Body removed months after hotel collapsed under construction

4 poultry plant execs indicted after 2019 immigration raid

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Four executives from two Mississippi poultry processing plants have been indicted on federal charges tied to one of the largest workplace immigration raids in the U.S. in the past decade.

U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Matt Albence, announced the indictments as the documents were unsealed Thursday.

Their announcement happened a day before the one-year anniversary of the raids in which 680 people were arrested at seven poultry plants in central Mississippi. Hurst and Albence also scolded journalists for reports that focused on the arrests separating children from immigrant parents who were sent to detention centers.

“If a parent puts their child in that position where they commit a criminal act that subjects them to being arrested and detained ... that responsibility falls on them,”

Albence said.

None of the four people from the newly unsealed indictments were arrested on the day of the raids, said Hurst, who is the U.S. attorney for south Mississippi. He said they worked as managers, supervisors or human resources employees. Hurst said journalists have failed to focus on the American victims of identity theft — people whose Social Security numbers have been falsely used by immigrants working in the U.S. without proper documentation.

“The simple fact of the matter is, illegal aliens steal jobs of American citizens,” Hurst said. “And illegal aliens depress the wages of American citizens.”

Amelia S. McGowan, an attorney who works on behalf of immigrants for the Mississippi Center for Justice, responded later: “Trotting out anti-immigrant accusations won’t hide that the only theft here is the executives’ profiteering o vulnerable workers

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Crews on Saturday recovered the body of one of two construction workers that had been trapped nearly 10 months ago in the collapse of a Hard Rock Hotel under construction in New Orleans.

Family watched as the remains of Quinnyon Wimberly, 36, were lowered from the complex using a platform and a crane, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported. Sobbing relatives huddled at the site for 15 minutes, as Mayor LaToya Cantrell and New Orleans Fire Department Chief Tim McConnell stood by.

There was no immediate word on when crews would extricate the remains of the other worker, Jose Ponce Areola, 63. Crews have yet to reach the area on the 8th floor of the structure where they expect to find his body, authorities said.

The remains of Anthony Magrette, 49, the third worker killed, were removed the day after the partial building collapse last Oct. 12. His twin sister, Angela Magrette, stood with Wimberly’s family on Saturday as Wimberly’s remains were lowered from the structure around 10:45 a.m.

“This family we’ve actuin unsafe conditions and at inadequate wages.” Albence said last year’s raids in Mississippi have brought 126 indictments, 117 criminal arrests and 73 convictions. Hurst said the investigation continues.

The chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, said in a statement Thursday that he’s glad the Trump administration, a year later, is bringing criminal charges against emally made our family. I have to be here for them,” she said. “It’s torture. You live this October 12th every day, knowing people still aren’t being held accountable.”

Plans to remove the bodies have been hit with several delays. Representatives for 1031 Canal Development, the project’s owner, said problems have included finding insurance and a contractor for demolition work at the site, as well as inclement weather.

Once the last body is removed, authorities said, they plan to demolish the building quickly since the city is in the middle of a new hurricane season. Officials have said they hope to have the structure down by October, a year after the initial collapse. The cause of the collapse remains under investigation.

Cantrell and the fire chief, McConnell, spoke to reporters just after midday, saying that Saturday was a di cult day, but ultimately a good one.

“This has been a long journey,” Cantrell said haltingly and with tears on her cheeks. “But the longest journey has been for the families mostly impacted by this collapse. (It was a) long time coming to get Quinnyon Wimberly out of the building. ployers and plant managers.

“However, the Administration still has not answered for the cruel and unnecessary family separation inflicted on hundreds of Mississippi families and how it continues to poorly treat immigrants,” Thompson said. “With hundreds left behind, it’s clear that working families, rather than the employers taking advantage of these families, are the ones that continue to su er from the e ects of this raid.”