Author: FalconsLairFalconsLair Date: Apr 17, 2008 07:02
4/17/2008: Security News Brief: "Illegal" Immigration Raids Net
Hundreds:
Federal agents arrested hundreds of people in raids at Pilgrim's Pride
chicken plants in West Virginia and four other states, the latest
crackdown on illegal immigrant labor at the nation's poultry
producers.
In separate sweeps Wednesday, authorities also arrested dozens of
workers at a doughnut factory in Houston and the operators of a chain
of Mexican restaurants in upstate New York.
The arrests at Pittsburg, Texas-based Pilgrim's Pride Corp., the
nation's largest chicken producer, included charges of identity theft,
document fraud and immigration violations. The company worked with
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ahead of the raid, said Ray
Atkinson, a company spokesman.
"We knew in advance and cooperated fully,'' Atkinson said.
Julie Myers, homeland security assistant secretary for ICE, confirmed
the company is cooperating, though she said the raids grew out of an
investigation that produced arrests last year at the company's plant
in Mount Pleasant.
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