Thread: Update: Hundreds of arrests predicted at Iowa ICE raid

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http://www.alipac.us/article3176.html


W

Tag 'em and bag 'em boys

Way to go ICE!!!!

700 arrests!!!

Wow, oh, wow! This is HUGE!

My prediction: brace yourselves for the "sob stories" ....AND the profiteers of illegal immigration whining about how w/o CIR/AMNESTY our economy is going to get worse.....

The thing is after the large raids at SWIFT and other meat/poultry plants around the nation...NONE of them closed and they are still operating. They were forced to hire AMERICANs and legal residents to replace the workers. Gee, who would've thought?

Along with the phone numbers of the illegal's family to contact for info...they should be posting the human resource number for job applicants to apply for jobs! Help wanted signs and ads should be posted all over the country!

Originally Posted by CindyB

Update: Up to 700 arrests estimated in Postville raid

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/p ... 12012/1001

Full Story:





Postville, Ia. – Four Homeland Security buses with U.S. Immigration and Customs tags on them have entered the Agriprocessors Inc. complex.

The buses, along with a trail of SUVs and vans with Minnesota license plates, arrived at about 11:45 a.m. Federal agents descended upon this northeast Iowa community at about 10 a.m. today to conduct an immigration raid at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant. The ICE agents entered the Postville plant to execute a criminal search warrant for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, said Tim Counts, a Midwest ICE spokesman. Agents are also executing a civil search warrant for people illegally in the United States, he said.


Immigration officials told aides to U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley that they expect 600 to 700 arrests. About 1,000 to 1,050 people work at the plant, according to Iowa Workforce Development.

Chuck Larson, a truck driver for Agriprocessing, was in the plant when the agents arrived. “There has to be 100 of them,â€

Another article. Originally posted by Law Enforcer on a thread which is now locked.

Hope you don't mind that I rescued it LE




http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi- ... 1703.story


Associated Press
12:03 PM CDT, May 12, 2008

POSTVILLE, Iowa - Immigration officials raided the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville on Monday as part of an investigation into identity theft.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement entered the plant at about 10 a.m. looking for evidence of identity theft, stolen Social Security numbers and for people who are in the country illegally, said Tim Counts, an ICE spokesman.

Counts said all those arrested would be interviewed by ICE agents to determine if they should be detained. If someone raises questions based on humanitarian grounds, they could be released pending a detention hearing.

"Usually, it's medical or if someone is a primary care giver to a child," Counts said.




He also said a toll-free telephone number had been set up to assist family members of those arrested who have questions about their detention status and the removal process.

A news conference was scheduled for 2 p.m. at the U.S. attorney's office in Cedar Rapids.

Sister Mary McCauley, a Roman Catholic nun at St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville, told The Associated Press that family members of plant workers were coming to the nearby church in tears.

"The people right now are hearing and seeing the helicopters," McCauley said. "They are just panic-stricken and very frightened and some of them are coming to the church as a safe haven."

The church is about five blocks from the plant, she said.

She said rumors began swirling around the community on Friday about an upcoming raid, leaving many people worried.

She said Immigration officials arrived with buses, vans and two helicopters.

She said she went to the plant to help provide information and assist workers but was not allowed to get close.

"Some of the people that are going to be detained are up against a fence and now they're tying their hands," she said.

Many of the plant workers are Hispanic, mostly from Mexico and Guatemala, she said.

Agriprocessors is the world's largest kosher meatpacking plant.

The raid comes after Immigration rights activists said they feared the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo may have been converted into a detention center.

Those concerns were prompted by an announcement last week that federal officials have leased the fairgrounds through May 25. The government said earlier this month that it leased the fairgrounds for a training exercise.

Doug Miller, general manager of the fairgrounds, said he was not allowed to release many details but that massive generators had been installed next to many of the buildings and windows had been covered up. A number of trailers have also been set up at the site.

Waterloo is about 75 miles from Postville.

In December 2006, ICE raided the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Marshalltown, arresting at least 90 workers as part of a six-state raid.

Several of the workers were taken to Camp Dodge in Johnston and held in military barracks.

About 1,280 Swift workers were arrested in the raid in Iowa and the five other states in the biggest crackdown in history on Immigration violations at one company

Vilsack, Minutemen, Zieman weigh in on raid

BY JASON CLAYWORTH and WILLIAM PETROSKI • REGISTER STAFF WRITERS • May 12, 2008

Officials and groups across Iowa had mixed reactions to today's Postville immigration investigation.

Vilsack: Action was warranted despite previous concerns

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said today that the Postville immigration investigations are warranted despite concerns that federal official violated the constitutional rights of people in past raids.

“Remember our concern has not been about whether or not there should be raids,â€

Good news!

Des Moines Register asking for stories of those affected by the raid:

Do you know anyone involved in today's meatpacking plant raid in Postville? To share a story or news tip, e-mail Assistant Managing Editor Kathy Bolten at kbolten@dmreg.com

Update: ICE describes raid as 'largest in Iowa history'
By NIGEL DUARA and WILLIAM PETROSKI • REGISTER STAFF WRITERS • May 12, 2008



Postville, Ia. – At least 300 people were arrested today at the Agriprocessors, Inc. meat packing plant, federal officials said.

The operation, which targeted people who illegally used other persons Social Security numbers and were in the U.S. illegally, was the largest of its kind in Iowa, said Claude Arnold, a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Four Homeland Security buses with U.S. Immigration and Customs tags on them were a the plant this morning.

The buses, along with a trail of SUVs and vans with Minnesota license plates, arrived at about 11:45 a.m.

Federal agents descended upon this northeast Iowa community at about 10 a.m. today to conduct an immigration raid at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant.

The ICE agents entered the Postville plant to execute a criminal search warrant for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, said Tim Counts, a Midwest ICE spokesman.

Agents are also executing a civil search warrant for people illegally in the United States, he said.

Immigration officials told aides to U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley that they expect 600 to 700 arrests. About 1,000 to 1,050 people work at the plant, according to Iowa Workforce Development.

Chuck Larson, a truck driver for Agriprocessing, was in the plant when the agents arrived. “There has to be 100 of them,â€