ICE Raids North Texas Company That Hired Illegal Aliens

ICE Raids North Texas Company That Allegedly Hired Undocumented Immigrants

By Kevin Krause - The Dallas Morning News

Published 5 hours ago | Updated 59 minutes ago

Federal immigration authorities are raiding a North Texas vehicle trailer manufacturing plant and detaining multiple undocumented workers as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the company. (Published 2 hours ago)

Federal immigration authorities are raiding a North Texas vehicle trailer manufacturing plant and detaining multiple undocumented workers as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the company.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit is conducting a criminal investigation into the Sumner-based company, Load Trail, for illegally employing foreign workers - a rare move reserved for the most egregious repeat violators.

The Sumner-based company just outside Paris makes trailers that hitch onto vehicles.

NBC 5 reached out to ICE, which in turn, released the following statement:

Special agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are conducting an enforcement action in Sumner, Texas, in support of a criminal investigation. More information will be released later today.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/IC...491906651.html

Immigration officials descend on North Texas company that allegedly hired undocumented immigrants

• Kevin Krause
• Dianne Solis

This story will be updated throughout the day.

PARIS, Texas -- Federal immigration authorities raided a North Texas vehicle trailer manufacturing plant Tuesday and detained multiple undocumented workers as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the company.

Katrina Berger, special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations' Dallas office, said the operation is expected to be one of the largest of its kind nationally in a decade.

ICE’s HSI unit is conducting a criminal investigation into the Sumner-based company, Load Trail, for illegally employing foreign workers - a rare enforcement move reserved for repeat violators.

Sumner is an unincorporated community of fewer than 100 residents about 100 miles northeast of downtown Dallas and 12 miles west of Paris, Texas. Load Trail makes trailers that hitch onto vehicles. Company representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

Load Trail began as a family-owned business in 1996 and has grown to employ more than 500 people on its 100-acre site, according to the company's website.

The company paid a $445,000 fine in 2014 for hiring undocumented immigrants to work in its plant, according to an ICE report. "The company employed more than 179 unauthorized workers," the report said.

As part of a criminal search warrant, agents plan to question employees and seize employment documents. Hundreds of workers were expected to be “administratively arrested” and processed for immigration violations. All are to be be issued notices to appear in immigration court for civil proceedings.

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Dianne Solis

✔@disolis

· 1h

Replying to @disolis

‘They just drew their guns and told everyone to get on the ground,’ says one worker about the start of a factory search by @ICEgov. ‘They just came and raided from every entrance.’ 4/

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...L67_normal.jpgDianne Solis

✔@disolis

But factory worker Dennis Perry is torn about the targeting of immigrant workers and his employer. ‘They are trying to support their families. But there is a right way to do it...’ 5/ pic.twitter.com/Ibk1tP0g1G
2:01 PM - Aug 28, 2018

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Many will likely be released with a court date for a hearing before an immigration judge, except for those with a criminal history or new criminal charges, Berger said.

The owners face possible criminal indictment. “Abusive and exploitative” employers have in the past been charged by ICE with alien smuggling, alien harboring, document fraud, money laundering and conspiracy.

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Dianne Solis

✔@disolis

· 2h

Replying to @disolis

A year ago, @ICEgov chief said employers should worry about a crackdown. Today, a trailer manufacturer felt the sting as agents descended into rural Sumner. 2/ https://www.dallasnews.com/news/immigration/2017/08/02/nations-top-immigration-cop-says-employers-worry-crackdown …
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Nation's top immigration cop says employers should worry about a crackdown

The immigration crackdown supported by President Donald Trump will make employers its next target, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and...
dallasnews.com

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...L67_normal.jpgDianne Solis

✔@disolis


When ICE agents entered the Load Trail factory from “every entrance,” many workers hit the ground like Dennis Perry. Some were tackled. A few ran to hide near shelves. U. S. citizens were divided from other workers and given green bracelets, Perry says. 3/ pic.twitter.com/4fvMND5piM
1:54 PM - Aug 28, 2018 · Load Trail

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dltw-9WV...g&name=360x360https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dltw-9WU...g&name=360x360https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dltw-9WU...g&name=360x360

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Berger said such illegal hiring practices give companies an unfair advantage, subject workers to low wages and potentially dangerous conditions, and take jobs away from U.S. citizens.

Cornelio Thiessen, 48, is listed in corporate records as president and secretary of the company. He could not be reached for comment.

Last Wednesday, Myparistexas.com published a story about how Load Trail supports local police. The website ran a photo of the family owners posing with Paris police officers.

"While Load Trail has already gone above and beyond donating much-needed supplies to local law enforcement, this morning they continued to show their support donating 55 tourniquets to the Paris Police Department," the article said.

