DES MOINES, Iowa, June 2, 2008
No Employers Charged In Immigration Bust
Almost 400 Illegal Immigrant Workers Arrested, But Still No Managers Facing Charges
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In this Dec. 1, 2004 file photo, a truck leaves the AgriProcessors, Inc., slaughterhouse and packing plant in Postville, Iowa. After the biggest immigration raid in U.S. history on May 14, 2008, hundreds of workers have been sentenced but not one company official as yet faces any charges. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
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Worker advocates and lawmakers say the fact that nearly 400 workers were arrested in the May 12 raid at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville - or more than one-third of the total number of employees - proves that company officials must have known they were hiring illegal immigrants.
"Until we enforce our immigration laws equally against both employers and employees who break the law, we will continue to have a problem with immigration," said U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, an Iowa Democrat whose district borders Postville.
Such raids are designed to get headlines and make it appear that the federal government is cracking down on illegal immigration, said Frank Sharry, executive director of the immigration reform group America's Voice. But he says even those who think enforcement is the answer can't seriously believe the 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. can be arrested and deported.
"Even if you wanted to pursue an imbalanced enforcement-first strategy, the only thoughtful way to do it would be to go after employers, make examples of them and try to scare other employers into compliance," he said. "They're not doing that."
The owner of the Postville plant, Aaron Rubashkin, has said that the company is conducting its own investigation "into the circumstances which led to the recent work site enforcement action, and is fully cooperating with the government." He said the company could not respond to specific allegations due to pending legal issues.
Court documents filed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent before the raid at the Postville plant indicate that authorities believed company supervisors were violating a number of federal laws including harboring illegal immigrants. An application and affidavit for search warrant alleged that:
Immigration officials said the 389 arrests at the plant meant it was the largest single-site immigration raid in U.S. history. Of those arrested, 297 pleaded guilty and were sentenced. The guilty pleas included use of false identification documents to obtain employment, false use of a Social Security number or cards and unlawful re-entry into the United States.
About 60 of the workers taken into custody were released for humanitarian reasons and do not face criminal charges, while 20 others were detained on immigration violations only and face deportation proceedings, said Bob Teig, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the Iowa's northern district. Five other defendants did not enter pleas and have cases pending in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids.
The large number of people arrested, coupled with the allegations against Agriprocessors, has led some to conclude that the company is at least as culpable as the workers.
"I'll be interested to see if federal authorities will be bringing any charges against the employer," Braley said in a telephone interview.
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Braley has questioned the cost of the Postville raid as well as an operation at Swift & Co. plants in Marshalltown and five other Midwest cities in 2006. Although federal agents arrested about 1,300 workers in raids at the Swift plants, Braley noted that no top company officials were charged.Is it not reasonable to assume that if over a third of the work force employed at this plant violated labor law in one form or another that management has to have some complicity in those violations?
Rep. Timothy Bishop, D- NYICE officials told Braley they didn't have a cost estimate for the Swift raids.
Although it primarily has been Democrats who have questioned why few company officials are charged in immigration raids, the Republican congressman who represents Postville also expressed disappointment about how that operation was handled.
James Carstensen, a spokesman for Rep. Tom Latham, said he views the raid as a blow to families seeking a better life and for the community, which is suffering economically.
"It's a tragedy of an immigration system that is absolutely broken and the tragedy of an enforcement system that is probably not working as effectively as promised by the Bush administration," Carstensen said.
Rep. Timothy Bishop raised concerns about the federal action during a May 20 hearing of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and Labor.
"Is it not reasonable to assume that if over a third of the work force employed at this plant violated labor law in one form or another that management has to have some complicity in those violations?" he asked James Spero, a deputy assistant director for ICE.
Spero answered that he couldn't comment on a potential ongoing investigation but said immigration enforcement at workplaces does include investigations into violations by management and owners.
"The goal for our work site operations is to target and develop cases against the egregious employers who are committing violations," he said.
Spero said investigations of the employers often take more time, and he noted that agents in Postville had search warrants and seized numerous documents from the company.
Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for the agency, said in a statement that it targets employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants but "must build work site investigations in stages."
"Developing sufficient evidence against employers requires complex, white-collar crime investigations that can take years to bear fruit," she said.
The agency said it filed criminal charges against more than 90 individuals in company supervisory positions last year. That is out of a total of 863 people who were charged with crimes during the year and 4,000 administrative arrests.
