Workers' indictments multiply, but no employer is charged after Mississippi immigration raids

Affidavits released after the historic fires on August 7 showed that federal agents suspected food processing plants of illegally hiring undocumented workers. But Mike Hurst, the US District Attorney for South Mississippi, declined to say whether charges would be laid against employers, citing the ongoing investigation.

Two weeks later, nearly 40 workers were charged, ranging from illegal reintegration to the misuse of social security numbers, according to court documents.

Nevertheless, no charges have been brought against companies or managers in areas that experts believe can take a long time.

"It takes time to investigate companies, but in these cases, affidavits (…) indicate that companies have deliberately and deliberately hired undocumented persons or the documents that they have. were producing were fake, "said Cindy Eldridge, former US Assistant Attorney. Hurst spent last week offering free legal services to detained migrants and their families.

"I have the impression that some employees will be sued – supervisory employees," she told CNN. "I would be shocked if one of the owners is sued."

According to one analysis, criminal proceedings against employers rarely exceed 15 years

Congress enacted criminal sanctions against employers in 1986. Since then, the number of criminal prosecutions has rarely exceeded 15 per year.

"Not only are some employers being prosecuted, but fewer convicted people are being punished more than punitive," said Syracuse researchers. "Prison sentences are rare."

Cliff Johnson, director of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi Law School, said it could take months or even years for federal agents and prosecutors to review the evidence seized from companies in order to to determine whether employers were facing charges.

"Now, I suspect that the US attorney's office is forced to react quickly because of the high profile of this case and the number of people asking what will happen to these companies," Johnson said.

"But I do not think anyone should be aware that corporate executives were not handcuffed on the day of the raids."

Affidavits show authorities believe employers have deliberately hired unauthorized workers

In sworn affidavits made public after the searches, the immigration authorities wrote that they had reason to believe that raiding factories deliberately hired undocumented immigrants, including workers wearing GPS ankle bracelets handed over to the government pending deportation hearings and other people who used the social security number dead people.

Anthony Williams Jr., Special Agent for Immigration and US Customs, said in affidavits that the authorities believed that Mississippi factories had knowingly hired unauthorized workers with false documents "for the purpose of Commercial advantage or private financial gain ".

One of the factories, Peco Foods Inc., said in a statement, after the raids, that she was adhering to "all local, state and federal laws, including the use of the E-Verify government program, who controls new employees through the Social Security Administration Department of Homeland Security for compliance. "

Koch Foods, a poultry processing company, said in a statement that it was participating in the E-Verify program and was striving to ensure that its employees were allowed to work in the United States. However, workers could have obtained stolen identities of people authorized to work in the country and present them as their own.

"When Koch Foods submits such (workers) to the E-Verify system, the system indicates that the worker is authorized because, unbeknownst to Koch Foods and the E-Verify system, the information provided by the worker relates to to the stolen identity of an authorized worker, "the statement said.

"Federal immigration and discrimination legislation requires Koch Foods to accept documents that seem authentic," the company said.

Strengthening Law Enforcement at Workplaces Under President Donald Trump

The company pleaded guilty to felony charges and agreed to pay a $ 2.5 million fine, ICE said in a statement.

The company's human resources manager, Jose Humberto Gonzalez, pleaded guilty to a similar charge of criminal conspiracy at the federal level, the agency said. He was sentenced to six months of house arrest with electronic surveillance.

Another high-profile case in the state concerned a 2008 criminal complaint against the Country Club of Jackson for employing undocumented workers and providing false information to the Social Security Administration. The case was settled with the club agreeing to pay a fine of $ 214,500 and to respect certain conditions of control and audit.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has strengthened law enforcement on construction sites since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. In recent years, he has conducted several large-scale raids on food processing plants and garden centers.

Eldridge said she doubted the company's leaders would face charges after the latest raids.

She said about prosecutors: "I just do not think it will happen politically.They are really worried about the economic aspects of business, but not so much for those families that they have torn apart."