Documents: Plant owners ignored laws
JACKSON, Miss. — Six of seven Mississippi chicken processing plants raided Wednesday were “willfully and unlawfully” employing people who lacked authorization to work in the United States, including workers wearing electronic monitoring bracelets at work for previous immigration violations, according to unsealed court documents.
Officials arrested 680 people during Wednesday’s operation.
Three Democratic congressmen on Friday demanded that the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice produce information. They want to know the cost of the raids, whether employers face criminal charges, whether any U.S. citizens were detained, how many parents were separated from children and whether any still remain separated.
Statements unsealed Thursday allege that managers at two processing plants owned by the same Chinese man actively participated in fraud. They also show that supervisors at other plants at least turned a blind eye to evidence strongly suggesting job applicants were using fraudulent documents and bogus Social Security numbers.
There have historically been few criminal convictions for hiring people without documents because prosecutors must prove employers knowingly hired someone without legal work authorization. Employers often say they were fooled by fraudulent documents.
Investigators allege the most brazen fraud took place at two smaller chicken processing plants — PH Food Inc. in Morton and A&B Inc. in Pelahatchie.
A PH Food employee, acting as a confidential informant, told Homeland Security investigators employees used their real names and made-up Social Security numbers to apply for jobs.
“The payroll companies, as well as PH Food Inc. and A&B Inc. do not verify the authenticity of their documents,” the informant told investigators.