Immigration Law
Hundreds Held in Another Big ICE Raid
Posted Aug 26, 2008, 11:34 am CST
By Martha Neil
In another signpost of stepped-up immigration enforcement, federal agents raided a Mississippi factory yesterday, detaining at least 350 workers who allegedly are in the country illegally.
"The raid follows a similar large-scale immigration operation at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, in May when nearly 400 workers were detained," reports the New York Times. "That raid was a significant escalation of the Bush administration’s enforcement practices because those detained were not simply deported, as in previous raids, but were imprisoned for months on criminal charges of using false documents."
It is not immediately clear what will happen to those detained in yesterday's raid by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents, at Howard Industries in Laurel, Miss.
About 50 of those held, such as pregnant women and nursing mothers, are expected to be released on humanitarian grounds and monitored electronically, reports the Hattiesburg American.
Of the other 300, about 10 are to be arraigned today in federal court. (A subsequent article in the American indicates that two members of this group were charged with aggravated identity theft.)
The newspaper says federal agents separated Latino workers from others, apparently interviewing only the former. An ICS spokesperson says that the raid resulted from a tip by a union member.
In a written statement, the company, which manufactures electrical transformers and medical supplies, among other products, says it has a policy of hiring only legal workers, the Times reports. It is one of the largest employers in the area.
Additional coverage:
Associated Press: "ICE raids Miss. plant seeking illegal workers"
ABAJournal.com: "Largest-Ever ICE Raid Nets 390 at Iowa Meatpacking Plant"
Hattiesburg American: "Residents lined up for jobs at Howard Industries"
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Nov 19, 2008, 07:48 pm CST
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Comments
Posted by J.D. - 2 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, 7 hours, 1 minute ago
And now, hundreds of unemployed Americans are lining up to take the jobs that the wealthy elitists Bush-Obama-McCain-Kennedy claim are “jobs Americans won’t do.“ If either Obama or McCain actually cared about the working class, they would vigorously enforce immigration laws. Unfortunately, they both have signaled their desire to perpetuate slave labor for the benefit of Big Business. That’s not change I can believe in.
“Applicants line up to fill jobs open after plant raid”
Ed Kemp • Hattiesburg American • August 27, 2008
LAUREL — Howard Industries found itself at the center of activity again Tuesday.
Hundreds of job applicants lined up, eager to take advantage of the sudden job openings at the plant located in Jones County, where the unemployment rate is 6.3 percent.
ICE agents on Monday seized 595 plant workers suspected of being in the country illegally. Several workers, who did not identify themselves, said Tuesday they were working and trying to keep the plant operational in the wake of the sudden loss of co-workers.
They said it was common knowledge many of their co-workers were suspected to be illegal.
It’s an idea that maddens Samantha Stevens, 18, of Heidelberg, who was among those who pulled up to Avenue A across from the plant’s entrance throughout the day. She said she has been unable to find a job since she graduated from Heidelberg High School in the spring and blames, in part, the willingness of companies to hire illegal workers.
“We were here first. It’s not fair for them to have a job,“ she explained.
Others welcomed the vacancies left by the detained workers.
Gwendolyn Watkins, 40, of Stonewall said she drove 40 miles to Laurel to fill out an application with the electronics maker. She worked at Tower Automotive in Meridian as a production worker for eight months before job cuts in June left her unemployed.
She now hopes to get on at Howard, and said that, while “everyone needs a job,“ she believes that legal workers should be the priority.
But for Samantha Sanchez, the issue wasn’t quite so clear-cut. She filled out her application at the plant, and, in the process, revisited a scene that caused her anguish the previous day. Her husband, Juan Sanchez, a welder, was one of the workers detained in Monday’s raid, and she hasn’t spoken to him since he called her Monday morning.
She said her husband, who has been living in the United States for 10 years and working on an immigration case for six, was on the verge of achieving permanent residency.
She also spoke to the issue of fairness that has the government secreting her husband and the father of her four children.
“He doesn’t drink; he doesn’t smoke. He takes care of his kids,“ she said.
As to why she would return so soon to this place, Sanchez, who’s currently unemployed and had previously worked at Howard as a coil winder, said it comes down to dollars and cents.
“I have to feed my family,“ she said.