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USA Today
8 hours ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Immigration raids targeting ag businesses increase
Immigration raids targeting ag businesses increase Show Caption Hide Caption House committee grills DHS Sec. Noem on due process, farming Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced questions from a House committee on due process and immigration policy impacting agriculture. Progressive Farmer's Chris Clayton reported that 'Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are starting to more aggressively target agriculture and food processing facilities around the country as reports over the past week from (Nebraska), New Mexico and California also highlight.' 'In Omaha, ICE agents hit a small meat processor, Glenn Valley Foods, rounding up as many as 100 workers suspected of being in the country illegally and potentially providing fake documents to gain employment,' Clayton reported. 'ICE stated it was the largest enforcement operation in Nebraska since President Donald Trump took office. Nebraska is considered the country's largest red-meat processing state with packing plants in towns and cities across the state, including multiple major plants in southeast Omaha where the raid occurred. Nearly every one of those areas also has a larger Latino population who make up the bulk of the workforce at these facilities.' More: ICE detains workers at Omaha meat plant, drawing hundreds of protesters: What we know 'Glenn Valley Foods processes and makes thinly sliced minute steaks, Gary's QuickSteak, at its facility,' Clayton reported. 'Gary Rohwer, owner and CEO of the company, told an Omaha TV station that federal investigators told him 97 employees had false identification. Rohwer told the TV station his company uses the federal E-Verify program.' 'The ICE raids on agriculture reflect the demands of President Donald Trump's aide Stephen Miller who met with ICE leaders in late May demanding the agency increase its volume of daily arrests, the Wall Street Journal reported,' Clayton reported. 'Agriculture is an industry ripe for aggressive actions given a high volume of undocumented workers in farming and in food processing facilities, going back decades. Agriculture groups have pressed for years for Congress to pass legislation that would legalize the workforce, but those bills have failed to pass.' Roughly 40% of US farmworkers are unauthorized to work The USDA's Economic Research Service reported in January that 'the share of hired crop farmworkers who were not legally authorized to work in the United States grew from roughly 14 percent in 1989–91 to almost 55 percent in 1999–2001; in recent years it has declined to about 40 percent,' the ERS reported. 'In 2020–22, 32 percent of crop farmworkers were U.S. born, 7 percent were immigrants who had obtained U.S. citizenship, 19 percent were other authorized immigrants (primarily permanent residents or green-card holders), and the remaining 42 percent held no work authorization.' More: Trump admin's emerging surveillance state raises privacy concerns 'The share of workers who are U.S. born is highest in the Midwest, while the share who are unauthorized is highest in California,' the ERS reported. 'Legal immigration status is difficult to measure: not many surveys ask the question, and unauthorized respondents may be reluctant to answer truthfully if asked,' the ERS reported. 'The U.S. Department of Labor's National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) provides data on farmworkers' legal immigration status. NAWS data, believed to be of high quality, is gathered by trained and trusted enumerators who conduct face-to-face interviews with workers at their job sites and with their employers' permission.' More: Iowa egg supplier denies allegations of human trafficking, harassment At the House Agriculture Committee hearing yesterday, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins was asked about ICE targeting agriculture business and the ag labor industry more broadly. She told the committee that while President Donald Trump's first commitment is to ensuring that all laws are followed, he also understands the challenges of finding labor and that his cabinet is 'doing everything we can to make sure that these farmers and ranchers have the labor that they need.' Agriculture-raids take place in California and New Mexico too KOAT Action News' Aliyah Chavez reported that 'eleven people were arrested during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at Outlook Dairy Farms near Lovington, (New Mexico) last week, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Federal officials said nine of those arrested, while ICE was executing a search warrant, were previously banned from the United States.' More: Ohio Democrats, Asian groups oppose ban on property sales to Chinese, other immigrants In addition, Clayton wrote that 'the Los Angeles Times reported, 'Alarm spread through California agricultural centers Tuesday as panicked workers reported that federal immigration authorities — who had largely refrained from major enforcement action in farming communities in the first months of the Trump administration — were showing up at farm fields and packinghouses from the Central Coast to the San Joaquin Valley.'' ICE protest in Columbus calls for immigration rais to stop A protest in downtown Columbus called for ICE raids and activity to cease in the city. 'ICE agents raided produce farms in Ventura County, California. The CEO of the Ventura County Farm Bureau cited that immigration agents visited five produce-packing facilities and farms in the area. Farms were also raided in Tulare County where farm workers had been picking blueberries, the LA Times reported,' Clayton reported. 'Dozens of immigrant workers were detained. Video posted by a California TV station showed workers fleeing and ICE agents arresting them in the field.'
