U.s. officials detain hundreds in immigration raid

In another large-scale work immigration crackdown, U.S. Functionary raided a mill here on mon, detaining at least 350 workers they said were in the state illicitly.

Numerous agents from in-migration and usage Enforcement descended on a mill belonging to Leslie Howard Industries Inc., which manufactures electrical transformers, among other merchandise.

As of late mon afternoon, no felon charges had been filed, said Barbara Gonzalez, an federal agency spokeswoman, but she said that twelve of workers had been "identified, fingerprinted, interviewed, photographed and processed for remotion from the U.S."

The raid follows a similar large-scale in-migration operation at a meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa, in May when about 400 workers were detained. That raid was a significant escalation of the Bush disposal's enforcement practices because those detained were not merely deported, as in previous raids, but were imprisoned for calendar month on felon charges of using false written document.

The mass rapid-fire hearings after the Postville raid took place in a temporary court installation on the land of the subject Cattle United States Congress in Waterloo, Iowa. An translator was later aggressively critical of the legal proceeding, saying the immigrants did not understand the complaint against them.

An immigrant rights group in Glenda Jackson, Mississippi, the state working capital, was critical of mon's raid, expression families with kid were involved.

"It's horrific what ICE is doing to these household and these communities," said Shuya Ohno, a spokesman for the Mississippi River Immigrants Rights Alliance. "It's just hard to imagine that this is the United States of United States."

In Laurel on mon afternoon, several dozen household members of immigrants waited for news of their relation at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. There were several small kid. A priest at the Christian church who identified himself only as male parent Sergio refused to allow interviews with the families or answer any questions, saying only: "People are afraid. We need to calm them. There are mothers and children involved."

Entrances to the sprawling plant, in an industrial section south of town, had been blocked off by ICE. A nearby fast-food restaurant was full of the blue-shirted agents, one of whom would say only that a "little inspection" was under way at the facility.

A woman entering the church grounds with four small children said several of the youngsters' parents had been detained. The woman, Mary Troyer, said she was a translator for many of the families.

"I don't like this at all," Troyer said. "I don't understand it. They have come here to work. It's very sad."

The ICE spokeswoman, Gonzalez, said the workers would be taken to an ICE detention center to "await the outcome of their cases." She said 50 would be "released into the community" instead of being sent to the center, for "humanitarian reasons," including medical difficulties or the need to take care of children.

She said no lawyers were present while the workers were being interrogated. "Everyone will have due process under law," Gonzalez said.

Late Monday afternoon, the grim-faced workers, some of them handcuffed, were lined up near white and silver buses as the rain poured down.

In a statement issued after the raid, Howard Industries, one of the largest employers in the region, acknowledged that it was "visited" by immigration agents trying to determine if its employees were citizens or otherwise legally authorized to work in the country.

"Howard Industries runs every check allowed to ascertain the immigration status of all applicants for jobs," the statement said. "It is company policy that it hires only U.S. Citizens and legal immigrants."

Bill Chandler, executive director of the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, called the Laurel raid a violation of human rights.

"We're very disturbed at what's happened," Chandler said. "It's a real contradiction between our proclaimed values of hard work and family in Mississippi and the actions of local law enforcement, and ICE. I think it's a real affront to our values. They're creating their own terrorism by going after workers."

After the Iowa raid, the U.S. Interpreter said many of the immigrants did not understand the charges to which they pleaded guilty. But U.S. Officials said the judges in the cases believed that the guilty pleas had been made freely and voluntarily.