Iowa Meatpacking Raid Criminalizes Immigration

The May 12, 2008 raid at AgriProcessors, Inc., a meatpacking plant in Iowa, with warrants for almost 700 people, and arrests of almost 400, represented the nation’s largest “criminal worksite enforcement operation,” according to U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) Officials. The raid involved agents from 16 federal, state, and local agencies, and takes the record as the largest single-site immigration raid in American history.

AgriProcessors is the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse. The plant in Postville normally employs approximately 800 workers, the majority of whom come from rural Guatemala. Of the 389 immigrants arrested, 77 pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and fraudulent use of Social Security numbers to obtain documents needed to obtain their jobs. Each received five months’ imprisonment, followed by deportation, and three years’ supervised release in their home countries.

In the past, unauthorized workers were generally detained for civil violations, then rapidly deported. However, the Iowa raid marked a sharp escalation in the crackdown and mistreatment of undocumented workers. Prosecutors brought federal charges for immigration violations and criminal charges including “aggravated identity theft” and “knowingly using a false Social Security number”―aparently against many individuals merely trying to earn a decent living.

Erik Camayd-Freixas, a professor and court interpreter who assisted in the court proceedings of many of these workers, shocked America by breaking the confidentiality code and speaking out on behalf of the slaughterhouse workers. In a personal narrative (http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/07/14/opinion/14ed-camayd.pdf), he described how the mostly illiterate Guatemalan workers with Mayan surnames were marched in single-file groups of ten—shackled at the writs, waist, and ankles—and criminally charged with working without proper documentation. Ironically, many of the workers had the employment verification documents filled out for them at the plant, because they could not read or write Spanish, let alone speak English. In most cases, these workers did not act “knowingly,” or possesses the necessary criminal intent of stealing someone’s identity, to be found guilty of the charges brought against them. We agree that this was a data “fishing expedition” of sorts, and further, a pilot raid to be replicated elsewhere by ICE.

To date, no charges have been brought against managers or owners at AgriProcessors, but prosecutors may file a case against the company or its managers later. Immigrants pleading guilty were required to agree to cooperate with any future investigation. Often times, this type of cooperation opens doors to further indictments.

GT continues to monitor ICE’s activities and assist our clients in protecting their companies from such investigations.

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