Thread: Pilgrim's Pride Issues Statement in Response to raids

PITTSBURG, Texas, April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pilgrim's Pride
Corp. (NYSE: PPC) today issued the following statement in response to an
enforcement action today by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division:

"Officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division took into custody a total of
approximately 400 hourly, non-management employees at Pilgrim's Pride
processing facilities in Batesville, Ark., Chattanooga, Tenn., Live Oak,
Fla., Moorefield, W. Va. and Mt. Pleasant, Texas.

"According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, these individuals have
engaged in immigration-related crimes, including aggravated identity theft,
in order to fraudulently obtain employment with the company.

"No civil or criminal charges, including charges that Pilgrim's
knowingly hired these employees or conspired to hire them, have been filed
against the company in any of these cases. Pilgrim's Pride cooperated fully
with ICE and the U.S. Attorney's office to help them apprehend these
individuals. In fact, it was Pilgrim's Pride that uncovered the identity
theft situation in Batesville and notified the federal government, and we
worked closely with them to identify those individuals who were apprehended
at the Batesville site.

"The approximately 400 employees taken into custody by ICE represent
about 4% of the 9,400 people employed at these facilities. The company is
working diligently to prevent or minimize any disruption in operations or
service at these affected sites, and we are continuing to cooperate fully
with the government in its investigation.

"We share the government's goal of eliminating the hiring or employment
of unauthorized workers. We have terminated all of the employees who were
taken into custody and will terminate any employee who is found to have
engaged in similar misconduct. We are investigating these allegations
further.

"All of Pilgrim's Pride's U.S. locations -- including those visited by
ICE today -- voluntarily participate in E-Verify (formerly known as the
Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program), which determines
employment eligibility for all new hires.

"The E-Verify program, which is under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Homeland Security, verifies the authenticity of the
applicant's social security or alien number and personal information using
an automated system that includes verification checks of Social Security
Administration (SSA) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
databases. However, as noted by Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security, the E-Verify/Basic Pilot program cannot
detect identity theft situations.

"Pilgrim's Pride has relied on the ICE Best Hiring Practices in
designing its immigration compliance program. These practices include
participation in E-Verify, prompt attention to Social Security No-Match
letters, and retention of outside experts in immigration compliance to
ensure that the company is doing all that it can to verify that its
employees have work authorization. These practices also require that the
company be sensitive to all applicable anti-discrimination laws.

"As a company, Pilgrim's Pride continually audits and reviews its
processes and procedures to assure continuing compliance with best hiring
practices and existing employment law. The company provides education and
training on proper hiring procedures, fraudulent document detection, use of
the E-Verify/Basic Pilot Employment Verification Program, and
anti-discrimination procedures. Pilgrim's Pride also conducts internal and
third-party audits of I-9 forms and hiring practices on an ongoing basis,
and fully investigates any reports of alleged identity theft."

About Pilgrim's Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation is the largest chicken company in the
United States and Puerto Rico and the second-largest in Mexico. Pilgrim's
Pride employs approximately 54,500 people and operates 37 chicken
processing and 12 prepared-foods facilities, with major operations in
Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia,
Mexico and Puerto Rico as well as other facilities in Arizona, Iowa,
Mississippi, Ohio and Utah.

Pilgrim's Pride products are sold to foodservice, retail and frozen
entree customers. The Company's primary distribution is through retailers,
foodservice distributors and restaurants throughout the United States and
Puerto Rico and in the Northern and Central regions of Mexico. For more
information, please visit http://www.pilgrimspride.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release that state the intentions,
plans, hopes, beliefs, anticipations, expectations or predictions of the
future of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation and its management, including as to
the expected benefits and synergies associated with the acquisition of Gold
Kist and changes in pricing, demand and market conditions for chicken
products and profitability, are forward-looking statements. It is important
to note that the actual results could differ materially from those
projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those projected in such
forward-looking statements include: matters affecting the poultry industry
generally, including fluctuations in the commodity prices of feed
ingredients, chicken and turkey; additional outbreaks of avian influenza or
other diseases, either in our own flocks or elsewhere, affecting our
ability to conduct our operations and/or demand for our poultry products;
contamination of our products, which has previously and can in the future
lead to product liability claims and product recalls; exposure to risks
related to product liability, product recalls, property damage and injuries
to persons, for which insurance coverage is expensive, limited and
potentially inadequate; asset impairment and other charges related to
facility closures or modifications; management of our cash resources,
particularly in light of our substantial leverage; restrictions imposed by,
and as a result of, our substantial leverage; changes in laws or
regulations affecting our operations or the application thereof; new
immigration legislation or increased enforcement efforts in connection with
existing immigration legislation that cause our costs of doing business to
increase, cause us to change the way in which we do business, or otherwise
disrupt our operations; competitive factors and pricing pressures or the
loss of one or more of our largest customers; inability to consummate, or
effectively integrate, any acquisition, including integrating our recent
acquisition of Gold Kist, or realize the associated cost savings and
operating synergies currently anticipated; currency exchange rate
fluctuations, trade barriers, exchange controls, expropriation and other
risks associated with foreign operations; disruptions in international
markets and distribution channels; and the impact of uncertainties of
litigation as well as other risks described under "Risk Factors" in our
Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation undertakes no obligation
to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.


Media Contact:
Ray Atkinson
Director of Corporate Communications
(540) 896-0406
Ray.atkinson@pilgrimspride.com

Investor Contact:
Gary Rhodes
Vice President, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
(903) 434-1495



SOURCE Pilgrim's Pride Corp.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stori ... 341&EDATE=

Wow. Worried about a boycott perhaps?

What a load of BS! This company has hired illegals for decades. I lived in East Texas for a while and it was common knowledge that they hired illegals back in the 70's. When they came into town they took over a chicken processing plant that was there for years. Pilgrims Pride immediately brought in cheep Mexican labor and put lots of people out of work. Nothing has changed. They know full well what they are doing and have been knowingly hiring illegals for many years.

ICE has raided them twice in less than a year and they put on this innocent act? Why can't they clean up their own act without ICE being involved? Its high time these sleezy corporate executive start doing some jail time.

Did they fire anyone in management? Are they going to pay a fine?
Will they help out the victims of ID theft? Will they hire Americans at
a good wage to replace the illegal aliens?

Not a chance

do they see the winds of change? Do they fear an incident that
shines the light on there past employment issues? Will it be business as usual after there PR spinners take a bow? Is this in response to the ongoing lawsuit by workers claiming the hiring of Illegal alien workers has
brought down wages etc.?

I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt here that they may be actually trying to clean up their act.

Unfortunately, they no doubt would love Amnesty ASAP...

Here's my interpretation (just hunch, that's all) on what happened:

1. The law was laid down to management during the last couple raids, and they were told - 'you must clean up your act NOW, or next time, we'll be hauling management away with illegal workers...'

and

2. The economy is in a downturn. The %4 of employees ID'd as IAs/document forgers probably represent the decrease in their sales anyway.

The whole thing - I think - I was staged and timed to be able to jettison some workers to help achieve profitability. And, (worst of all) management goes on essentially as before...