ICE Sweep Was Largest Ever Against One Firm

The immigration raids on meatpacking plants in six states were the largest sweep of their kind against a single company and resulted in the arrests of 1,282 suspected illegal immigrants, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday.

The raids early Tuesday of facilities owned by meatpacking giant Swift & Co., based in Greeley, Colo., were followed by immigration charges against 18 percent of the 7,250 workers scheduled to work the morning shift, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said. More than 100 people were charged with crimes that included identity theft, Chertoff said, and that number is expected to grow. Federal and company officials estimated that 30 to 40 percent of Swift's workers had questionable documents.

U.S. officials had identified 331 Swift workers who used false identities, 170 of whom were still employed by the company, before the raid. But without authorities' knowledge, Swift in recent weeks had questioned suspect employees, causing 400 to quit or be fired, according to a federal judge in Amarillo, Tex., who denied a motion by Swift last Thursday to block the raids.

Swift reported yesterday that all its facilities have resumed operations but that output will remain below normal "over the short-term." The company said it anticipates "no adverse long-term impacts." Plants were raided in Greeley; Grand Island, Neb.; Cactus, Tex.; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minn.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union filed an injunction in Colorado seeking the release of workers. It contends that they were interrogated and detained illegally, and planned to file more in other states, spokeswoman Jill Cashen said.

Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino, Calif., chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee on migration, said that raids are not "the most humane and effective approach" to the problem of illegal immigration, noting their traumatic impact on families and children. He called for an overhaul of immigration laws.

Chertoff acknowledged Swift's voluntary participation in a federal program that allows companies to electronically verify Social Security numbers, noting that the company was not charged Tuesday. But he said that the system does not detect identity theft, and that companies cannot rely on the "Basic Pilot" program as a "magic bullet" to satisfy the law if they see other signs of fraud.

Chertoff called for Congress to allow the Social Security Administration to identify and share information with enforcement agencies when numbers are used multiple times. Some Social Security numbers have been used at 200 workplaces, authorities said.