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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 2019)
A5 THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019 Largest US immigration raids in a decade lead to 680 arrests By ROGELIO SOLIS and JEFF AMY Associated Press MORTON, Miss. — U.S. immigration offi cials raided numerous Missis- sippi food processing plants Wednesday, arresting 680 mostly Latino workers in what marked the largest workplace sting in at least a decade. The raids, planned months ago, happened just hours before President Don- ald Trump was scheduled to visit El Paso, Texas, the majority-Latino city where a man linked to an online screed about a “Hispanic invasion” was charged in a shooting that left 22 people dead in the border city. Workers fi lled three buses — two for men and one for women — at a Koch Foods Inc. plant in tiny Morton, 40 miles east of Jackson. They were taken to a mili- tary hangar to be processed for immigration violations. About 70 family, friends and residents waved good- bye and shouted, “Let them go! Let them go!” Later, two more buses arrived. A tearful 13-year-old boy whose parents are from Guatemala waved good- bye to his mother, a Koch worker, as he stood beside his father. Some employees tried to fl ee on foot but were captured in the parking lot. Workers who were con- fi rmed to have legal sta- tus were allowed to leave the plant after having their trunks searched. “It was a sad situa- tion inside,” said Domingo Candelaria, a legal resi- dent and Koch worker who said authorities checked employees’ identifi cation documents. The company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis Two people are taken into custody at a Koch Foods Inc. plant in Morton, Miss. comment. About 600 agents fanned out across the plants involv- ing several companies, sur- rounding the perimeters to prevent workers from fl ee- ing. They occurred in small towns near Jackson with a workforce made up largely of Latino immigrants, including Bay Springs, Car- thage, Canton, Morton, Pelahatchie and Sebastopol. Matthew Albence, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s acting direc- tor, said the raids could be the largest such operation thus far in any single state. Asked to comment on the fact that the raid was happening on the same day as Trump’s El Paso visit, Albence responded, “This is a long-term operation that’s been going on. Our enforce- ment operations are being done on a racially neutral basis. Investigations are based on evidence.” Such large shows of force were common under Presi- dent George W. Bush, most notably at a kosher meat- packing plant in tiny Post- ville, Iowa, in 2008. Presi- dent Barack Obama avoided them, limiting his work- place immigration efforts to low-profi le audits that were done outside of public view. Trump resumed work- place raids, but the months of preparation and hefty resources they require make them rare. Last year, the administration hit a land- scaping company near Toledo, Ohio, and a meat- packing plant in east- ern Tennessee. The for- mer owner of the Tennessee plant was sentenced to 18 months in prison last month. A hangar at the Mis- sissippi National Guard in Flowood, near Jack- son, was set up with 2,000 meals to process employ- ees for immigration viola- tions on Wednesday. There were seven lines, one for each location that was hit. Buses had been lined up since early in the day to be dispatched to the plants. “I’ve never done any- thing like this,” said Chris Heck, resident agent in charge of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit in Jackson. “This is a very large worksite operation.” Koch Foods, based in Park Ridge, Illinois, is one of the largest poultry pro- ducers in the U.S. and employs about 13,000 peo- ple, with operations in Mis- sissippi, Alabama, Geor- gia, Illinois, Ohio and Tennessee. Forbes ranks it as the 135th-largest privately held company in the U.S., with an estimated $3.2 billion in annual revenue. The Mor- ton plant produces more than 700,000 tons of poul- try feed a year, company offi cials said in February. The company has no rela- tion to prominent conser- vative political donors and activists Charles and David Koch. Protests dog Trump’s visits to Dayton, El Paso By ZEKE MILLER and JILL COLVIN Associated Press EL PASO, Texas — Aiming to play the tradi- tional role of healer during national tragedy, President Donald Trump paid vis- its Wednesday to two cities reeling from mass shootings that left 31 dead and dozens more wounded. But his divisive words preceded him, large pro- tests greeted him and bit- ing political attacks soon followed. The president and fi rst lady Melania Trump fl ew to El Paso late in the day after visiting the Dayton hospital, where many of the victims of Sunday’s attack in that city were treated. The pres- ident was kept out of view of the reporters traveling with him, but White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said the couple met with hospital staff and fi rst responders and spent time with wounded survi- vors and their families. Trump told them he was “with them,” she said. “Everybody received him very warmly. Everybody was very, very excited to see him.” But outside Miami Val- ley Hospital, at least 200 protesters gathered, blam- ing Trump’s incendiary rhetoric for infl aming polit- ical and racial tensions in the country and demand- ing action on gun control. Some said Trump was not welcome in their city. There were Trump supporters, as well. Emotions are still raw in the aftermath of the early Sunday morning shooting rampage that left 10 dead, including the gunman, in the city’s popular Oregon entertainment district. Crit- ics contend Trump’s own words have contributed to a combustible climate that has spawned violence in cit- ies including El Paso, where another shooter killed 22 people over the weekend. And the vitriol continued Wednesday. Trump spent part of his fl ight between Ohio and Texas airing his grievances on Twitter, berat- ing Democratic lawmakers, a potential 2020 rival and the press. It was a remark- able split-screen appear- ance for TV viewers, with White House images of handshakes and selfi es jux- taposed with angry tweets. Trump and the White House have forcefully dis- puted the idea that he bears some responsibility for the nation’s divisions. And Trump continued to do so as he left for the trip on Wednesday. “My critics are political people,” Trump said, not- ing the apparent political leanings of the shooter in the Dayton killings. He also defended his rhetoric on issues including immigra- tion, claiming instead that he “brings people together.” Some 85% of U.S. adults believe the tone and nature of political debate has become more nega- tive, with a majority saying Trump has changed things for the worse, according to recent Pew Research Cen- ter polling. And more than three quarters, 78%, say that elected offi cials who use heated or aggressive language to talk about cer- tain people or groups make violence against those peo- ple more likely. 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