Load Trail also donated a 16-foot trailer to the Paris Police Officers Association, the article said.

The article said Load Trail's owners -- Corny Thiessen, Jake Thiessen, Frank Thiessen, Johnny Thiessen and Aganetha Thiessen - took part in the donation ceremony.

The police association president could not be reached for comment.

More than 300 federal agents and support staff, including translators, were at the company's location on Tuesday as part of the law enforcement operation. That includes Air and Marine Operations, an agency within U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Local law enforcement officials did not participate in the Tuesday raid.

Another Load Trail owner, Aganetha Thiessen, has traveled to Mexico and posted information about a Texas-based charity that helps poor families in Mexico, according to her Facebook page.

https://dallasnews.imgix.net/1535479...format&frame=1
ICE arrested 86 people in North Texas and Oklahoma in January 2018 during a three-day operation targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal records.
(ICE)

One year ago, ICE’s acting director at the time, Thomas Homan, told The Dallas Morning News that the immigration crackdown supported by President Donald Trump would make employers its next target.

“You are going to see a lot more work-site enforcement this year,” Homan said. “We will take action against those employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.”

Homan promised ICE was “firing up” work-site enforcement, saying “We need to take the magnet away.”

Verify before hiring

Federal immigration law made it unlawful for employers to knowingly hire those in the U.S. without employment authorization in 1986. But the laws haven't been enforced with the same vigor the immigration agency uses against undocumented immigrants.

Employers must verify the identity and work eligibility of everyone they hire, using what’s known as an I-9 form.

https://dallasnews.imgix.net/1535481...format&frame=1
Load Trail trailer
(Facebook)

Many immigrant employees use Social Security numbers that belong to other people or false documents. Employers have long argued that makes it hard for them to self-police and shows they didn't "knowingly" hire an unauthorized worker.

Berger said Load Trail is suspected of knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants.

Steep fines possible

Berger said such investigations usually begin with tips. If the information checks out, ICE will conduct a work-site inspection in an attempt to verify I-9 documentation, she said.

If the audit turns up discrepancies, a company has the opportunity to correct problems by firing undocumented workers, Berger said.

ICE can fine companies for violations or win federal forfeiture judgments against them.

Asplundh Tree Expert Co., a suburban tree-trimming company in Philadelphia, was ordered to pay a record $95 million last year for hiring workers who were in the U.S. illegally.

If employers are repeat violators, ICE can launch a criminal investigation.

On Tuesday as workers at the facility were being processed, federal authorities made sure that meals and water were being provided, Berger said.

"We have taken steps to ensure it'll be conducted in a humane and safe manner," she said.

Child Protective Services was set to be at the location, she said. And HSI is providing detained employees a toll-free telephone service.

Families can call a 24-hour hotline to find out where their loved ones are at 888-351-4024.

Berger said ICE planned to make custody decisions Tuesday on a case-by-case basis. Some employees will be released on their own recognizance, she said.

Those who have criminal convictions or who illegally re-entered the U.S. could face additional charges for having false documents or committing ID theft, Berger said.

“Everyone we encounter and arrest will be treated with dignity and respect,” she said.

ICE will attempt to identify those workers who are caregivers of children and release them on humanitarian grounds, Berger said.

If employees with kids are arrested on criminal charges, ICE will try to find a family member to care for their children, she said. If not, CPS will take temporary custody, Berger said.

Others will be released for medical issues, she added.
Those who are detained will be held in one of three contracted detention facilities for processing, Berger said.

At the Mexican consulate in Dallas, Deputy Consul Edurne Pineda said the staff would be ready to assist any Mexican nationals that have been detained. A key concern are those with families, the Mexican diplomat said.

"We are trying to investigate this apparent raid," Pineda said.

"While these events are taking place, ICE doesn't give us very much information."

There are an estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., even though net migration from the big sending country of Mexico is now at zero, according to the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based nonprofit.

ICE said in May that it had already doubled the number of work-site investigations from the previous fiscal year.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/IC...491906651.html

Why are they released! Put them in Federal Tent City on Federal Land!

Serve time and deport them!

ICE arrests more than 100 workers at north Texas plant

Posted: Aug 28, 2018 06:41 PM CDT
Updated: Aug 28, 2018 06:41 PM CDT

By Kathryn Lundstrom, The Texas TribuneAug. 28, 2018

"ICE arrests more than 100 workers at north Texas plant" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested over 100 workers at a trailer manufacturing plant in the north Texas town of Sumner on Tuesday. ICE expects it to be one of its largest workplace raids in a decade, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Over 300 federal agents descended on Load Trail LLC, said Carl Rusnok, ICE’s Dallas-based director of communications. The ICE investigative arm suspects the business repeatedly and knowingly employed undocumented immigrant laborers.

