The recent immigration raids at Mississippi poultry plants are bringing new scrutiny on the processors who employed the 700 arrested workers.
An Agri-Pulse report says the Department of Homeland Security wrote in court documents that the companies were ”fully aware” that the workers were undocumented immigrants.
In fact, some of the same workers that were arrested had already been detained for being in the country illegally and were wearing ankle bracelets to track their whereabouts.
Court affidavits were unsealed and detailed numerous arrests of illegal immigrants over the years who had worked at the seven facilities that were raided.
One of the companies had a history of employing undocumented workers up through June of this year.
The affidavits also say companies had failed in many cases to verify the eligibility of workers through E-Verify.
One affidavit showed a company had employed 25 workers who had not been searched for in the E-Verify System.
The National Chicken Council fired off a letter to President Trump saying that the industry uses “every available tool” to find out if workers can legally be employed in the U.S.
However, they say the government hasn’t given employers a reliable way to prevent identity fraud and false documentation.