Dodge City Illegals prepare for raids

[Tee]

From the Daily Sun:

Beatrice Daily Sun

Workers at meatpacking towns preparing for possible raids

By ROXANA HEGEMAN

Friday, April 13, 2007 2:48 PM CDT
DODGE CITY, Kan. - Frightened by raids last year at six Swift & Co. plants, illegal immigrants in the nation's meatpacking towns are preparing for their possible arrest.

For years, immigrant rights groups had been confident the meatpacking giants were so powerful immigration agents would never raid them.

But since the Dec. 12 sweeps at Swift plants in six states, immigrant advocacy groups have been holding workshops, teaching undocumented workers how to prepare for their arrests by doing such things as drawing up legal documents so someone could care for their children and handle their financial affairs.

In addition, the United Food and Commercial Workers union has printed a bilingual immigration rights kit it plans to distribute nationwide to workers in the coming weeks. The kit includes practical information, legal documents and sample letters.

"We want to make sure they (immigration officials) don't take advantage of our people," said Martin Rosas, secretary-treasurer for UFCW in Dodge City.

Among those making preparations since attending a workshop is the family of a 43-year-old man who works under a false identity at the National Beef plant in Liberal. Two of his four children, ranging in ages from 4 to 18, were born in the United States, where he's lived on an off for 21 years.

His wife, a 39-year-old illegal immigrant, asked not to be identified for fear the family would be arrested. The family is writing documents so her brother, a legal resident, would have custody of the children if the parents are deported. They have put their few possessions in another person's name and are trying to save what little money they can.

"It is the expected response of people that are terrified, that have to keep working in order to live," said James Austin, a Kansas City, Mo., immigration attorney who has taught at such workshops in Kansas.

Ed Hayes, Kansas director of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, an anti-illegal immigration group, said he was dismayed by those who are helping illegal immigrants.

"Those people ought to be arrested because they are helping people break the law," Hayes said. "We have churches that are aiding and abetting people breaking the law. We have chambers of commerce who want them to do it, politicians who want them to do it. What happened to our nation of laws?"

Immigration informational meetings are not new, Austin said, but only recently have organizers begun distributing and discussing power of attorney documents at them. He said that's a direct response by Hispanic advocacy agencies to recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, including last year's arrests of 1,282 Swift workers at plants in Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Iowa and Minnesota.

"I don't know what else to do, other than have people prepare as much as they can in case that happens here," said the Rev. John Fahey of St. Anthony Catholic Church in the southwestern Kansas town of Liberal, where a recent workshop drew 250 workers from meatpacking plants in southwest Kansas.

The Hispanic advocacy group Hispanos Unidos of Liberal and United Methodist Mexican American Ministries helped organize the meeting, said Arturo Ponce, a former meatpacking plant worker who helped found Hispanos Unidos of Liberal.

Immigrant families are also being urged to set up a savings accounts with $3,000 to $10,000 per family to pay bail bonds and other costs.

"They are putting aside a little money as often as they can for such a situation," Ponce said. "It is a heavy burden, but it is realistic."

Other legal advice included warnings not to sign a voluntary deportation form and to demand an immigration attorney, Ponce said.

Rosas said UFCW's bilingual kit will explain workers' rights and offer practical advice for dealing with immigration problems. Among the documents in the kit are sample letters immigrants can use to better respond to the federal government's inquiries about problems with Social Security numbers.

"There is always the same fear now _ everywhere you go," said Rosas.

The detailed extent of family preparations by undocumented workers surprised officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as the meatpacking industry's trade group, the American Meat Institute. Both groups told The Associated Press they were unaware of them.

"I haven't heard of any companies actively trying to prepare workers, because if a company knows they are undocumented they are not supposed to be hiring them anyway," Austin said.

Employers can face charges if they knowingly hire illegal workers.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson noted that about half of immigration-related cases in Kansas _ which has massive slaughterhouses in Dodge City, Liberal, Garden City and Emporia_ are associated with the food-processing industry. Anderson said the "hot area now" in the state for identity theft is in Cowley County, where Creekstone Farms Premium Beef opened a plant in 2003. He said illegal immigrants sometimes steal identities to get past the government's "Basic Pilot" program, which screens Social Security numbers to make sure they're real and that they match up with the person's name.

Don Stull, a University of Kansas anthropology professor and industry expert, said it's estimated about 25 percent of people working at the nation's meatpacking plants are in the country illegally. In the Swift raids, about 10 percent of the company's work force was arrested.

The industry says it is doing everything it can to make sure it does not hire illegal immigrants.

"Hiring illegal workers just doesn't make good business sense. Employee turnover is very disruptive," said Dave Ray, spokesman for the American Meat Institute.

Ray noted the meatpacking industry was a pioneer in the early use of Basic Pilot, which he called a valuable, but not foolproof, tool.

