UNION REP, WORKERS ARRESTED AT SWIFT
On July 10, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested
25 current or former employees of the Swift & Company meat processing
firm. Twenty of those arrested were sought on federal and state warrants;
most were picked up on the job, while others were detained in their homes.
ICE arrested 18 workers on criminal charges relating to identity theft and
administrative immigration violations in six locations where Swift plants
are located: Marshalltown, Iowa; Grand Island, Nebraska; Worthington,
Minnesota; Greeley, Colorado; Hyrum, Utah; and Cactus, Texas.
In Marshalltown, ICE also arrested Braulio Pereyra-Gabino, an official of
the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) who represents Swift
employees, on criminal charges for "harboring illegal aliens"; and
Christopher Todd Lamb, assistant director of human resources at the
Marshalltown plant and a 17-year Swift employee, on a harboring charge as
well as misprision of a felony. [ICE News Release 7/11/07; DesMoines
Register 7/13/07, 7/22/07; The Militant Vol. 71/No. 29, 8/6/07] In
addition, two Swift supervisors who were not named on the warrants were
arrested in Greeley. One was picked up by ICE at the Greeley Swift plant
for immigration violations. The other was arrested by the Greeley Police
Department for an outstanding arrest warrant involving traffic violations.
Another three people who were not sought in the warrants were arrested
after apparently being discovered during the raids.
"Swift is to be commended not only for its cooperation during yesterday's
enforcement action, but for its continuing efforts to improve its hiring
practices in order to ensure a legal workforce," ICE Assistant Secretary
Julie Myers said July 11.
The enforcement operation was assisted by the Federal Trade Commission,
the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General, four US
Attorney's Offices and two District Attorney's Offices. [ICE News Release
7/11/07] ICE spokesperson Tim Counts called the raids a "continuation of
the same investigation" that resulted in the arrests last Dec. 12 of 1,297
workers at six Swift facilities on administrative immigration violations
[see INB 12/15/06, 12/21/06, 1/5/07, 1/12/07]. According to ICE, 274 of
those arrested in December have since been criminally charged for identity
theft or use of fraudulent documents. [ICE News Release 7/11/07; The
Militant 8/6/07] ICE officials said 649 of the 1,297 Swift workers
detained last December have already been removed from the country. [DMR
7/13/07]
In a statement about the latest raids, the UFCW said this time ICE agents
did not appear to use the "same level of intimidation and overkill" they
used during the raids last December. The UFCW "supports law enforcement
efforts that abide by the law and respect the rights of workers," the
union said. [AP 7/10/07] Dan Hoppes, president of the UFCW local at the
plant in Grand Island, Nebraska, said the July 10 raid there "was done the
right way this time. Not like the last time...." [The Militant 8/6/07]
The preliminary hearing for Lamb, the human resources manager, is set for
July 23. According to the Des Moines Register, Lamb is accused of coaching
a worker on how to avoid detection and to apply for a job using a false
name and documents. Evidence for the charges came from conversations
between Lamb and Alejandro Vasquez-Avina, a Swift worker who collaborated
with ICE after being picked up in the December raid. ICE monitored
conversations between Lamb and Vasquez via a concealed microphone worn by
Vasquez. Later, Vasquez applied for a job at the Swift plant with an
ICE-provided valid Social Security card and a Texas birth certificate in
the name of Anthony Gomez. He was rehired. [DMR 7/13/07; The Militant
8/6/07]
Kirk Martin, migration and refugee services director for Catholic
Charities in Des Moines, said the latest raids show ICE plays on people's
fears and lack of knowledge of their rights to enforce a broken
immigration system."If ICE can't do its job without relying on snitches,
there's no better proof that there is a need for a different,
forward-looking and just immigration system," said Martin. [DMR 7/13/07]
Union officials and worker advocates are especially troubled by the
federal grand jury indictment against Pereyra, vice president of UFCW
Local 1149, for allegedly harboring undocumented immigrants. "Nobody on
our payroll has ever been arrested previously" in this type of case, said
UFCW spokesperson Jill Cashen. "This is a criminal case, not an
administrative legal problem, so we're concerned." Typically, union
representatives do not recruit, hire or fire workers, which makes the
charges puzzling, immigration experts said. Details of the case against
Pereyra-Gabino are in a sealed court file. Regional immigration officials
and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa declined to
elaborate on the harboring charge against him, or the policy under which
he is being prosecuted. [DMR 7/22/07]
Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News
Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity
Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499;
fax 212-674-9139; wnu@igc.org. INB is also distributed free via
email; contact nicajg@panix.com for info. You may reprint or
distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people
how to subscribe.
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