for our
community."

Swift & Co. describes itself as an $8 billion business and the world's
second-largest meat processing company. In Hyrum, where city Administrator
Brent Jensen says the plant employs more than 1,000 workers, the company can
process up to 2,200 cattle a day, according to a Securities and Exchange
Commission filing.

Myers said immigration officials were "looking very aggressively" at who may
have sold the identities to the workers in several cases. She said ICE had
uncovered several different rings that may have provided illegal documents.

Some immigrants targeted had genuine U.S. birth certificates and others had
other kinds of false identification, Myers said.

"The significance is that we're serious about work site enforcement and that
those who steal identities of U.S. citizens will not escape enforcement," Myers
said.

ICE officials at the plants in Greeley and Worthington, Minn., said the total
number of arrests might not be released until Wednesday, when a news conference
was scheduled in Washington.

"We have been investigating a large identity theft scheme that has victimized
many U.S. citizens and lawful residents," said ICE spokeswoman Barbara
Gonzalez, at the plant in Greeley.

Gonzalez said federal agents worked closely with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture to try to minimize the disruption at the plants while carrying out
the search warrants.

We can enjoy this law enforcement. However, remember there are 11 million. This is another PR event in the marketing plan for an amnesty.

Where do we (U.S. laws) stand on "catch and release", this article in my local paper scares me when it refers to helping setup bonds:

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/2006 ... S/61212034

Help for those affected by raid

4:46 p.m. update: Fuerza Latina has a help line available to families left behind in the ICE raid. The group has bilingual volunteers that will help locate family members and get info about bonds, attorneys, etc. It will also collect info about handling of the raid. Contact Fuerza Latina at (970) 472-1501. Callers should leave a message and volunteer will return their call.