At the National Beef plant in Dodge City, general manager Carey Hoskinson said if he could convey any message to his employees it would be not to worry about a raid. He noted his company uses government identity verification programs as well as its own internal personnel audits.

"I don't think ICE has its crosshairs on us," he said.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)

The only question I have....Instead of Mrs Rosas helping them file forms to take care of the children and their belongings, why doesn't she help them file forms to get legal? I doubt they would be deported if they are awaiting citizenship.

Among the documents in the kit are sample letters immigrants can use to better respond to the federal government's inquiries about problems with Social Security numbers

In other words, she is helping them lie and conspire to file false documents and then thwarting our governments attempt to uncover the crime. Isin't this called aiding, abedding and conspiring to commit social security fraud?

"Hiring illegal workers just doesn't make good business sense. Employee turnover is very disruptive," said Dave Ray, spokesman for the American Meat Institute.

Ray noted the meatpacking industry was a pioneer in the early use of Basic Pilot, which he called a valuable, but not foolproof, tool.

At the National Beef plant in Dodge City, general manager Carey Hoskinson said if he could convey any message to his employees it would be not to worry about a raid. He noted his company uses government identity verification programs as well as its own internal personnel audits.

Ummm Carey, if there aren't any illegals out there, then why on earth would you need to reassure your workers not to worry? Me thinks this message was intended for ICE, not the workers.

[Made in the USA]

I know of someone who was in the National Plant a few years ago when they thought ICE had shown up. There were workers running and hiding everywhere, even in places that nobody would want to hide. Now if they were all "legal" workers, why were they all running to hide???

[lurker]

I'd tell them to run to the 'hide' room!

cough cough cough.... wheeeeeeeeze ...cough cough cough

[Made in the USA]

That's BAD, Lurker!!!

[TexKan]

I would just like to hereby offer my legal status to anyone who would like to sign over a house, car, bank account, or any real property to me - so I can "look after your interest"!! Please PM me and we can set up the paperwork. I'm a girl you can trust!!!

[Detector]

At the National Beef plant in Dodge City, general manager Carey Hoskinson said if he could convey any message to his employees it would be not to worry about a raid. He noted his company uses government identity verification programs as well as its own internal personnel audits.

Interesting. I heard the word was out, from internal sources, that immigration was expected to hit soon and employees have been told when to not show up for work.

[TexKan]

Law abiding businesses............ don't ya love em?

[Bubba]

Originally Posted by Detector

Interesting. I heard the word was out, from internal sources, that immigration was expected to hit soon and employees have been told when to not show up for work.

Let's hope Carey Hoskinson is the first one they slap the handcuffs on if this is true.

[Flying Dutchman]

The one thing that pisses me off when discussing the "illegal alien" subject is these know-it-all fugnuts who constantly imply the illegals are here working at jobs nobody wants, paying taxes and living poorly. These people obviously do not live or have ever seen what we see daily.
Show me a low paying job at Excel or National. The only reason they, the illegals, take up all the jobs is because they, the plants, recruit them in to work. You get rid of the illegals and the plants would close not because people would not work there but because there are not enough people in the work force to replace those lost. If the illegals are here to work, which they do, then why are they also on welfare? I would assume that they receive the taxes they pay from their wages and spending back in wlefare money, plus they file at the end of the year and get more back. If they are here to work, which they do, and they make good wages, which they do, then why are all their kids getting free meals at the schools?
You see, those who defend the illegals fail to see this. They fail to see that the majority of illegals have false papers, hence the reason they can work here. They fail to see that with false papers, you can get even more false papers, so one person can have 2 or more social security numbers. If the illegals have it so bad........why all the nice cars? Why the 4 or 5 car dealerships catering to them and only them? Why is it that the list of outstanding warrants printed in the paper reads like the white pages from a phone book from Chihuhua? Why all the cars with Texas, Oklahoma, or other state/county tags?

[K C Muffin]

Reading that someone's focus is to alleviate the fears of the illegal worker just p!sses me off. We have our little problem with illegals here too, but I don't personally see it as much because it's too easy for them to hide in their own little pocket of heaven. And that little pocket is too dangerous for me to even drive through.

The thing is, those plants wouldn't be so vocal about ICE raids and how they hurt production if they were very careful to NOT hire illegals. If I were the owner of a company and the costs of hiring illegals (which has to include the cost of rehiring those that are either deported or choose to go back across the border for a 'siesta') were more than the costs of hiring legal workers, why would I continue to do it? The reason they still do it is because it's NOT higher.....they STILL make money even given the problems when ICE visits. I say, make it more expensive to the employer when there's a raid and even one illegal worker is found. The only way to stop them from coming across the border to work and send money home is to make it harder to find jobs once they get here.