Load Trail started in 1996 as a family-owned business with 31 employees. It specializes in “high quality, reliable trailers for the long haul,” according its website, and now employs over 500 people. The company was fined nearly $450,000 in 2014 for hiring more than 179 unauthorized foreign workers, according to a 2015 report to Congress. Load Trail could not be reached for comment.

Katrina Berger, the special agent in charge of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Dallas office, told The Dallas Morning News that the agency has “taken steps to ensure it’ll be conducted in a humane and safe manner.”

Federal agents, armed with a criminal search warrant, will be able to question employees and seize documents.

According to a Tuesday press release, ICE plans to interview all the detained workers “to record any medical, sole-caregiver or other humanitarian situations.” Those determined to be in the United States illegally and ineligible for humanitarian release will be deported, the agency said.

According to a video posted by eParisExtra, workers were lined up and separated by immigration status. U.S. citizens were given a green wristband and allowed to leave, while undocumented workers were handcuffed, according to one worker interviewed by the local news source.

“Businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens create an unfair advantage over their competing businesses,” said Berger in the press release. She added that they take jobs away from citizens and legal residents, creating “an atmosphere poised for exploiting their illegal workforce.”

Under President Donald Trump this year, ICE has stepped up its immigration enforcement efforts geared toward businesses. In the first seven months of the year, the agency served notice to more than 5,200 businesses that it was auditing their hiring records.

https://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/n...ant/1402689100

Immigration officials arrest 150 workers in massive raid on Texas trailer manufacture

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

The company paid a $445,000 fine in 2014 for hiring undocumented immigrants to work in its plant, according to an ICE report. "The company employed more than 179 unauthorized workers," the report said.

---

So 4 years ago they paid a $445,000.00 find and they just doubled down, and right back at it.

Time to give them about 20 years in jail.

"Many will likely be released with a court date for a hearing before an immigration judge, except for those with a criminal history or new criminal charges, Berger said."

Immigration officials descend on North Texas company that allegedly hired undocumented immigrants

ICE raids Texas business and detains more than 100 people


CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/29/us/te...sts/index.html

Immigration agents arrest 160 workers at Texas trailer plant

Reuters•August 29, 2018

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Immigration agents arrest 160 workers at Texas trailer plant More

(Reuters) - U.S. agents have arrested 160 employees of a trailer manufacturing plant in north Texas who they said violated immigration laws and were working illegally in the United States.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said late Tuesday its agents raided a plant owned by Load Trail in Sumner, about 110 miles (180 km) northeast of Dallas.

"Businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens create an unfair advantage," Katrina Berger, an agent for ICE's Homeland Security Investigations unit, said in a statement.

No criminal charges have been filed, ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok said in an email. He declined to say if any charges would be brought against the company, citing the ongoing investigation.

Load Trail described itself on its website earlier this month as a 22-year-old family-owned business whose staff peaked at more than 500 employees in 2007 and that produces a variety of trailers and parts. The company did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

ICE said it was interviewing all of the 160 suspects it rounded up to determine whether any of them qualify for "humanitarian release" such as being as sole care-givers of children. The agency did not provide the nationalities of the suspects.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-immigra...134549496.html

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

t.

No criminal charges have been filed, ICE spokesman.

ICE said it was interviewing all of the 160 suspects it rounded up to determine whether any of them qualify for "humanitarian release" such as being as sole care-givers of children.

---

Disgusting!

They seldom ever bring charges until the investigation is completed, so that they have all of the facts and all of the charges laid out to show the court.


"No criminal charges have been filed, ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok said in an email. He declined to say if any charges would be brought against the company, citing the ongoing investigation."

"humanitarian release"

Mothers with small children are sent home to take care of the kids if there is no other parent at home.
They get a GPS Ankle Bracelet to wear until court.

DEPORT THE WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN!

NOT ONE US TAXPAYER DIME TO SUPPORT THIS!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

"humanitarian release"

Mothers with small children are sent home to take care of the kids if there is no other parent at home.
They get a GPS Ankle Bracelet to wear until court.

---

Now, they have no job.
Who buys food, and pays utilities?
Does the Ankle Bracelet monitor them while they drive without license and insurance?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stoptheinvaders

Now, they have no job.
Who buys food, and pays utilities? . . .

---

Usually a church group like this one.

Group Running Out Of Donations After Mt Pleasant Raid

Iowa Public Radio-Aug 9, 2018
A group helping pay bills for Iowa families affected by an immigration raid is ... The group and the church it operates out of, First Presbyterian, ... Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as Florida, Texas, Georgia and Virginia....

Donate a BUS ticket back home and get them out of here.

Trailer company raided by feds found ways around E-Verify