Fed Raid At Plant Nabs 300 Illegal Workers

S.C. Chicken Processing Factory Targeted; False Paperwork Recovered, Officials Say

(CBS/ AP)  Federal agents swept through a chicken processing plant Tuesday, detaining more than 300 suspected illegal immigrants, sending panicked workers running and screaming through the hallways. Worried relatives collected outside, fearful their loved ones would be deported.

About 450 federal agents served search warrants and carried out enforcement operations at the House of Raeford's Columbia Farms, reports CBS affiliate WSPA-TV in Spartanburg, S.C. Authorities waited until a shift change, then asked employees to show identification, according to officials and witnesses. The business had been under scrutiny for months and the raid comes on the heels of even larger roundups at plants across the country.

Maria Juan, 22, was one of about 50 relatives and friends who huddled at the edge of the plant after the raid, some weeping and others talking frantically on cell phones. She was seeking information about her 68-year-old grandmother, a legal immigrant from Guatemala who went to work without identification papers but was later released.

"Families are going to be broken apart," Juan said. "There will be kids and babies left behind. Why are they doing this? Why? They didn't do anything. They only wanted to work."

Workers began running down hallways crying and screaming, said Herbert Rooker, 54, a third-shift janitor. He wore a blue band on his wrist, indicating agents had determined he was in the country legally.

Rooker had to duck into a bathroom to avoid what he called a stampede of people.

"I didn't know what they were running from. I had no reason to run," said Rooker who remained at the plant five hours after the raid because police still had his truck blocked.

Immigration officials kept the workers inside, spending most of the morning trying to figure out how many are in the country illegally, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald said.

The number could be substantial. A recent review found that immigration paperwork for more than 775 of 825 workers contained false information, McDonald said. Immigration agents scoured the plant for paperwork and other information for the investigation.

“The majority of them will be administratively processed and deported,” U.S. Attorney W. Walter Wilkins told WSPA. “Those deemed worthy of criminal prosecution, our office will handle. And we will treat them as we would any other criminal case.”

Hector Zapata said he was hauled in when he dropped his daughter off for work. Agents ignored his cries that he didn't work there, he said. Seven hours later, his daughter, in the U.S. legally, emerged, joining dozens of others milling around trying to figure out where their loved ones were being taken.

When he heard about the raid, Mateo Matias got his neighbor's three children out of school and brought them to the plant. He wanted immigration officials to see the boys - ages 4, 5 and 6 - in hopes they might release their mother, who is from Guatemala, where her husband remains.

"The mother is fighting for a better life so the children can survive," Matias said.

House of Raeford processes chickens and turkeys in eight plants in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana and Michigan. A sales manager at the Greenville plant referred questions to the company's Rose Hill, N.C., headquarters, where a woman answering the phone said there was no immediate comment.

Federal prosecutors and immigration agents have been investigating the plant's hiring practices for several months. Eleven people, along with the plant's human resources director, have been charged, most accused of falsifying documents. Seven have pleaded guilty, three are awaiting trial and two have fled, McDonald said.

U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins wouldn't say whether other plants or executives were being investigated.

The Charlotte Observer first reported in February that plant workers were in the country illegally and company managers knew it.

One worker backed up that account Tuesday.

"Everyone knew most of the workers were illegal. It was no secret. We just came in and did our work and you kept to yourself," said Dorothy Anthony, who works with sister Alice on the deboning line.

The women, both American citizens, were released after showing ID.

Greenville immigration attorney Amy Shelley said the phone at her law firm was ringing nonstop Tuesday as word of the raid spread. She didn't have any clients yet, but figures she will represent some of the arrested workers.

"The frustrating thing is most of their families don't know anything right now either," she said.

Officials are arranging to care for children of workers detained in the raid, one of several nationwide this year.

In August, more than 600 suspected illegal immigrants were detained at a Mississippi transformer plant in the largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history. And in May, 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.

[bhappy2-2]

Get rid of them all. Round up these ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADERS and deport them, or shoot them, or put them on a boat and send them over a waterfall. But GET RID OF THEM. Get rid of the criminals who hire these ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADERS as well. It is time to Take America Back, before we become North Mexico.

[frankinaz]

I''m damned tired of these people, and the businesses that hire them, being rewarded, and not punished for breaking laws here.
Also, many of the countries illegal immigrants come from (such as Mexico), receive U. S. aid dollars as well. These governments have been corrupt and greedy
for generations, and won''t take care of their populations-Instead, these government''s top leaders pocket most of the wealth and aid, and it''s up to the U. S. again to give these people healthcare,
medical treatment, education, and many other services at legal citizen/taxpayer''s expense, even though these people have trespassed into this country and are illegally staying here.
Washington, DC, should cut off all aid until these countries that can''t take responsibility for their own people. Basic services and priviledges to illegal immigrants here also need to be cut so they can''t work, stay here, or have their "Anchor Babies" here anymore.
It''s about time something is done about the out-of-control illegal immigration to this country, and I hope this company''s executives are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and the illegal immigrants are deported. If their families are split-up, too bad. A judge will send a criminal to prison if they have a family; why shoud illegal immigrant families be treated any differently for breaking the law? They know the risks. I feel no sympathy for the families split-up by deportation-That''s for the home societies and governments of these people to provide.

