Raid leads to arrest of 10 illegals
Friday, June 29, 2007 6:26 AM PDT
By Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articlePORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Ten workers arrested in a June 12 immigration raid on a Fresh Del Monte Produce processing plant have been charged with having bogus documents, according to federal indictments made public Thursday.
More than 160 people were detained in the raid, suspected of being in the United States illegally.
The 10 indicted are on immigration holds at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Wash.
Eight were charged with having a false immigration document and Social Security card. Two others were charged just with having a false Social Security card. Both offenses are felonies.
The indictment did not specify how the 10 came by the documents, but phony cards produced from laptop computers are widely available on the street.
Holding a false immigration document, or green card, is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The Social Security fraud charge carries a punishment of up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
No arraignment date has been set for the nine men and one woman, whose ages range from 19 to 49.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kent Robinson said the investigation is continuing.
Many had had their documents for more than a year, but one, Javier Vasquez-Villa, 25, had had his for only about two days, according to the indictments.
U.S Attorney for Oregon Karen Immergut said the ten were selected for prosecution based on criminal and arrest records, prior deportations or other immigration problems, and outstanding arrest or deportation warrants.
Robinson said the 10 will be transferred to the U.S marshal's office in Portland to await trial.
If convicted, he said, the 10 would serve their sentences and then be returned to the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, which will decide on possible deportation.
Earlier, ICE filed an affidavit claiming the plant was violating pay and overtime laws, but the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries interviewed 25 workers detained in the raid and found no evidence of a pattern of such violations, said Christine Hammond, administrator of the agency's wage-and-hour division.
"We really didn't come away with a pattern or practice of violations," Hammond told The Oregonian newspaper. "Maybe a few here or there, but nothing that jumped out as being major problems."
Worker advocates contested the conclusion, saying those interviewed likely kept quiet because they were in federal custody.
"They're afraid. They're already in trouble," said Gary Parks, an attorney who represents workers in pay disputes. "They don't want to get their friends in trouble."
Hammond told The Oregonian that regulators did find one worker younger than 18 and no record of Fresh Del Monte's hiring firm, American Staffing Resources, seeking required state certification to employ minors.
The worker said he was 16 but submitted false documentation about his age to get a job, Hammond said.
State law requires employers to apply for permits each year to hire workers aged 14 to 17.
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