ICE disputes reports that Mace used in raid
By Emma James • August 29, 2008

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents disputed the claims of several detainees that force was used to deter employees at Howard Industries Monday.


In an interview Tuesday, two female detainees, who did not want their identities published, said that ICE agents sealed all exits and a worker who tried to run was sprayed with Mace.

Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for ICE, said that those accounts do not jibe with reports filed by agents after the raid that no force was used and that employees at the Laurel plant did not attempt to run.

The women also said that after sealing the exits, agents ordered workers to form two lines - one for Hispanics and one for non-Hispanics. They then separated the women from the men.

While ICE agents did ask plant workers to form two lines, Gonzalez said, they were based on self-reporting, with American citizens and permitted workers in one line and any other category, including illegal workers, in another.

"The females were then asked to go to the cafeteria, so yes, they were separated from the men," Gonzalez said. "Once in the cafeteria, they were asked to form two lines based on self-reporting also."


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