Thread: U.S. Attorney: 595 ‘Illegal Aliens’ Arrested

U.S. Attorney: 595 ‘Illegal Aliens’ Arrested
[verbatim from U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton]



LAUREL, Miss.— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents executed a federal criminal search warrant yesterday at Howard Industries, Inc., an electric transformer manufacturing facility, for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, as well as a civil search warrant for individuals illegally in the United States. The announcement was made by ICE Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Investigations in New Orleans, Michael A. Holt, and Stan Harris, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi.

As a result of yesterday’s enforcement action, approximately 595 illegal aliens were arrested by ICE special agents. Of those, approximately 106 were identified as being eligible for an alternative to detention based on humanitarian reasons. These individuals will still be required to appear before a federal immigration judge who will ultimately determine whether or not they will be deported.

Eight criminal cases have been accepted for prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi. The criminal cases are focused on charges of aggravated identity theft. The other cases are being handled via administrative law procedures at the Department of Homeland Security.

“Yesterday’s enforcement action is part of ICE’s ongoing nationwide effort to shut down the employment magnet fueling illegal immigration,â€

related earlier thread
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-129556.html

Those arrested yesterday represent numerous countries including: Germany, Peru, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Honduras and Brazil.

Darn, there goes the argument that Hispanics are being singled out.

Feds detain nearly 600 in Miss. plant raid
Sweep of suspected illegal immigrants is the largest single-workplace raid


Members of a federal team raid Howard Industries in Laurel, Miss., during sweep of undocumented workers Monday, Aug. 25, 2008. Howard Industries produces dozens of products, including electrical transformers and medical supplies, according to the company's Web site.

LAUREL, Miss. - The largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history has caused panic among Hispanic families in this small southern Mississippi town, where federal agents rounded up nearly 600 plant workers suspected of being in the country illegally.

One worker caught in Monday's sweep at the Howard Industries transformer plant said fellow workers applauded as immigrants were taken into custody. Federal officials said a tip from a union member prompted them to start investigating several years ago.

Fabiola Pena, 21, cradled her 2-year-old daughter as she described a chaotic scene at the plant as the raid began, followed by clapping.

"I was crying the whole time. I didn't know what to do," Pena said. "We didn't know what was happening because everyone started running. Some people thought it was a bomb but then we figured out it was immigration."

Some released for humanitarian reasons
About 100 of those detained were released for humanitarian reasons, many of them mothers who were fitted with electronic monitoring bracelets and allowed to go home to their children, officials said.


George Clark / AP
Federal immigration agents raided Howard Industries headquarters, seen here in the Ellisville Industrial Park in Laurel, Miss., as members of the Homeland Security ICE team investigate if the company was using undocumented workers Monday, Aug. 25, 2008.
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Another 475 workers were transferred to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Jena, La. Nine who were under 18 were transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

John Foxworth, an attorney representing some of the immigrants, said eight appeared in federal court in Hattiesburg on Tuesday because they face criminal charges for allegedly using false Social Security and residency identification.

He said the raid was traumatic for families. "There was no communication, an immediate loss of any kind of news and a lack of understanding of what's happening to their loved ones," he said. "A complete and utter feeling of helplessness."

The superintendent of the county school district said about half of the district's approximately 160 Hispanic students were absent Tuesday.

Roberto Velez, pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Peniel, where an estimated 30 to 40 percent the 200 parishioners were caught up in the raid, said that's because parents were afraid immigration officials would take them.

"They didn't send their kids to school today," he said. "How scared is that?"

Those detained were from Brazil, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and Peru, said Barbara Gonzalez, an ICE spokeswoman.

Elizabeth Alegria, 26, a Mexican immigrant, was working at the plant Monday when ICE agents stormed in. When they found out she has two sons, ages 4 and 9, she was fitted with a bracelet and told to appear in federal court next month. Her husband, Andres, was not so lucky.

"I'm very traumatized because I don't know if they are going to let my husband go and when I will see him," Elizabeth Alegria said through a translator Tuesday as she returned to the Howard Industries parking lot to retrieve her sport utility vehicle.

"We have kids without dads and pregnant mothers who got their husbands taken away," said Velez's son, Robert, youth pastor at the church. "It was like a horror story. They got handled like they were criminals."

Policy to hire only citizens and legal immigrants
Howard Industries is in Mississippi's Pine Belt region, known for commercial timber growth and chicken processing plants. The tech company produces dozens of products ranging from electrical transformers to medical supplies, according to its Web site.

Gonzalez said agents had executed search warrants at both the plant and the company headquarters in nearby Ellisville. She said no company executives had been detained, but this is an "ongoing investigation and yesterday's action was just the first part."

A woman at the Ellisville headquarters told The Associated Press on Tuesday that no one was available to answer questions.

In a statement to the Laurel Leader-Call newspaper, Howard Industries said the company "runs every check allowed to ascertain the immigration status of all applicants for its jobs."

"It is company policy that it hires only U.S. citizens and legal immigrants," the statement said.

The Mississippi raid is one of several nationwide in recent years.

On May 12, federal immigration officials swept into Agriprocessors, the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant, in Iowa. Nearly 400 workers were detained and dozens of fraudulent permanent resident alien cards were seized from the plant's human resources department, according to court records. In December 2006, 1,297 were arrested at Swift meatpacking plants in Nebraska and five other states.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26410407/

THANK YOU, ICE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please, fellow Alipacers, call ICE to thank them:

James T. Hayes, Jr.
425 I Street NW
Room 7309
Washington, DC 20536
Phone: 202-305-2734

Thanks for the phone number...won't let you leave a message...so I will call back in the morning

THANK YOU ICE!!!!!!!!!

WOOO HOOOO great bust...but I am surprised only 8 out of almost 600 were using stolen idenities

We need more raids on this level and we will see a difference.

The superintendent of the county school district said about half of the district's approximately 160 Hispanic students were absent Tuesday.

Roberto Velez, pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Peniel, where an estimated 30 to 40 percent the 200 parishioners were caught up in the raid, said that's because parents were afraid immigration officials would take them.

This entire community is full of illegal invaders. For pete sakes! I would hate to guess how many other like communities are out there across this country! These people are like a cancer. As soon one moves in and sets up camp, they metastasize until the entire community is striken!!!

I can only imagine how many Howard industries there are in Los Angeles!

Everyone encountered was medically screened and interviewed by a Public Health Service officer to determine if they had any medical, caregiver, or other humanitarian concerns. As a result of this screening, ICE identified individuals eligible for humanitarian release and nine unaccompanied juveniles who are all 17-years-old. The juveniles, which included one female and eight males, were transferred into the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).

ORR ? I have never heard of this office! I hope they are not being "resettled' in this country!

Elizabeth Alegria, 26, a Mexican immigrant, was working at the plant Monday when ICE agents stormed in. When they found out she has two sons, ages 4 and 9, she was fitted with a bracelet and told to appear in federal court next month. Her husband, Andres, was not so lucky.

[quote]"I'm very traumatized because I don't know if they are going to let my husband go and when I will see him," Elizabeth Alegria said through a translator Tuesday as she returned to the Howard Industries parking lot to retrieve her sport utility vehicle.[/quote]

An illegal invader who needs a translator, is returning to pick up her sports utility vehicle!

These people have no shame! I suppose she has a valid drivers license too!