ICE nabs 97 illegal aliens at the meat packing plant in Grainger County in rural Tennessee. It’s just the latest sign that the Trump administration is serious about going after illegal aliens and the companies that hire them.
Civil rights groups are whining that is the single biggest raid in over ten years. Meat processing plants have a history of hiring illegal aliens and some of the largest raids have been at them. This raid worries them because the vast majority of them only have illegal entry charges, whereas in the past the huge majority were criminal aliens.
But of course, they whine about them, too.
According to the Washington Post
Federal officials arrested 97 immigrants at a meat-processing plant in rural Tennessee late Thursday in what civil rights organizations said was the largest single workplace raid in a decade and a sign that the Trump administration is carrying out its plan to aggressively ramp up enforcement this year.
Ten people were arrested on federal criminal charges, one person was arrested on state charges and 86 immigrants were detained for being in the country illegally, Tammy Spicer, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a statement Friday. All of those arrested were in the country illegally, she said. Most were from Mexico. […]
The National Immigration Law Center and other immigrant advocates said the Tennessee raid was the largest since the George W. Bush administration and deployed many of the tactics of that era, with a surprise blitz of the factory, a helicopter and streets blocked by state and local authorities. ICE officials would not say where the raid ranked in terms of size.
What makes workplace raids under Trump as compared to the last three presidents is that he and acting ICE Director Thomas Homan plan on prosecuting companies that knowingly hire illegal aliens. I have often said that fining companies have no effect because they consider a cost of doing business.
Congress needs to pass a law that would send owners and the head of the Human Resource department to prison sentences with no judicial discretion.
You would see companies quickly move to an American workforce.