Owner of raided Omaha plant says he followed hiring rules
The owner of an Omaha food packaging plant that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided this week said Wednesday that his company relied on the government's web system to verify that his workers were in the country legally.
'We did everything we could possibly do,' Glenn Valley Foods owner Gary Rohwer told The Associated Press.
Federal officials arrived at the Nebraska factory on Tuesday to screen nearly 100 people. About 70 employees were taken into custody, as part of President Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown and mass deportation initiative.
Glenn Valley Foods is operating at about 30 percent capacity after the raid as the company tries to hire more workers, Rohwer told the AP.
Company officials have blamed the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS)'s nationwide E-Verify system, which relies on documents and social security numbers to determine whether potential employees can work in the U.S. legally.
'I'd like to see the United States government … come up with a program that they can communicate to the companies as to how to hire legitimate help. Period,' Rohwer said.
The owner explained that federal officials said his company was a victim of unauthorized workers using stolen identities or fake IDs to get around the E-Verify system.
Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr., a Democrat who was sworn into office earlier this week, told NewsNation on Wednesday that he didn't know why the Nebraska city was targeted for the large-scale immigration sweep.
'Right now, what is happening across the country is a lot of fear is being created,' Ewing said. 'We don't have an understandable approach to immigration, especially when it comes to our Latino members of this country.'
He called on Congress to develop a 'comprehensive immigration policy.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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