Immigration Agents Raid Pilgrim’s Pride Poultry Plants In Multiple States

Posted on April 16, 2008

As part of a six state crackdown, Immigration agents raided a Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plants in Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee and West Virginia. The Arkansas action is to go after those providing fake identification for illegal immigrant workers.

According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), over 100 people are expected to be arrested on criminal charges related to identity theft and document fraud.

Pilgrim’s Pride knew abut the raid and cooperated in full with the Immigration officials, after they uncovered the problem at the Arkansas plant and notified the authorities.

Ray Atkinson who is a spokesperson for Pilgrim’s Pride said that they do use an electronic service to verify Social Security but the service cannot detect stolen numbers.

Julie Myers, an assistant secretary for ICE, told Associated press reporters, “This identity theft is a horrible problem that can ruin a person’s good name.”

Myers said people who’d had their identifications stolen in the case had experienced a variety of problems, including being mistakenly arrested, denied unemployment benefits and told they owed money to the IRS.

According to Independence County Sheriff, Keith Bowers, the warrant list present in the Arkansas raid has approximately 60 names on it.

In January 24 people were indicted as part of a probe into Pilgrim’s Pride and their hiring practices, when investigators said they were involved in an identity theft ring to help get jobs for illegal immigrants at plants in Pittsburgh and Mount Pleasant.

This multi state crackdown not only involves Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plants and arrest warrants are being served in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Georgia and a donut plant in Houston was raided as well, resulting in the arrest of almost 30 workers as suspected illegal immigrants.

This was the first ICE raid on an Arkansas poultry plant since July 27, 2005, when 119 people suspected of being illegal immigrants were arrested at a Petit Jean Inc. poultry plant in Arkadelphia.

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4 Responses to “Immigration Agents Raid Pilgrim’s Pride Poultry Plants In Multiple States”

Jerry on April 17th, 2008 6:54 am

The answer is simple to this situation. No jail, no fine. Simply send them back across the border. Case closed.
Pi$$ed off on April 17th, 2008 9:45 am

This is disturbing “Ray Atkinson who is a spokesperson for Pilgrim’s Pride said that they do use an electronic service to verify Social Security but the service cannot detect stolen numbers.”
Great…So what does the service detect? To “verify” SS means what exactly?
It is too absurd to think we will treat these “criminals” any differently than we do “illegals”. We can’t be interupting their way of “earning” an honest living now can we?
Diana on April 17th, 2008 10:23 am

Interesting how this is front page, and another article on the billions of dollars illegal immigrants flood into our tax system is hidden under the “living” section of CNN. They even point out (gasp!!) that illegal immigrants are a net benefit to the country (in terms of $$$) of course. http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/04/15/immigrant.taxes.ap/index.html
If employers accepted an ITIN in lieu of a SSN (those “give us your hard earned money, get nothing in return” numbers the IRS provides illegals) there would be no need for them to play SSN russian roulette. Lose the hypocrisy people… we use them (to do our dirty work and pay taxes without the benefit of a refund, or a pension), they use us (to make a half decent living). The numbers don’t lie, so stop the bashing.
Diana on April 17th, 2008 10:29 am

Just to clarify… when I say SSN russian roulette it’s because these people don’t steal SSNs. They “make them up”, and sometimes it turns out they are valid. The average American is so uninformed. We are only numbers to SSN and they do not match numbers to names unless there is a complaint. This isn’t intentional identity theft, nor are most illegals using the number for anything but work, and the taxes deducted go to the SSN they’re using. Hey, if you’re lucky you could benefit from their social security taxes by increasing your pension (it happened to my husband, which is why I know).