Immigration officials
arrest five Dakota Beef employees
By ELISA SAND, Staff Reporter
Madison Daily Leader
07/30/2008
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
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
"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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