Feds Raid 6 Swift and Company Meatpacking Plants in Apparent Illegal Immigration Search

Fox News ^ | Dec. 12, 2006 | Not Cited

[conservativecorner]

GREELEY, Colo. — Federal agents raided six Swift & Co. processing plants in six states on Tuesday in search of illegal immigrants who stole the identities of lawful U.S. residents and used their Social Security numbers to get jobs at the beef and pork company.

Agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency executed search warrants at Swift's processing facilities in Greeley, Colo.; Grand Island, Neb.; Cactus, Texas; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minn.

ICE officials did not have an arrest total but said workers were being arrested on administrative immigration violations and in some cases, existing criminal arrest warrants. The warrants allow federal agents to arrest anyone at the plant who is in the United States illegally.

They said criminal charges of aggravated identity theft and other violations were possible.

A company statement obtained by FOXNews.com said all the facilities raided except the one in Hyrum are unionized. No civil or criminal charges have yet been filed against Swift or any current employees.

The company said every employee hired since 1997 have completed the proper forms and received proper work authorization from the government.

[doug from upland]

Do this to about 10,000 employers and we will start making a dent in the problem.

[OldSmaj]

Okay, waiting for the illegal immigration apologists now.

3...2...1...

[Obadiah]

So, can one extrapolate that identity theft is increasing due to the growing illegal immigrant population? This may in fact be the case, although, I am certain this would never ever be reported as such. Rather, we would continue to see commercials with funny voice overs, non of whom would have Hispanic accents.

[NormsRevenge]

ICE 'em!

I remember the old 'In Search of' .. with Leonard Nimoy.

This week's episode .. (with hopefully 10 million more episodes to follow)

In Search of .. Illegal immigrants who stole the identities of lawful U.S. residents and used their Social Security numbers to get jobs..

Got Popcorn?

[EagleUSA]

More tokenism. If the feds wanted to STOP illegal immigration, they would close the border.

[kellynla]

drip...drip...drip...








at this rate, we can all start teaching our grandchildren Spanish so they can apply for jobs from the personnel supervisor who will only speak Spanish!

[Condor51]

Federal agents raided six Swift & Co. processing plants

Oh noooooooooooo!!! There goes the Ham for New Years.

Plus, now we're all going to starve.

/s

[RJL]

Feds Raid 6 Swift and Company Meatpacking Plants in Apparent Illegal Immigration Search

Yawn... The charade continues. Twenty million illegals in the US. The ICE agents have to be careful not to trip over them all, but a couple times a year they have to justify their phony-baloney jobs by making a raid and issuing a press release.

[nothingnew]

I live in Hyrum UT. I thought of taking a job at the Swift plant here, but didn't speak Mexican........

FMCDH(BITS)

[cripplecreek]

Breaking on FOX now. They're saying hundreds.

It's always nice to know that hundreds of unknown people have access to our food supply.

[WatchingInAmazement]

No, we won't starve. Check out Bar S meats, they've been using the verification system for years to avoid hiring illegals.

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44726

"I have an answer back within a minute," Martin Thompson, vice president for human resources at Bar-S Foods Co., a Phoenix-based meat-processing firm told the Arizona Republic. The company has been able to participate in the program since 1998 because some of its 1,500 employees are in California and Texas."

"Less than 8 percent of the time we will find someone where the computer kicks them back," says Thompson. That's a reduction from the 30 percent Bar-S was seeing in 1998 when it first started the program.

But if others decide to join Bar-S, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may not be ready. On its website, the agency warns: "If significantly more employers than anticipated choose to participate in the Basic Pilot Program, USCIS may have to limit the number of participants." (snip)

[4yearlurker]

In 1979 I worked at Cudahays packing plant in Phoenix,AZ. The place was huge. We processed about 600 hogs and about 180 head of cattle a day. Almost everybody working there was a Mexican. From allfall to bosses. I was in the minority.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

The entire process is so outdated and needs to be overhauled. Verifying employment and legal status needs to be outsourced to a private firm, which can do it electronically instantly. It takes weeks for paperwork to get through Social Security.

[sheana]

Come on..............that MIGHT be effective and NOONE wants that!

[RJL]

Agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement "ICE" agency executed search warrants at Swift's processing facilities

I wonder if the ICE agents have to belong to the Screen Actors Guild? Here, once again, they are putting on a fictitious show purely for entertainment, even if it's loosely based on reality.

[Redleg Duke]

Interesting how whenever the Governmaent starts to move in the right direction, all of the boo-birds come out complaining about how it is too late and not enough.

They would bitch if we hanged 'em with a new rope!

[gubamyster]

ping

[ApplegateRanch]

They would bitch if we hanged 'em with a new rope!

Only if it wasn't a replacement for a worn out one.

You can hang LOTS of people with a used rope, before it needs replacing. Waste not, want not, the very essence of Fiscal Conservatism.

[D-Chivas]

Would you be willing to pay twice as much for ground beef if you knew it kept illegals out of the US? I would.