A suspected illegal worker at a Del Monte plant in St. Johns is led away after a raid on the plant on Tuesday.
Immigration Officials Arrest 100 Illegal Workers in Raid on Oregon Food Plant
Fox News
PORTLAND, Ore.
Federal agents on Tuesday raided the offices of a food processing plant suspected of employing hundreds of illegal workers who used Social Security numbers that belonged to other people or were made up, authorities said.
By Tuesday morning, approximately 100 workers had been placed under administrative arrest to be processed for possible deportation, an official with the Department of Homeland Security said. More arrests were expected, the official said.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to talk about the case ahead of a news conference scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
According to an affidavit filed by Maximillian Trimm, a special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, only 48 of nearly 600 employees at the Fresh Del Monte Produce fruit and vegetable processing plant had valid Social Security numbers.
Prosecutors said a federal grand jury had indicted three people on criminal charges, but the indictment remained under seal.
The raid at American Staffing Resources Inc. offices at the plant was based on an investigation by ICE and the Social Security Administration that began in January, the official told The Associated Press.
Separate American Staffing offices also were searched, along with a Fresh Del Monte office, officials said.
A federal judge authorized agents to search for evidence of violations such as hiring illegal aliens, identity theft and Social Security fraud, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Portland.
Federal prosecutors said that 20 of the Social Security numbers being misused belonged to people older than 60, and that 29 belonged to dead people.
Aeryca Steinbauer, spokeswoman for CAUSA Oregon, an immigration rights group, was outside the Del Monte plant as agents were interviewing workers, but she said she had not been able to talk to any of them.
From the United States Attorney Karin J. Immergut
District of Oregon
Press release…..a pdf file
from the press release……
“Based on this affidavit, the Magistrate Judge authorized ICE and Social Security agents
to search for evidence of the following federal crimes: hiring illegal aliens; harboring illegal
aliens; encouraging illegal aliens to reside in the United States; identity theft; immigration
documents fraud; and Social Security fraud. The United States Attorney’s Office will make no
further comment regarding the ongoing criminal investigation at this time.
“Today’s enforcement action is part of ICE’s continued efforts to investigate employers
who facilitate the hiring of undocumented workers,” said Leigh Winchell, Special Agent in
Charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Seattle. “No employer, regardless of industry or
location is immune from complying with the nation’s laws.”
Wild Thing’s comment………..
Interesting to note here that enforcing EXISTING LAWS works just fine and dandy. When they decide to do it! Hello Bush, Kennedy, Graham, McCain, Kyl , Reid, etc. are you paying attention???? Oh I forgot they want to give the illegal’s a tamper proof ID. Now someone tell me how a “tamper proof ID” will stop this? And the illegal’s are just “undocumented AMERICANS” according to Harry Reid.
Just let law enforcement and the Boarder Patrol do their jobs. New laws will not work if the old laws cannot even be enforced.
They do this in Nebraska, too–but it’s just “catch and release” and they come right back–with another stolen ID.
We have to make it difficult for them to come back–to coin a phrase from “Waterworld” and Dennis Hopper–they’re like a “turd that won’t flush.”
Yes, they do the awful jobs no one wants, but my hubby has done those jobs and there are plenty of teenagers and recent high school graduates who need jobs and can’t get them. Hard work is good for the soul. It teaches you something along the way.
Going after their places of employment is still the best way to break the back of illegal immigration. Fine the employers, jail the illegals for a month so they lose a months pay then deport them. It is financial.
Threaten Mexico with a ban on American tourists. Tax money wire transfers to Mexico. There are many financial ways to really discourage illegal immigration. But the core problem really lies with American politicians and businessmen. As long as these people encourage immigration the problem will never be solved.
That tamper proof ID is not for the Illegals, it’s to build the government dossier on -YOU, the emminent danger to totalitarian control.
There is no will to locate and remove the illegal, the authorities will not aggressively search for nor remove those here on expired visitor’s visa’s. This Oregon fluke is an abnormal abberration because Oregon is like Washington in their quest to be sanctuary states. The cities of Portland and Seattle openly flaunt their total disregard of national laws, Seattle has Jim McDermmott and Portland has Ron Wyden supporting the anarchist leftist causes. Since federal funding is from fiscal year to fiscal year and based on justifing allocation of funds this looks like another justification move with appropriate press coverage. Most likely there was a threat of a cutback or layoff at the Oregon INS office and there was a “justify my job movement’ by INS workers for another roundup and subsequent Illegal alien release. No different than it has been for over 35 years here on the left coast. Will they deport those who were rounded up, or just squeeze$$$ them a bit and release them? Deportation for most is an all expense paid vacation to Mexico then a rapid return ‘home”. The existing laws are sufficient, the need diligent enforcement, it is illegal to hire an alien employee without the proper documentation. My last employer had manufacturing in China and Hungary as well as locally. Rather than hire locally skilled craftsmen due to prevailaing state labor laws in this union controlled environment, he had two Mexican nationals from California, two Vietnamese nationals, one Chinese national and two Hungarian nationals, all aliens working here on visitor visa’s ‘to observe the manufacturing and quality assurance processes’, doing skilled labor, the Hungarians were living in his home as house guests, driving his car to work. When their visa’s would expire they’d all go on a ‘business trip’with the boss to the respective country and two weeks later they’d be back. He filled the rest of the work out with high school grads and drop outs that he’d work long enough for them to get wise to him then he’d fire them and hire new ones. My skills were unique and hard to find or I’d have been treated like those kids, I quit working for the sorry bastard.
I’ll be more impressed when employers start doing the perp walk.
Punish employers and the illegals will pack up and leave on their own.
The only immigration reform that needs passing is a bill that will levy huge fines and mandatory prison sentences for employers. Then start enforcing them.
Lynn, I agree. That is baloney when they say no one else wants their jobs. I heard on the radio the other night that a man had been hiring illegals and has stopped now because he is concerned about getting in trouble and he called in to the radio host to complain. LOL Then he went on to say he was paying them $18.00 to work in his plant. Good grief, I bet there are a lot of people here legally that would love to make $18.00 and hour.
Tom I agree with your suggestions.
Jack wow that was really something. Thank you so much for sharing about it.
Kristopher, yesss and why on earth don’t some of these employeers have ethics and integrity. I hate this, and I hate that there are so many that sell their soul to the devil like these employeers have done.
razOr I agree and they have to mean it, have the law and stick to it, no pay offs nothing.