Source: Susan Kelly, MEATINGPLACE, 8/16/19


A federal court in Mississippi has unsealed search warrant affidavits used in last week’s raids on seven poultry plants by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents that allege the five targeted companies, including numerous managers, knowingly hired undocumented immigrants.

Neither the companies nor any executives have been charged with violating immigration laws, according to the Washington Post, which published the unsealed documents.

Among allegations in some of the search warrants: workers wore ankle monitors as they awaited deportation hearings, used Social Security numbers belonging to dead people or were hired twice by the same manager but under different names each time, the Post reported on Thursday. Immigration officials worked with employees who acted as confidential informants and conducted other types of surveillance.

Koch Foods, Peco Foods and PH Food have stated publicly that they used the E-Verify federal employment verification system, the article noted. A&B and Pearl River Foods also were raided by ICE agents.

Peco Foods has told Meatingplace it is cooperating fully in the investigation.

Koch Foods statement
Koch Foods, in a statement posted on its website, said an employer can comply with the immigration laws and still not know if some workers are unauthorized. 

“An employer like Koch Foods can also find itself in jeopardy of committing unlawful discrimination if it acts too aggressively in its effort to comply with the immigration laws,” the company said.

Koch Foods said it appears the raid was directed at individuals and not the company, noting the affidavit does not describe legal violations by the company. “The government's actions amount to serious government overreach under a framework of flawed and conflicting laws. These most recent events are yet another demonstration of the fact that existing immigration law and policy need serious reform,” Koch Foods said.

ICE detained a total of 680 people in the raids. The Post article said about half have been released to await further hearings.

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