Thread: ICE and Pilgrams Pride

ICE Discovers Alleged Illegal Worker Network
DALLAS (AP) ― For years, federal agents had received tips alleging undocumented immigrants were working at plants owned by the Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the nation's largest chicken producer.

This spring, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Dallas acted on leads that pointed toward two of the company's seven East Texas plants.

Undercover agents posing as illegal immigrants infiltrated an alleged network of job-seekers who paid hundreds of dollars for fraudulent identification while those responsible for hiring them looked the other way.

By the time the investigation wrapped up in December, agents had arrested 24 people, including:

-- A Pilgrim's Pride employee accused of dealing identification documents;

-- A human resources employee at the company's Mount Pleasant facility;

-- Two other men agents say were part of the scheme to get identity documents for illegal immigrants.

Twenty other workers at Pilgrim's Pride plants in Mt. Pleasant and Pittsburg, Texas, were accused of using social security numbers not issued to them.

The matter is expected to go to a federal grand jury later in January. But newly unsealed court documents laying out the government's case offer a rare glimpse into an allegedly complicit circle of illegal workers, document dealers and trusted employees that made the scheme work.

It's the latest effort by the government to pursue illegal immigrant workers and the employers who hire them by focusing on fraudulent identity documents and social security numbers. ICE agents arrested more than 1,200 workers at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants nationwide in 2006 as part of a similar investigation.

In the Pilgrim's case, an affidavit by ICE Special Agent George Ramirez revealed the agency has received more than 75 calls since 2005 about illegal immigrant workers at the company's plants. A review found 14 of the company's human resources employees were suspected of knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants, Ramirez stated.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Jackson in Tyler said he couldn't comment on whether the government is investigating Pilgrim's Pride.

But Ray Atkinson, a spokesman for the Pittsburg-based company said Pilgrim's Pride is not facing charges and is cooperating fully in the federal investigation. The company has about 55,000 employees and operates dozens of facilities mostly across the South, in Mexico and Puerto Rico.

"Our company is very concerned about any allegations of this type," Atkinson said.

In a statement, Pilgrim's added that its employees are trained to spot fraudulent documents, verify social security numbers and make sure applicants are eligible to work in the U.S. The company noted the system isn't foolproof, saying even federal officials conceded a database check can't detect whether valid numbers or documents have been stolen.

"The HR employee who was taken into custody has been terminated from employment," Atkinson said in a statement to The Associated Press. "We are looking further into the matter."

Undercover ICE agents penetrated the Pilgrim's ring by claiming to be undocumented workers eager to purchase the papers needed to land "good" jobs at the chicken plants. Once hired, some agents continued the ruse by working shifts in the plant, doing surveillance and monitoring conversations.

Among the accused are alleged "document vendors" Marcos Garcia and Daniel "Chilango" Totosaus-Rodriguez. According to the court records, the pair sold doctored documents to a confidential informant to get a job at Pilgrim's Mount Pleasant site. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison for transferring false identification.

The two men allegedly guaranteed their wares, promising to replace the documents at no extra charge if Pilgrim's discovered a social security number to be invalid. They also told agents that employees in Pilgrim's human resources office wouldn't question applicants returning with papers bearing a new name because "everyone knows what's going on."

Garcia allegedly met the informant in April outside a coin-operated laundry and offered help him get a job at Pilgrim's for $800, including $600 for the necessary documents and a $200 "finder's fee" for himself. Days later, the price went up to $900. He claimed to have connections to a foreman in the plant.

Later, the informant and Garcia met with Totosaus-Rodriguez, who allegedly assured them the documents would be "good," and that he had previously obtained identification from the same source.

Before the informant received the false documents, he was introduced to Pilgrim's Pride human resources employee Reyna Villarreal to discuss a "good" job within the company.

Totosaus-Rodriguez allegedly hinted after the meeting that the informant may need to pay Villarreal $500 to seal the deal, saying: "with money, everything is possible."

During a later meeting at Pilgrim's, the informant gave his documents to Villarreal and told her he'd purchased them from Garcia. Villarreal entered the social security number into a computer system and then said the "documents look good to me," according to court records.

Villarreal, who also goes by Reyna Aleman, was arrested on a complaint of making a false statement. Authorities allege she claimed to be a U.S. citizen on a form when at the time she wasn't. Her attorney was not immediately available for comment.

Yet another Pilgrim's employee, Jose Luis Garcia, allegedly collected photos of the informant and relayed the cash paid for the identity documents. Agents later determined the man had been previously deported and was again living illegally in the U.S. He was charged with re-entering the United States after being denied admission and faces up to two years in prison.

Attorneys for Marcos Garcia, Jose Luis Garcia and Totosaus-Rodriguez didn't immediately return calls for comment.

The others arrested, all Pilgrim's employees, are accused of fraudulently using identification documents, including social security numbers. Each faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

It appears that those who purchased new identities did so for the sole purpose of getting jobs. The investigation found no efforts to obtain credit or loans using the names, said Jackson, the prosecutor.

But the scheme still caused hardships for some whose identities were allegedly stolen; most were people with Spanish surnames.

One of the true holders of a social security number used to land a job at Pilgrim's Pride received a notice from the Internal Revenue Service asking for back taxes on wages he purportedly earned. And an Illinois nursing home resident nearly lost his disability benefits because it appeared he was employed, according to court documents.

"Identity theft cases like these show the link between illegal immigration and criminal activity that affects people like you and me," said John Chakwin Jr., special agent in charge of ICE's Office of Investigations in Dallas. "Victims of identity theft are robbed of their very financial stability, and it can take years to recover from this crime's devastating effects."
http://cbs11tv.com/local/Undercover.Ope ... 24259.html
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

This has been posted - but again this is a whitewash for Pilgrim's in my opinion. They could have rounded up hundreds - maybe thousands if they had been serious.

This is an attempt to say, "Look, we're working and Pilgrim's is totally innocent. Those horrible illegals just forced their way into that company and no one in authority had a clue what was happening.'

Don't be lulled by this - don't be fooled by it.

It might have netted some and that's very good - it was not cost effective. There could/should have been busloads rounded up.

Welcome to Alipac Pitac56.

Please post the source link to the article at the bottom of your post.

Dixie

I agree, many times you will see/hear about these raids and it is as if "we are putting our best foot forward" to appease the restless public.

I wonder if Pilgim Pride rehires the workers who have been deported to Mexico?