November 10, 2009

S.C. Poultry Plant Settles with Government in Large-Scale Illegal Hiring Case

On November 3, 2009, the federal government entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with a large poultry plant charged with knowingly hiring hundreds of undocumented workers and engaging in a variety of illegal employment verification practices. The agreement, implemented on the day scheduled for jury selection in the criminal trial of two company employees, provides for continuing the criminal case for 24 months to give the company time to develop and implement a detailed I-9 compliance plan in addition to paying a fine of $1.5 million dollars.

The company, Columbia Farms, Inc. and its affiliates House of Raeford Farms, were first audited by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in December of 2007. That audit led to a massive raid in October of 2008 which resulted in the deportation of over 300 employees for administrative immigration violations and the criminal prosecution of 21 supervisory employees.

Measures required by the settlement include the implementation of a comprehensive immigration compliance plan to be monitored by ICE and the U.S. Attorney General’s Office including enrollment in E-Verify, use of the Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS), the hiring of an outside auditor to conduct annual reviews, and implementation of an ongoing training program for employees involved in the hiring and employment verification process. Successful compliance as determined at the end of the two-year probationary period will result in dismissal of all criminal and civil charges as well as administrative violations.

The full ICE news release can be read here.