Agriprocessors, established in 1987 when Brooklyn, New York, butcher Aaron Rubashkin bought a shuttered meatpacking plant, is now the nation's largest kosher meatpacking facility. The owner's son, Sholom Rubashkin, has been running the Postville operation.
However, the company said in its statement that it was seeking a new chief executive for the Postville operation.
"The best course of action for the company, its employees, the local community and our customers is to bring new leadership to Agriprocessors," Rubashkin said in the statement.
The plant was closed on the day of the raid but resumed operation the next day at a reduced level.
Company officials said they were hiring replacement employees and were working with immigration officials to "help us bolster our compliance efforts to employ only properly documented employees."
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 60 Comments
- THE EMPLOYERS SHOULD FACE STIFF FINES AND MANDATORY JAIL, SECOND OFFENCE PRISON AND SEIZURE OF ASSETS. THESE BUSINESSES HIRE ILLEGALS CHEAPLY, THEN GLADLY PASS ON THE SOCIAL BURDEN (HOUSING AND MEDICAL BENEFITS) TO U.S. CITIZENS . . THIS HAPPENS UNDER THE APPROVING EYES OF BOTH DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS.
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- And it wouldn''t hurt if their population went DOWN dramatically either. Sorry, Catholic Church. Yes, I know. I''m headed to h e l l.
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- The only way that the situation is going to change is for the economies of Mexico & Central America to improve dramatically. Lots of luck.
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- The Illegals ought to have been deported within 24 hours back to whichever of some 200 countries they came from, and then if they wish to contest the matter they can avail themselves, as free persons in their own country, of local lawyers to appeal through the US Embassy in their own country. In the meantime WE THE PEOPLE are not providing them posh room and board in OUR country. As for the criminal employers of illegal aliens they ought to have been put in the Federal Prison "system", without bail, to be tried as traitors to the USA, which as you may know carries the death penalty (and that''s even too good for them).
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- (AP) After the biggest immigration raid in U.S. history, hundreds of workers have been sentenced but not one company official as yet faces any charges - something critics say is typical of a federal government that is tough on employees but easy on owners.
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This is really BS. Although I think these workers should be deported, they were inticed up here by employers willing to hire them. Those emplorers need to be penalized. If they don''t offer the jobs, the illegals will not come. It is always the less powerful, and in this case the workers, that are penalized. The powerful get off scott free. It is disgusting. - Reply to this comment
- I think it is time for the IRS to check each S/S number and see how manydependents each of the card holders were claiming and then check with the county and state and see how many of the spouses were drawing food stamps and housing as well as medicade and having anchor children on my dime. this would not be hard to do the records are there and
WHY ARE THE HR MANAGERS WALKING AWAY FREE as a bird. They the HR Managers are like the ducks I bet they all flew out as the weather around there got hot.
I believe they should all be down in jail with the employees they are the one who make this possible.
The best of good byes Frank Bowers of Austin, Tx - Reply to this comment
- That said, any return to state autonomy and constitutionality much also recognize an individual''s right to legally choose for himself state residency and/or state citizenship as outlined in virtually all state constitutions-- via the simple and peaceable action of residing, working and paying taxes there for the appropriate length of time, typically 1 year. The fact that most people have never heard of state citizenship and don''t even know their state has a constitution should be enough to question the federal government''s position on this issue.
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- The cornerstone of US law is the concept of jurisdiction. On the subject of who lives and works in any state of the union, the feds do not hold sway-- the states do. That''s how it''s outlined in the Constitution, and numerous color of law acts to the contrary cannot surrender such authority to the DHS, ICE or any other federal entity. Also, nowhere in our founding documents do we consider those who cross our borders criminals for merely trying to live or work here. National defense is only called into play if such alien incursion is for purpose of conquest or territorial land grab. Suffice to say none of this is ever discussed in the mainstream news. The so-called "illegals" issue can and should be dealt with at the state level via employer and school opportunites (i.e. provide such if "alien friends" as Jefferson called them are welcome in your state, and withold such if their labor is not required). This is much better than handing over yet more power to those at the federal level who have proven repeatedly they do not merit it.
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- I''''d bet that Hillary and Obama will not change this..
