Thread: Swift Raids in Cactus, TX nets 1/2 of employees

July 12, 2007, 10:07PM
Half of people arrested in Swift immigration raids in Cactus

© 2007 The Associated Press

DALLAS — Half of the 20 people arrested this week during a second set of nationwide immigration raids connected to Swift & Co. plants were in the Texas Panhandle, where the meat processor has a plant.

Agents made the arrests Tuesday and Wednesday in Cactus, Texas; Marshalltown, Iowa; Grand Island, Neb.; Worthington, Minn.; Greeley, Colo.; and Hyrum, Utah; where Swift has plants. They involved current and former Swift employees, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement Thursday.

The 10 people taken into custody from Cactus, about 65 miles north of Amarillo, were suspected of identity theft or immigration violations, ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok told The Associated Press Thursday night.

The latest arrests included Swift employees suspected of identity theft who were identified by the Federal Trade Commission. The Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, along with four U.S. attorney's offices and two district attorney's offices also helped in the investigation, ICE said.

Aside from the 20 arrests, ICE agents arrested a Swift supervisor in Greeley, for immigration violations. Another supervisor was arrested by police for an outstanding arrest warrant involving traffic violations.

A previous raid of Swift plants around the country yielded more than 1,200 arrests of undocumented workers. Many were accused of using fraudulently obtained identity documents, including Social Security cards, to get jobs at Swift.

No charges were filed against Swift, a Greeley-based company beef and pork processor.

On Thursday, Brazilian firm JBS S.A. announced completing its acquisition of meatpacker Swift & Co. The move creates the world's largest beef processor, the companies said.

JBS bought Swift from private equity firm HM Capital Partners LLC of Dallas and Vail-based Booth Creek Management Corp. in a cash deal worth about $1.5 billion, the companies said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4964782.html

My email to Swiftbrands this afternoon:

Please tell me why I keep reading about your company in the news as being one of the worst offenders in your hiring practices of illegal aliens.
If you cannot support the laws of this country, why should I support you by buying your brands?

While the subject line of this email says: "Consumer Feedback from a user of Swiftbrands"...please consider this email as being from a "former user of Swiftbrands".