Illegal Immigrant Births - At U.S Taxpayer's Expense

[Wags]

Des Moines Register - Update: ICE describes raid as 'largest in Iowa history'

Update: ICE describes raid as 'largest in Iowa history' | DesMoinesRegister.com | The Des Moines Register

Excerpts from the article

The operation, which targeted people who illegally used other persons Social Security numbers and were in the U.S. illegally, was the largest of its kind in Iowa, said Claude Arnold, a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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.”

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.

End of excerpts.

There was allegations of physical abuse towards the illegal immigrants, and the running of a meth lab in the plant. It appears that management was aware of these issues but chose to ignore them or to look the other way. The article also talks about one employee being fired because he made management aware of some of these problems.

God Bless Us All

[Brat]

Another example of religious folk not upholding the principals of their faith.

[youbet]

Originally Posted by Brat

Another example of religious folk not upholding the principals of their faith.

Your comment caused me to go read the article and see what you were talking about. Is this what you're referring to?

Company officials could not be reached for comment. The plant, which produces kosher and nonkosher meats, opened in 1987 when butcher Aaron Rubashkin and about 200 Hasidic Jews from New York took over a defunct meatpacking plant. Hasidic Jews follow strict laws. It is a branch of Orthodox Judaism.

While the workers need to be dealt with for identity theft and illegal immigration, I certainly hope the owners and managers also pay the toll for their transgressions.

This story makes me wonder how awful it must be to be a Mexican living in Mexico. Knowing that treatment and conditions will be disgusting, they still risk life and limb to come here and consider even the most deplorable conditions to be a huge improvement over Mexico..... Sad......

[HFWR]

Originally Posted by youbet

This story makes me wonder how awful it must be to be a Mexican living in Mexico. Knowing that treatment and conditions will be disgusting, they still risk life and limb to come here and consider even the most deplorable conditions to be a huge improvement over Mexico..... Sad......

"Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

This is why we need a workable immigration policy.

[youbet]

Originally Posted by HFWR

"Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

This is why we need a workable immigration policy.

Yep. And so that we're not racist in our approach, the door needs to be opened to all from all corners of the globe. I bet there are 100's of millions of folks out there that would consider moving here a huge upgrade in life, even if they were on our bottom rung of the ladder.

Think of the pressure that would take off of the Chinese for example. Instead of limiting couples to one child, couples could have several, pick the one they like best and send us the rest! That would straighten out our old-folks-heavy demographics!

OK, that might be a little extreme. But we do need to accomodate all races, not just those who can walk in. Maybe when the Katrina folks are done with those ocean liners some are still living on, they can be utilized to sail the world picking up folks and bringing them here.

[Brat]

Originally Posted by youbet

Your comment caused me to go read the article and see what you were talking about. Is this what you're referring to?

.....

POSTVILLE, Iowa — A raid by federal immigration officials at the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant may have resulted in as many as 700 arrests, immigration officials said Monday
Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement entered the Agriprocessors Inc. complex in northeast Iowa Monday morning to execute a criminal search warrant for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, said Tim Counts, a Midwest ICE spokesman.

Agents are also executing a civil search warrant for people illegally in the United States, he said.

Immigration officials told aides to Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, that they expect 600 to 700 arrests. About 1,000 to 1,050 people work at the plant, according to Iowa Workforce Development, the state's employment services agency.

Chuck Larson, a truck driver for Agriprocessing, was in the plant when the agents arrived. "There has to be 100 of them," he said of the agents.


Larson said the agents told workers to stay in place then separated them by asking those with identification to stand to the right and those with other papers, to stand to the left.

"There was plenty of hollering," Larson said. "You couldn't go anywhere."

When asked who was separated, Larson said those standing in the group with other papers were all Hispanic.


ICE spokesman Harold Ort in Postville did not confirm or deny that anyone had been detained, but went on to say that the children of those detained would be cared for and that "their caregiver situation will be addressed."

"They were asked multiple times if they have any sole-caregiver issues or any childcare issues," Ort said.

Aides to Braley said they have been told that "hundreds" of arrests are expected because the action is more of an "investigation" than an immigration raid, and specific individuals are being targeted for arrest as part of the investigation.

Counts described the events in Postville as a "single site operation." He said he was not aware of any other immigration raids being conducted elsewhere Monday.

Postville Police Chief Michael Halse said he did not know anything about the raid until Monday morning.

Postville is a community of more than 2,500 people that includes natives of German and Norwegian heritage and newcomers who include Hasidic Jews from New York, plus immigrants from Mexico, Russian, Ukraine and many other countries.

The Agriprocessors plant, known as the nation's largest kosher slaughterhouse, is northeast Iowa's largest employer.