[crbartist]

prosecute the employer - they are the citizens breaking the law - make them pay to send the illegals back. make an example of these kind of companies.

[swwils]

Right on!Catch all of them and ship them home,after a 3 year jail sentence,I think good old Uncle Sam ought to give these people a choice join the military for 3 years ,automatic green card for your family.I mean when I was in Germany you had a choice after high school college,or the Military.IN 15 yrs that country has done some amazing things.Keep on catching them and send them back,and make them pay the plane fair.My taxes are supposed to be fro things in this country not illegal''s.

[rbburnerjr]

Has anyone noticed that these raided plants are non union and in Republican areas. If you want to exploit workers these plant owners know where to locate them.

[slim1h2o]

US unemployment for legals is over 6% yet there are still illegals working. Is it just me or is there something wrong with this picture?


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Posted by bob5ford at 03:28 PM : Oct 07, 2008

You must be drinking from the governments coolaid , if you think unemployement is 6%.

Right now the figure is 15%, and going up!

[messiahx4eve]

It tells me that if you want to work and receive a decent working wage, there is NO WORK available for registered citizens, however since the employers wish to save a buck, hiring illegals is the way to go. People want to work but they need to make a decent wage doing it. Do you honestly think illegal immigrants wandered in off the streets to this chicken slaughter house out of sheer luck? These companies and many others like them hire people to go search for illegals to do the work; $5.00 a day rather than $5.00 an hour. If the employers are made to pay restitution to the government PLUS the cost of shipping the illegals back to where they came from, this kind of stupidity would come to an end REAL fast.

[mark46n]

They all need to be deported and sent back to where they came from. Times are really hard right now and their are tens of thousands of legal Americans that are looking for jobs in this country. These rodents are eating up jobs that we Americans need to keep our American families fed and roofs over their heads. I''m glad the Government is doing something about it but their efforts are to few and far in between. I live in Florida, the Feds could walk into any construction Co. in this State and the illegals would scatter like roaches when you turn on the light.

[upto1947]

illegal immigrants need to go back home. No matter how they get there. Walking are in a box.

[jamesetling4]

So does this mean that these workers will be replaced by starving white people??

[far_point200]

Good job INS! Keep up the good work!

Another 50,000 of these raids and the INS will purge the US of illegal immigrants (well, except for the several million already on welfare and registered to vote as Democrats) and eliminate unemployment!

[questionnews]

It''s real easy folks!
Let US employers hire as many illegals as they want BUT!
Each year at tax time, require every employer to verify SSI# or work permits (green card). If they don''t match or cannot be verified, that employer cannot deduct the wages paid to that employee as a business cost. No employer will ever hire someone that they could not write off a a cost. That would devastate a company! That employee will be shown the door quickly without all the "Made For TV" news reports of men & women crying foul after these raids.
They all go back home and then they can begin the process of coming to the US legally.

[yongamerica]

Failure of this administration to fund and support the immigrations policies of the Regan era have led to the collapse and failure of controlling illegal immigration. John McCain will continue these policies despite the negative effects it has on the wages of legitimate workers and the very foundation of the US economy.

[sumarongi1]

They should have seized the company and jailed the management. The government could then sell the company to the highest bidder to cover hefty fines.

[brianp55]

"How do we go about getting raids like that at all factories, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, restaurants, convenience stores, construction companies, fisheries, appartment complexes,etc???"...mrcrosby1

It''s easier than that. Just pull into any Home Depot parking lot and you''ll nab 30-40.

[notfooled]

This all a dog and pony show as the employers of these illegals know full well that they are illegal.

But the compannies pay dirt wages instead of a decent living wage Americans could survive on.

These companies are the very reason American jobs are drying up, together with all the companies that send our jobs overseas.

Lets all get together and thank them for *** us all by boycotting all of their products.

Greedy ***.

[displeased]

Start hittting the employers with huge fines, in the noeighborhood of $500,000 for each infraction, maybe then they would stop hiring illegals and start offering wages that would attract American worker.
Posted by mrcrosby1

That or remove their business license. If they want to hire illegals, they take the gamble of losing their business. Would it be worth putting a business in jeopardy over saving a few wage dollars?

[lochlan-2009]

"S.C. Chicken Processing Factory Targeted; False Paperwork Recovered, Officials Say"

Don''t worry illegals, this will all stop after the election when they are certain you cannot vote with your fake credentials. That''s all this is about or we would be seeing the owners going down with jail terms and property seizures.

[redbds]

amazing how illegal aliens can get jobs but those on welfare cant

Posted by jamesm12341 at 01:16 PM : Oct 07, 2008

Because they work for less than going, sometimes minimum, wage.

Posted by Nancy_Naive at 01:39 PM : Oct 07, 2008

Minimum wage is more than welfare! The difference is that those on welfare don''t want to work. Illegal immigrants come here for exactly that purpose. I say get rid of welfare for those that are capable of working and drive the illegals out.

[hambonehd]

We will know all there is to know now.... Nancy showed up.!