Immigration raids net 680 arrests in Miss.

Workplace sting at food plants may be largest in a decade

MORTON, Miss. — U.S. immigration officials raided numerous Mississippi food processing plants Wednesday, arresting 680 mostly Latino workers in what marked the largest workplace sting in at least a decade.

The raids, planned months ago, happened just hours before President Donald Trump visited El Paso, Texas, the majorityLatino city where a man linked to an online screed about a “Hispanic invasion” was charged in a shooting that left 22 people dead in the border city.

Workers filled three buses — two for men and one for women — at a Koch Foods Inc. plant in Morton, 40 miles east of Jackson.

They were taken to a military hangar to be processed for immigration violations.

About 70 family, friends and residents waved goodbye and shouted, “Let them go! Let them go!”

Later, two more buses arrived.

A tearful 13-year-old boy whose parents are from Guatemala waved goodbye to his mother, a Koch worker, as he stood beside his father.

Some employees tried to flee on foot but were captured in the parking lot.

Workers who were confirmed to have legal status were allowed to leave the plant after having their vehicles searched.

“It was a sad situation inside,” said Domingo Candelaria, a legal resident and Koch worker who said authorities checked employees’ identification documents.

The company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Koch Foods, based in Park Ridge, Illinois, is one of the largest poultry producers in the country and employs about 13,000 people, with operations in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee.