Postville immigration raid largest ever in U.S.

By HENRY C. JACKSON, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DES MOINES — A federal immigration raid at a kosher meatpacking plant in northeast Iowa was the largest such operation in U.S. history, with nearly 400 people arrested, federal officials said Tuesday.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said at least 390 people were arrested on immigration charges as part of a Monday morning raid at Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville.

Those arrested include 314 men and 76 women, most from Guatemala and Mexico but also some from Ukraine and Israel.

‘‘Based on the number of ... arrests, this is the largest single site operation of its kind ever in the United States,’’ said ICE spokesman Tim Counts.

Of those initially arrested, officials said 56 were released on humanitarian grounds, typically because their arrest would leave a child with no custodian. A handful were also released because of medical conditions.

Men are being held at the National Cattle Congress Fairgrounds in Waterloo, where they are expected to be processed by Wednesday night and moved to other locations by Thursday. Women are being held at the Hardin County Jail, though many were released to care for children.

ICE officials would not comment on whether company officials could face criminal charges.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa released a statement Tuesday condemning the raids. The group said it had heard reports that those arrested were not getting proper legal counsel and were being rushed through legal proceedings.

‘‘It appears that detainees are not receiving adequate time to meet with their lawyers, and that defense attorneys are being overwhelmed by requests to represent far more clients than is advisable — or perhaps even ethical,’’ ACLU of Iowa President Ben Stone said in the statement. ‘‘We are concerned that the sheer size of this raid is likely to result in numerous violations of the U.S. Constitution, which protects the due process rights of all persons in this country.’’

Counts said that everyone arrested Monday was facing immigration-related charges, and that those arrested had and would have adequate time to meet with their attorneys.

So far 20 people — 10 men and 10 women — also have been arrested on a variety of criminal charges in addition to immigration violations, said Bob Teig, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa.

Those facing criminal charges began appearing Tuesday afternoon in a makeshift federal court at the Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo, said U.S. Attorney Matt M. Dummermuth.

The women are scheduled to appear at 10 a.m. on Wednesday at the cattle grounds.

Charges vary for each individual but include aggravated identity theft and false use of Social Security numbers.

Anyone detained on a criminal charge will be placed in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. If a person faces no charges other than immigration violations, they will remain in ICE custody before going through removal proceedings, including a hearing before an immigration judge. Those hearings will take place throughout the country, Counts said, depending on space.

The record-breaking raid came after a complex, months-long investigation into Agriprocessors, the world’s largest kosher meatpacking plant. The plant had about 900 workers before the raid.

According to a search warrant application and affidavit dated May 9, federal officials relied on a variety of sources, including former employees and at least one undercover source who wore a wire and became an employee of the plant at ICE’s request.

Teig said he could not comment on the search warrant but that the document spoke for itself.

The warrant application refers repeatedly to Source No. 7, someone the agency trusted and who had assisted ICE in previous investigations. ICE compensated the source with rent assistance, cell phone service, living expenses and wage compensation.

Over the course of months, the source worked to infiltrate Agriprocessors. The source failed at first, but with help from ICE to obtain a Social Security card managed to get hired.

According to the search warrant application, the source witnessed strange work conditions, including:

— A cavalier attitude toward illegal immigrants working at the plant. The source described a training session where new employees giggled as a company employee explained how to properly fill out paper work affirming they were legal residents of the United States.

— Some employees were paid with cash, and those workers wore special colored work hats to denote their status. Other employees were paid with checks that did not bear Agriprocessors’ name.

— A supervisor taped-over the eyes of a Guatemalan man with duct tape, then struck the man with a meat hook that caused a serious injury. The source believed the Guatemalan man was an illegal immigrant and told him to report the incident to supervisors, but the man refused because he thought he would be fired.

— A Rabbi who worked at the plant berated a group of employees with vulgar language before hurling meat at them.

Multiple sources in the warrant application also said they saw what appeared to be underage workers at the plant. Another source cited in the warrant application, a former supervisor at the plant who was later fired, claimed to have seen a meth lab at the facility. The supervisor claimed to have been fired after trying to destroy the meth lab.

Teig said he could not comment on the veracity of this allegation, or if officials were able to support the source’s testimony.

Telephone messages left with Agriprocessors on Tuesday were not returned. According to the company’s Web site, Agriprocessors was founded in 1987 by the Rubashkim family.

The company’s products are found in many national supermarket chains including Kroger, Shop Rite and Wal-Mart. a