Thread: New York dairy farmer charged with harboring illegal aliens

I.C.E. News Release

March 30, 2011
Syracuse, NY

Upstate New York dairy farmer charged with harboring illegal aliens

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - An Adams, N.Y., farmer was arrested Wednesday and charged with harboring illegal aliens, following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.

John Barney, 47, was taken into custody by ICE HSI special agents after a criminal complaint was filed in federal court charging Barney with harboring illegal aliens. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York Richard S. Hartunian. Barney made his initial appearance Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew T. Baxter, and was released on his own recognizance.

If found guilty, Barney faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

This case is being investigated by the Syracuse ICE HSI office and being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ransom P. Reynolds.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423.

U.S. Dept of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1103/1 ... racuse.htm

MAN thats great.I know wre there are several farmers here in KY.within walking distance of home that have them living and working their farms.I wish ice would raid them.Thats the way we can win start fining and jailing the people that hire them.They cant get employement they will leave.IVE BEEN SAYING FOR A LONG TIME STARVE THEM OUT!!!!!

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security

This group is costing us a lot of money to run and the illegals are costing a huge amount in tax dollars as well. Maybe the investigative body needs to do more of their job in cleaning out the illegals and fining and imprisoning the people hiring these illegals to help pay for their expenditures

Originally Posted by duckman

MAN thats great.I know wre there are several farmers here in KY.within walking distance of home that have them living and working their farms.I wish ice would raid them.Thats the way we can win start fining and jailing the people that hire them.They cant get employement they will leave.IVE BEEN SAYING FOR A LONG TIME STARVE THEM OUT!!!!!

Make copies of this article and send them to the farmers.
Maybe you can be like a neighborhood watch and clean up the area.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Originally Posted by duckman

MAN thats great.I know wre there are several farmers here in KY.within walking distance of home that have them living and working their farms.I wish ice would raid them.Thats the way we can win start fining and jailing the people that hire them.They cant get employement they will leave.IVE BEEN SAYING FOR A LONG TIME STARVE THEM OUT!!!!!

Make copies of this article and send them to the farmers.
Maybe you can be like a neighborhood watch and clean up the area.

BE a GOOD neighbor

And the taxpayers have been paying him to run a criminal operation.

http://farm.ewg.org/persondetail.php?cu ... =A00563225

Federal agents arrest farmer

'HARBORING ILLEGALS': An owner of farm where migrant worker died was handcuffed, taken to Syracuse

By DAVID C. SHAMPINE
TIMES STAFF WRITER
THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2011

SMITHVILLE — An owner of Butterville Farms, where an alleged illegal migrant worker died March 20, was arrested Wednesday morning by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents "for harboring illegals" and was taken in handcuffs to Syracuse.

John Barney, 48, of 11303 County Route 75, was arraigned and released without bail by U.S. District Court Judge Andrew T. Baxter.

"They told me they were arresting him for harboring illegals," Jesse Barney, his brother and business partner, told reporters.

"We don't know if they are illegals," he said. "We can't challenge them" when migrant workers present a federal document — the I-9 form — to obtain temporary employment.

Jefferson County sheriff's detectives and deputies assisted the federal agents.

According to the U.S. attorney's office, a conviction for harboring illegal aliens carries a possible prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

Mr. Barney said the farm, where his father, Howard, now in Florida, is senior owner, had never been investigated about hiring practices until Porfirio Lopez, 46, Guatemala, died in an apparent fall on the farm. The next day, ICE was investigating and removed eight migrant workers. Only one of them has been identified: Jacinto Raymundo, 25.

Approximately 14 federal agents and sheriff's deputies in seven cars pulled up to the farm at 7:20 a.m., and Mr. Barney was placed in handcuffs almost immediately. Sheriff John P. Burns said ICE requested extra police assistance because two ICE agents felt they were in a confrontational situation with the owners and migrant workers in their initial visit to the farm.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan declined comment about the case, but released a criminal complaint that alleges Mr. Barney acknowledged to a sergeant of the Sheriff's Department that he was aware his workers were illegal aliens.

Jesse Barney said an ICE agent told him he would be called to come pick up his brother after arraignment. He was at a loss to explain why he was not also charged, since he is an equal partner with his brother in the farm business.

