Re: [migrawatch-public] ICE Raids in Oregon: Arrested workers to be shipped to Washington
source: arnoldo garcia
Arrested workers to be shipped to Washington
Categories: Top Stories
More than 160 workers who were arrested today in an immigration sting at a North Portland processing plant will be taken to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Tukwila, Wash.
After processing, they will be taken to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma to await their appearance before an immigration judge.
The workers -- about 165 of them -- and three managers were arrested this morning as part of a criminal investigation of a national employment agency's alleged scheme to hire and employ undocumented workers.
The arrests came after more than 150 agents searched Fresh Del Monte Produce at 9243 N. Rivergate Blvd. and two offices of American Staffing Resources, the target of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement probe, after an investigation that began last December.
Three suspects in the case were indicted for their roles in the hiring scheme and are accused of immigration crimes, document fraud and identity theft, according to federal prosecutors. Their names were not released, pending the unsealing of those indictments.
Meanwhile, virtually all the workers were placed under administrative arrest, which means that had not committed any crimes other than being in the country illegally.
Of those, about 30 were processed and released on humanitarian concerns with an order of supervision and a notice to appear in front of an immigration judge.
According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Immigration Health Services, all of those arrested were to be interviewed to uncover any special needs, including medical conditions, or being a sole provider.
The arrests were part of a wild day in North Portland which started with the sting operation and soon spread to the American Staffing Resources office at 8926 N. Lombard St. during the lunch hour.
There, agents wearing ICE logo clothing could be seen hauling what appeared to be boxes of documents out of the company's office.
A closed sign was in the office windows, and shades were drawn in the office, which is at 8926 N. Lombard St.
Also, outside the Del Monte plant, worried friends and family gathered to try to find out more information.
Later in the day, immigrant-rights supporters gathered outside the Edith Green/Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in downtown Portland to protest the raid.
On a given day, about 300 production workers labor at the Del Monte plant in two shifts, cutting, cleaning and packaging fruits and vegetables for food stores and other retailers in the region. Those workers are employed by American Staffing Resources, which is owned by a North Carolina company called Staffco Management Group Inc.
Nine out of 10 of the American Staffing Resources workers who labored at Fresh Del Monte used Social Security numbers that were fictitious or belonged to other people, according to an affidavit filed by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to obtain search warrants for today's raid.
Federal agents checked government records and found that only 48 of the 596 employees had valid Social Security numbers. Another 463 were using someone else's number; 85 used invalid numbers; and four used numbers of someone previously deported.
Some of the workers using fake Social Security numbers have criminal records, face deportation warrants or have been deported previously, the Department of Justice said. Karin Immergut, the U.S. attorney for Oregon, said federal prosecutors do not get involved in cases in which undocumented foreigners are living illegally in the United States.
Immergut's office got involved in this case because of the allegations of felony document fraud and identity theft, she said.
Bryan Denson bryandenson@news.oregonian.com and Brent Hunsberger brenthunsberger@news.oregonian.com
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Arnoldo GarciaNational Network for Immigrant and Refugee RightsRed Nacional Pro Derechos Inmigrantes y Refugiados310 8th Street Suite 303Oakland, CA 94607Tel (510) 465-1984 ext 305Fax (510) 465-1885
posted by mike at 7:34 PM
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