Over 100 Missouri poultry plant workers arrested as illegal

Over 100 Missouri poultry plant workers arrested as illegal aliens


Associated Press - May 22, 2007 4:44 PM ET

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - Federal immigration agents arrested more than 100 workers as suspected illegal immigrants in a raid on a southwest Missouri poultry plant Tuesday.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it served a federal criminal search warrant at the George's processing plant in Butterfield in Barry County, about 60 miles southwest of Springfield.

Pete Baird of the US immigration office for Missouri and Kansas said the number of people detained made it a large operation for the region.

Most of those arrested were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Those arrested will be taken to detention facilities in Wichita, Kansas; Kansas City and St. Louis.

http://www.kbsd6.com/Global/story.asp?S=6553499

good

If they would just come a few more miles south to Tyson foods they could add considerably to that figure.

and will they be prosecuted or deported?
what about the employer?

just what we need more sob stories in the news while the bill is being debated :?

Keep the raids coming :P Make the employers pay dearly :x

"Chicken pluckers" per Teddy Kennedy today on Cspan.

Hi Vic, I agree I've been saying for months why have they not targeted Tyson Foods, Cargill, Pilgrims Pride, Excel. They are some of the largest companies who I know for sure are employing illegals. They would hit a deportation jackpot!
But like I've said before it seems that they target 20, 30, 50, 100, to try to make it look like they are making progress.Dont get me wrong glad they are doing a little but at that rate for every 100 they deport another 500or more come over the border every night!
My question is why the small fry go after the many hundreds that are working in these companies and fine the employers for not verifying documentation!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blkkat99

Hi Vic, I agree I've been saying for months why have they not targeted Tyson Foods, Cargill, Pilgrims Pride, Excel. They are some of the largest companies who I know for sure are employing illegals. They would hit a deportation jackpot!
But like I've said before it seems that they target 20, 30, 50, 100, to try to make it look like they are making progress.Dont get me wrong glad they are doing a little but at that rate for every 100 they deport another 500or more come over the border every night!
My question is why the small fry go after the many hundreds that are working in these companies and fine the employers for not verifying documentation!

---

Employers are not required to "verify" SSNs. The states they must accept the identification papers given to them, unless they are clearly fraudulent.Consequently, employers can state, "I didn't know thwy were illegal" and escape any penalty.

The employers don't want to know. They want cheap dependable workers. American aren't considered cheap or dependable. We take sick days oe switch to an easier job for more money.

UNFORTUNATELY its already been reported that those who claim to be single parents of minors have been allowed to return

This just may be fluff for the 6 o'clock news.

They will sit in the detention centers until they see if amnesty goes through if it does they will go free!! They are playing a waiting game and in the mean time it looks like they are doing their job. :evil:

No charges against the employer, figures! :x
~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday, May 23, 2007


Federal agents arrest over 100 for immigration violations in Missouri raid
Michael Sung at 11:19 AM ET



[JURIST] US federal agents with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG) [official websites] conducted a joint raid [ICE press release] on a poultry processing plant owned by George’s Processing Inc. located in Butterfield, Missouri Tuesday, arresting more than 100 employees for immigration violations. Pete Baird, the agent in charge of the ICE office in Kansas City, Missouri, said that "these worksite enforcement actions help reduce the job magnet that encourages aliens to enter the country illegally" and added that the raid was conducted as a part of an identity theft and false document investigation. ICE spokesperson Tim Counts said that no charges have been filed against George's Processing Inc., and declined to say whether the poultry processing plant was aware that it was hiring undocumented workers. According to the 2000 census, Butterfield is home to approximately 397 residents.

The raid is a part of a recent effort by ICE officials to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants, and comes amid debates in the US Senate concerning a controversial immigration reform proposal [JURIST report; JURIST news archive] that, if approved, would provide temporary work visas to up to 600,000 workers. In March, 360 people were arrested by ICE agents in Massachusetts in a raid at Michael Bianco Inc. [corporate website; JURIST report], a leather factory that makes equipment for the US military. AP has more.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2 ... 00-for.php

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Plant workers plead guilty to illegal immigration
By SBJ Staff - 9/11/2007 10:23:03 AM
Springfield Business Journal Staff

Five former employees of George’s Processing Inc. in Butterfield pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to charges related to immigration and identity theft.

The five were among 136 employees arrested at the poultry-processing plant on May 22 because they were believed to be illegal immigrants. About 100 officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, U.S. Marshals Service and the Missouri Highway Patrol served warrants at the plant that day.

Mexico citizen Armando Verde-Villanueva, 23; and Guatemala citizens Elias Hernandez-Tevalan, 41; Bladimiro Gomez-Garcia, 33; Gabriel Lopez-Alvarado, 38; and Ervin Mendez-Ordonez, 22, have pleaded guilty in separate appearances before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge James C. England to charges contained in federal indictments that were returned in June.

Each pleaded guilty to falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen, aggravated identity theft and misuse of a Social Security number. Verde-Villanueva and Gomez-Garcia also each pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States after being deported.

The five are the only arrested employees who have been processed through the system so far, according to U.S. Attorney Western District of Missouri spokesman Don Ledford.

No charges have been filed against George’s, which is based in Springdale, Ark.


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