Identity Theft At the Heart Of Raids Aimed At Illegal Immigrants
December 12, 2006
Federal agents raided the Swift & Co. plant in Grand Island as part of an operation aimed at illegal immigrants using stolen identities at the company’s plants in six states.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents also hit plants in Greeley, Colorado; Marshalltown, Iowa; Worthington, Minnesota; and Hyrum, Utah, according to ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice.
ICE officials said the nationwide raids involved thousands of illegal immigrants. They will be interviewed in an effort to check on their status and identities.
Production was halted at all the Swift plants. The company denied any wrongdoing. In a prepared statement the company said:
“Operations at the affected Swift facilities have been temporarily suspended pending the anticipated end-of-day completion of the interview process. Shortly thereafter, Swift expects to resume operations, but production levels will depend on the number of employees, if any, detained for further interviewing or otherwise unable to return to work.”
The six facilities represent all of Swift's domestic beef processing capacity and 77% of its pork processing capacity. The company also operates a pork processing facility in Louisville, Kentucky,” the statement said.
The investigation that led to the raids began in February, according to an official statement.
"Evidence uncovered during the ICE investigation indicates that large numbers of undocumented workers may have illegally assumed the identities of U.S. citizens and improperly used their Social Security numbers to gain employment at Swift facilities," the government statement said. "ICE agents and the Federal Trade Commission have identified hundreds of potential victims."
At least 400 likely victims, including citizens and legal immigrants, were identified during the investigation.
ICE officials said more information would be released Wednesday. A telephone number was set up for relatives of those who may have been taken into custody: 1-866-341-3858. Spanish-speaking government employees were available.
Swift & Co. immediately issued a statement from its headquarters in Greeley, Colorado.
It said, in part:
“Swift believes that today's actions by the government violate the agreements associated with the Company's participation over the past ten years in the federal government's Basic Pilot worker authorization program and raise serious questions as to the government's possible violation of individual workers' civil rights.”
Company President and CEO Sam Rovit defended current hiring practices.
"Swift has never condoned the employment of unauthorized workers, nor have we ever knowingly hired such individuals,” he said. “Since the inception of the Basic Pilot program in 1997, every single one of Swift's new domestic hires, including those being interviewed today by ICE officials, has duly completed I-9 forms and has received work authorization through the government's Basic Pilot program. Swift has played by the rules and relied in good faith on a program explicitly held out by the president of the United States as an effective tool to help employers comply with applicable immigration laws."
Rovit said the company was “committed to maintaining production at all Swift facilities while, to the extent necessary, actively managing customer service levels. While the specific financial impact of today's government actions is not yet known, we are currently comfortable with the financial flexibility afforded to us by our existing credit agreement."
To access the company’s full news release, click here.
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