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Immigration officials arrest five Dakota Beef employees
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By ELISA SAND, Staff Reporter
| 07/30/2008 |
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Immigration officials were in Howard last month and served arrest warrants on five individuals who were employed at Dakota Beef.
Tim Counts, public relations officer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said Wednesday (today) that four individuals were arrested on warrants June 24 and a fifth person was arrested the following week at his home.
Two were arrested on administrative charges and three were charged criminally.
Names of those facing administrative charges are not available to the public, Counts said, but the people charged include a man and a woman. The woman is awaiting a hearing in front of a judge and the man was deported to Honduras. Counts said that same man, however, currently faces criminal charges for re-entering the country.
Calls were not immediately returned by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the names of those facing criminal charges.
Counts said ICE has an ongoing investigation in Howard and couldn't comment on whether additional warrants would be served.
Warrants served are based on investigations that result in tips from the public, reports from a company on questionable employees or tips from other law enforcement agencies.
When individuals are hired, they, like everyone, are required to fill out an I-9 form and produce documents that establish their identity and authorization to work in the United States. Those documents include passports, green cards, driver's licenses and/or Social Security cards.
"Employers must observe the documents," Counts said. "If they appear to be valid, the employer is required to accept them."
When arrested, individuals can face administrative or criminal charges and the majority tend to be administrative.
According to ICE statistics, during the 2007 fiscal year, 4,077 individuals were arrested on administrative warrants and 863 faced criminal charges. During the 2006 fiscal year, 3,667 individuals faced administrative charges and 716 faced criminal charges.
Regardless of the charges, Counts said, the end result, if the individual is found to be in the country illegally, is deportation.
Those facing criminal charges are looking at fines, forfeiture and potential jail time after which they then go through the deportation process.
With administrative charges, individuals have a hearing before a judge that determines if they will be deported.
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