Mississippi ICE raids net 680 illegal aliens working in food processing plants, media races to make them victims
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said Wednesday that its officers had raided seven food processing plants in Mississippi and detained approximately 680 “removable aliens” in what a federal prosecutor described as “the largest single-state immigration enforcement operation in our nation’s history.”
Nearly 600 ICE agents swarmed the plants in Bay Springs, Carthage, Canton, Morton, Pelahatchie and Sebastapol, surrounding the perimeters to keep workers from fleeing.
“The execution of federal search warrants today was simply about enforcing the rule of law in our state and throughout our great country,” U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst said in a statement. ” I commend these federal agents, our state and local law enforcement partners, and our federal prosecutors for their professionalism and dedication to ensure that those who violate our laws are held accountable.”
Workers who were confirmed to have legal status were allowed to leave the plant after having their trunks searched. Some employees tried to flee on foot but were captured in the parking lot.
“It was a sad situation inside,” said Domingo Candelaria, a legal resident and Koch worker who said authorities checked employees’ identification documents.
“All the unlawfully present foreign nationals arrested Wednesday are being interviewed by ICE staff to record any potential mitigating humanitarian situations,” ICE said in a statement. “Based on these interviews, and consideration of their criminality and prior immigration history, ICE is determining on a case-by-case basis based on the totality of the circumstances which individuals will be detained and which persons may be released from custody at present.”
“HSI’s [Homeland Security Investigations] worksite enforcement efforts are equally focused on aliens who unlawfully seek work in the U.S. as well as the employers who knowingly hire them,” HSI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge, Jere Miles said in a statement.
At Koch Foods Inc. plant 70 illegal immigrants were detained as “family, friends and residents waved goodbye and shouted, ‘Let them go! Let them go!'” according to Fox News.
CNN quoted their report and then started their analysis with “In this same spot, a day earlier, an 11-year-old girl sobbed and begged an officer for a chance to see her mom as bystanders tried to comfort her.
“Please, can I just see my mother?” the girl cried out in video broadcast live Wednesday on Facebook.”
“I recognize that ICE comes under the Department of Homeland Security, and this is an order of the United States. There’s nothing I don’t think anybody can do about it,” he said. “But my main concern is now, what happens to the children?”
President Trump has called for a zero tolerance enforcement of the laws, undoing the common “catch and release” practice of the Obama administration.
“On a day when we seek unifying words and acts to heal the nation’s broken heart, President Trump allows so many families and communities to be torn apart,” said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.
Other companies targeted in the raids included Peco Foods Inc., which has plants in Bay Springs, Canton and Sebastopol; PH Food Inc. in Morton; MP Food Inc. in Pelahatchie and Pearl River Foods Inc. in Carthage.
“We are fully cooperating with the authorities in their investigation and are navigating a potential disruption of operations,” Peco, based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, said in a statement. The company added that it participates in E-Verify, a government program to screen new hires for immigration status.
photo license via Adobe
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