Posted by cornbiker
But McCain will? - Reply to this comment
- Posted by docpeter at 09:35 AM : Jun 02, 2008
"I, personally, like the new ideas taken up in Arizona. If an employer is found guilty of hiring illegals he/she is fined $10,000 for the first offense, or something like that. For a second offense, his/her licensc to operate the business is revoked for six months and there is a significant fine for it. "
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So true. It was implemented in Oklahoma and it is working well in both states. Illegals have left those states to either go back to Mexico or whatever country or left to go to other states with less strict laws.
The bottom line is that it doesn''''t cost a penny to deport them. They self deport on their own!!!
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Posted by mrpisces
No.... They just went to other illegal-immigrant-friendly states! Like California! Let''s just legalize them so we can end this problem! - Reply to this comment
- These (ICE) sweeps are a provision enacted in the 1986 Simpson/Mazzoli bill, when the first AMNESTY became law. Since then an invasion has taken place, with estimates of between 15 to 38 million aliens illegally settling here. California should be at the top of the list, for heavy duty (ICE) enforcement as this ''Sanctuary State'' seems to think they are above the law. Aiding and abetting an illegal alien is a criminal offense and the state has become a major player in violating this law. (ICE) has a hot-line for whistle blowers and will investigate any suspicious activity regarding illegal immigration. We have seen very limited arrest and imprisonment from the aftermath of (ICE) raids. The SAVE ACT will commit larger funding for (ICE), the border patrol, police departments, drug squads, special agents and other anti-illegal immigration measures. Pariah employers in corporate farms and general businesses, have not seen the interior walls of prison, as they think they are above the law. We must insist Democrats endorse the Federal SAVE ACT(H.R.4088), by phoning (2022243121) There leaders are keeping it dormant, waiting for the new presidents AMNESTY. Except that on its enactment millions more will pour across our border. The millions here already will be dwarfed in comparison to the next onslaughts, coming from third world countries. NUMBERSUSA.
Copy & Paste and distribute freely. - Reply to this comment
- One question,
How much did they charge out per man hour for work and how much did they pay the illegals?
That will tell you how much money the employers made off of these almost 400 illegals. - Reply to this comment
- WITHOUT HARSH FINES ON EMPLOYERS, THEY WILL NOT CHANGE THEIR PRACTICES OF ENCOURAGING ILLEGALS WITH DISEASES, LACK OF EDUCATION, AND 3RD-WORLD VALUES TO COME TO THE U.S....FURTHER PREVENTING FROM LOW-INCOME PEOPLE FROM GETTING A "STARTER" JOB...SUCH AS HIGH SCHOOOL STUDENTS OR POST H.S. GRADS OR MOMS AND PEOPLE FROM THE BLACK COMMUNITY. DON''T TELL ME THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT TAKING JOBS!
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- Keeps SSA afloat. Originally, it was 16 workers for one SSA recipient. Today it is something like 4:1. For some lucky person, it''''s 401:1.
Regards,
Posted by Nancy_Naive
It''s probably that guy from lifelock that drives around a truck with his real SS number on the side. - Reply to this comment
- Yea. Bust the ho''s, but the pimps get off scott free.
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- No Employers Charged????
One can assume that the law enforcement and judicial system in America is corrupt and has failed.
There such be an investigation, but the investigatores will probably be corrupt too. We have become Mexico. - Reply to this comment
- typical American double standard ***. force everything on the employees, taxes, immigration and whatnot but leave the employers alone, give them the tax breaks, give them the warm fuzzy feeling. THIS IS SUCH A JOKE!!!
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- "Even if you wanted to pursue an imbalanced enforcement-first strategy, the only thoughtful way to do it would be to go after employers, make examples of them and try to scare other employers into compliance," he said. "They''re not doing that."
I couldn''t agree more. They should sentence the employers to one year in federal prison and fine them $500,000 for each illegal immigrant they have in their employ.
The illegal immigration problem would be over immediately, and all those here would be forced to go home voluntarily. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by docpeter at 09:35 AM : Jun 02, 2008
"I, personally, like the new ideas taken up in Arizona. If an employer is found guilty of hiring illegals he/she is fined $10,000 for the first offense, or something like that. For a second offense, his/her licensc to operate the business is revoked for six months and there is a significant fine for it. "
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So true. It was implemented in Oklahoma and it is working well in both states. Illegals have left those states to either go back to Mexico or whatever country or left to go to other states with less strict laws.
The bottom line is that it doesn''t cost a penny to deport them. They self deport on their own!!! - Reply to this comment
The road ahead in Afghanistan, and the crucial decision Obama faces.