About 200 Hasidic Jews arrived in Postville in 1987, when butcher Aaron Rubashkin of Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood reopened a defunct meat-packing plant with his two sons, Sholom and Heshy, just outside the city limits. Business boomed at the plant, reviving the depressed economy while pitting the newcomers against the predominantly Lutheran community.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said that the Postville immigration investigations were warranted despite concerns that federal official violated the constitutional rights of people in past raids.

"Remember our concern has not been about whether or not there should be raids," Vilsack said. "It's the way the raids have been conducted and the way in which American citizens' rights have been violated by virtue of sort of a roundup process that's used and what we think are inappropriate and unconstitutional actions on the part of immigration officials."

Vilsack and others have alleged that immigration officials used humiliation, opposite-sex searches and long periods of secrecy in the Dec. 12, 2006, raids at Swift & Co. in Marshalltown, Iowa, where 90 people were arrested on immigration charges.

[youbet]

This adds an interesting perspective to the Postville meat plant situation. Apparently a long history of OHSA violations (amputations, injuries, etc.) while being very successful financially. Products sold in places like Trader Jo's and Albertson's.

FailedMessiah.com: Rubashkin Had More OSHA Violations Than All Other Iowa Meatpackers Combined – 2X All Other Meatpackers Combined

Whether it was the intention of the feds or not, they certainly helped the folks they pulled out of there...... while their limbs were still attached!

Apparently, the kosher killing procedure (not always conducted by rabbi's) is pretty gross, at least as it's depicted here. Don't watch this film unless you have a strong stomach.

PETA TV: Select Your Media Preferences: Mutilations at AgriProcessors Slaughterhouse--Full Version

[Brat]

OSHA violations are endemic in the industry, but some are better than others.

I have read that there was a meth lab operating on the premises with the knowledge of management. Imagine a family spending more money to purchase Kosher meat because they believe the animals to be slaughtered humanely and the meat prepared for consumption in a sanitary way. A meth lab in a food processing plant??

When I learned that it was founded, and presumably is still operated, by Hasidim I was very disappointed. I expected better.

The meat packing industry employs recent immigrants because they are willing do to the work under difficult conditions at the pay offered. Undocumented immigrants are reluctant to file claims for injuries and ill treatment because of their fear of deportation. Yes, this is why we need a workable and humane immigration policy IMHO.

[youbet]

Originally Posted by Brat

OSHA violations are endemic in the industry, but some are better than others.

Imagine a family spending more money to purchase Kosher meat because they believe the animals to be slaughtered humanely and the meat prepared for consumption in a sanitary way.

See the edit I added to my post above. Animals are NOT NOT NOT being killed in a humane way!

[Lancelot]

Originally Posted by Surfdaddy

I agree and take offense on the suggestion that anybody who doesn't like illegal immigration is racist or dislikes Mexicans....

Sorta off topic, but awhile back I posted something on thaivisa.com about an unmarried Thai girl (friend of a friend) that was returning to the USA so that she could receive free health care and also US citizenship for her yet to be born baby.

Man, was I ever flamed. About half of my critics claimed that immigrants do not receive free emergency health care (in the USA.) The other half applauded the girl for defrauding the US Health Care system. All were in agreement that I was a nasty racist

[Brat]

No offense YouBet. We are all learning about this situation.

I am not a fan of ICE, the Border Patrol to us older folks, and how they treat undocumented workers under their care. I am a retired USDL investigator and have had occasion to purchase food for detained children who BP did not intend to feed for 10+ hours later. BP picked them up at the local Safeway at 6 am when their mothers were shopping for their breakfast. That incident will be forever etched in my memory.

In this situation ICE truly needed to protect these workers. Just extrapolating from my experience with agricultural workers they were likely recruited by Coyotes who were paid by management to find workers. Many probably owed their transporters a significant sum and were working there under at least implied coercion.

In my younger years I was a "Coyote hunter", enforcing what is now called the Migrant and Seasonal Worker Protection Act.

[youbet]

Originally Posted by Brat

No offense YouBet.

Hmmmm. Strange statement since I said nothing offensive. Perhaps you're confusing my posts with someone else's.

I am not a fan of ICE, the Border Patrol to us older folks.

I'm suspicious of people in authority since the tendency to abuse authority seems to be part of human nature. On the other hand, I had the opportunity to travel in Asia, SA and Eurpoe for MegaCorp in the last few years before I retired. Generally, my observation would be that there aren't many places which treat undocumented/illegal immigrants as well as we do. So, everything is relative I guess.

The conditions at the Agriprocessors plant in Iowa were/are horrible. It does seem that the ICE folks did the undocumented workers a favor getting them out of there. And, of course, the issue of the workers having stolen identities will have to be dealt with.

But it seems that the owners and managers at Agriprocessors need to be dealt with as well. They were, in some cases, paying less than the Iowa minimum wage and were employing folks they had to know were undocumented. I'd like to see the owner spend a little time behind bars so as to have the opportunity to reconsider his greedy behaviors.