Illegal Aliens Arrested; Employer KNEW of THEIR STATUS and UNDERPAID Them! 

Postville, Ia. – Buses have begun arriving at the Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo after hundreds were detained in an immigration raid on a Postville meatpacking plant today.

Officials are not allowing media or others near the entrance. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have declined to say how many buses are being used in the raid on the Agriprocessors Inc. plant.

At least 300 people were arrested during the operation, the largest of its kind in Iowa, said Claude Arnold, a special agent with ICE.

The raid targeted people who illegally used other people’s Social Security numbers and were in the U.S. illegally.

According to an affidavit, “Based on information thus far developed in the investigation, it appears, based on 2007 fourth quarter payroll reports, that approximately 76 percent of the 968 employees of Agriprocessors were using false or fraudulent social security numbers in connection with their employment.”

The workers arrested so far were interviewed by agents with the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Public Health Service. Public health officials were included to ensure that their humanitarian needs were being met, said U.S. District Attorney Matt M. Dummermuth.

Authorities have released 40 of the arrested employees “on humanitarian grounds” with supervision, pending further proceedings, Dummermuth said.

A total of 16 local, state and federal agencies, led by ICE, joined the investigation that began last October. Among them was the U.S. Marshals Service, the Iowa Department of Public Safety, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the U.S.

Department of Agriculture, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, the Waterloo Police Department and the Postville Police Department.

Agents with ICE have received information about immigration violations at the plant over the past two years, according to a federal search warrant made public today. Authorities said they will release more details at another press conference tomorrow morning in Cedar Rapids.

The scene in Waterloo

Crowds outside the Cattle Congress complex in Waterloo continued to grow Monday evening. When the chained gates opened to admit a bus full of detainees at 8:15 p.m., the crowd of about 200 people screamed their support.

Waterloo Police Department Lieutenant M.W. McNamee told protesters that they had to move across the street to the sidewalk directly in front of the Cattle Congress grounds. “Unfortunately there’s not a lot of area where you can be. This is not conducive to have a vigil,” McNamee said.

Mario Basurto, project coordinator of El Centro Latinoamericano, said the protest was spontaneous and would last until 10 p.m.

Anonymous sources reported in raid warrants

According to search warrants, ICE agents interviewed a former plant supervisor – identified as “Source 1” – in November 2007, who told them that the plant employed foreign nationals from Mexico, Guatemala and Eastern Europe. Roughly 80 percent of those workers were living illegally in the U.S., the supervisor said.

“Source 1” told federal agents that some employees were running a methamphetamine lab in the plant, and were bringing weapons to work. The supervisor confronted a higher-level manager about the drugs, and shortly after was fired.

The supervisors also described an encounter with the plant’s human resources manager about three separate Social Security cards from different employees with the same number. The human resources manager “laughed when this matter was brought to her attention,” the supervisor told federal agents.

In February 2008, a confidential informant identified as “Source 7,” who has worked with federal agents in past immigration cases, detailed several incidents of alleged worker abuse at the plant.

The source, who was lawfully employed at the plant, told authorities that a floor supervisor duct-taped the eyes of an illegal Guatemalan employee and struck him with a meat hook. The blow caused no serious injuries.

“Source 7″ asked the Guatemalan to report the incident, but the employee said doing so could jeopardize his job.

In another alleged incident, Source 7 said, a floor supervisor identified as a Hasidic Jew pushed another illegal employee because he did not like the way the employee was moving meat.

A plant employee identified as “Source 11” told authorities that he/she was hired without presenting employment documents or filling out any forms. The worker’s first paycheck had a different person’s name on it, which was then cashed at another part of the plant.

Undocumented workers were paid $5 an hour for their first three or four months on the job, the employee said, and then received a salary increase to $6 per hour.

Lee ADDS: If the government would obtain information as to the average wage paid by similar workers for the same job performance, multiply that by the number of workers, apply TRIPLE Damages (Multiply by 3), subtract what was already paid, then pay those people their JUST WAGE, then when they were deported they would go home with some money DUE THEM. On top of that the employer should be severely fined! That would set a very firm example and stop this nonsense!