"John handles the cows, and I do crops," he said.

The brothers retained an attorney before the arrest, but they declined to identify the lawyer. Mr. Duncan said Mr. Barney was represented by an attorney at the arraignment, but he did not know who it was.

The last members of the police raid departed about 12 minutes after their arrival, taking with them the I-9 forms that migrant workers present to an employer for temporary employment.

The two brothers chatted with reporters who had been tipped off that something might be happening on the farm Wednesday morning. Before the arrival of police, the brothers said they had no warnings that something would be happening. ICE agents were supposed to have come Monday to collect the I-9 documents, but they never arrived, the brothers said.

Minutes after the discussion with reporters, they received a phone call alerting them that a caravan of police cars was coming from the north.

Mr. Barney was asked who called.

"We have good neighbors," Jesse Barney said.

He expressed his appreciation to those neighbors who helped out with their hired hands to do milking on the 1,200-head farm in the days after ICE removed the migrant workers.

Since then, the farm has hired replacement workers, he said. Many of them had to be trained, he said.

The brothers said during the pre-arrest interview that they had advertised in the past to hire help, but the only applicants were migrants. Publicity about the worker's death and the ICE investigation helped bring in job applicants, they said. As of Wednesday, they were back to their full complement of 17 workers, Jesse said.

Meanwhile, he was left Wednesday handling all of the administrative work and "going to pick up new parts" that he and his brother would have shared, he said.

The court documents indicate the migrant workers, speaking Spanish, admitted to the sheriff's sergeant that they were in the country illegally. Five of the migrant workers told ICE that they worked 12-hour shifts at hourly wages ranging from $7.75 to $8.75, with no taxes withheld, and their lodging provided by the farm.

One migrant was quoted, "The American workers get paid a lot more than I do and they get a lot more days off than I do."

While one of the migrants had worked on the farm only two weeks, another had been a Butterville hand for five years. Three others said they had worked there about a year.

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/arti ... /303319979

Five of the migrant workers told ICE that they worked 12-hour shifts at hourly wages ranging from $7.75 to $8.75, with no taxes withheld, and their lodging provided by the farm.

No taxes withheld?? They should be made to pay their back taxes to the IRS on all of that tax free money they earned. They can be assigned a TIN number and start coughing it up, the employer is guilty of evasion.

If found guilty, Barney faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

ICE is really cracking down on unlawful employments and wiping out illegal alien criminals all across the U.S.!!

Get em all, ICE!!!

Farmer arrested for employing illegal immigrants
(03/31/11)

Federal agents raided a Jefferson County dairy farm yesterday and arrested the farmer, a week after one of his Hispanic employees died in an apparent accident. 47 year-old John Barney of Adams is charged with harboring illegal immigrants. Todd Moe reports.

47 year-old John Barney of Adams is charged with harboring illegal immigrants. He was released from U.S. district court in Syracuse Wednesday on his own recognizance.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were investigating the death of Guatemalan Porfirio Lopez, who apparently fell from a farm fence, on March 20th. According to the criminal complaint, Barney is quoted several times as telling the agents that some of his workers are in the country illegally.

John Duncan is the assistant U.S. Attorney handling the case.

"The complaint reflects, at least in a reading of it, that the defendant was aware that they were illegal aliens working on the farm."

The complaint also states that in subsequent interviews, some of the Hispanic workers said they did not give Barney a social security document and that taxes were not being withheld from their paychecks.

That matters because under federal immigration law, farmers must require a social security document of an employee, but they don’t have to prove that the documents are valid.

Jay Matteson is the Jefferson County agricultural coordinator for Cornell Cooperative Extension. He says he’s been working with John Barney and Butterville Farms since the accident.

"I have very strongly asked the farm ownership, did you follow the letter of the law in making sure that the documents appear to be legal, which is what the farm is required to do. And they have stated up and down, yes."

Matteson says Barney’s arrest has had a chilling effect across the North Country dairy community. He says dozens of farms rely on Mexican and Central American labor to survive.

"Now what they saw today is that even though they do what they’re told to do as far as documentation, they still can be arrested."

If Barney is found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a 250,000 dollar fine.

http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/ ... immigrants