Politico
2 days ago
- Business
- Politico
Immigration raid at Omaha meat production plant leaves company officials bewildered
OMAHA, Nebraska — Immigration authorities raided an Omaha meat production plant Tuesday morning and took dozens of workers away in buses, leaving company officials bewildered because they said they had followed the law. The raid happened around 9 a.m. at Glenn Valley Foods in south Omaha, an area where nearly a quarter of residents were foreign born according to the 2020 census. A small group of people came out to protest the raid, and some of them even jumped on the front bumper of a vehicle to try to stop officers in one location while others threw rocks at officials' vehicles as a white bus carrying workers pulled away from a plant. Chad Hartmann, president of the food packaging company, said the front office was stunned by the aggressive nature of federal officials' raid and confused by why the company was targeted. 'My biggest issue is: Why us?' Hartmann said. 'We do everything by the book.' The plant uses E-Verify, the federal database used to check the immigration status of employees. When he said as much to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who carried out the raid, they told him the E-Verify system 'is broken.' 'I mean, what am I supposed to do with that?' Hartmann said. 'This is your system, run by the government. And you're raiding me because your system is broken?' Omaha police and the Douglas County sheriff said immigration officials had warned them about their plans, and their departments helped block off traffic around the neighborhood where many food production plants are located while ICE officers worked. Meatpacking plants rely heavily on immigrant workers who are willing to do the physically demanding work. The industry has not yet been the focus of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement efforts, but the administration has been intensifying its efforts in recent weeks. Trump called out the National Guard this week to respond to ongoing protests in Los Angeles over his immigration policies. CEO and owner Gary Rohwer told WOWT in Omaha he wasn't made aware of the operation ahead of time. He said federal agents entered the plant with a list of 97 people they wanted to screen. 'Of course not. It's a raid,' said Rohwer, whose company makes the Gary's QuickSteak brand of ready-to-grill steak. Estefania Favila, a supervisor at Glenn Valley Foods, said she was in a morning meeting when federal officials began banging on the plant's doors and yelling, 'Homeland Security!' 'They just came in and said that it was a raid and we had to get everybody out of production,' Favila said. Employees were separated by those who had documents showing they were U.S. citizens, those who had valid work documents and those who did not have documents, she said. About 70 people were taken away in buses with the windows blacked out, Favila said. Among them were two of her cousins who immigrated from Honduras, she said. ICE officials confirmed in an email the raid at Glenn Valley Foods, saying it was 'based on an ongoing criminal investigation into the large-scale employment of aliens without authorization to work in the United States.' They said it was likely the largest 'worksite enforcement operation' in Nebraska since the start of Trump's second term. Hartmann, the company president, said he planned to contact Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who represents the district, and other Nebraska leaders to try to get answers. By Tuesday afternoon, Bacon had issued a statement saying the ICE raid sought to investigate stolen identities and that 'ICE verified that Glen Valley Foods complied with E-Verify 100% and is a victim in this as well.' Douglas County Commissioner Roger Garcia, who rushed out of a regular meeting Tuesday morning after he learned about the raid, said the community is shaken. 'It clearly instills a lot of fear,' said Garcia, who represents the area. 'People are asking me if this is going to continue for multiple days here in Omaha. People are asking me if this is going to spread to other cities.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal immigration raid at Omaha meat production plant sparks protests
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Immigration authorities raided an Omaha meat production plant Tuesday morning, inspiring some small protests, but details on exactly how many workers were detained weren't immediately clear. The raid at Glenn Valley Foods in south Omaha, which has a large immigrant population, happened around 9 a.m. Tuesday and left workers and executives at the plant shaken. Chad Hartmann, president of the food packaging company, said the front office was stunned by the aggressive nature of federal officials' raid and bewildered by why the company was targeted. 'My biggest issue is: why us?" Hartmann said. 'We do everything by the book.' The plant uses E-Verify, the federal database used to check the immigration status of employees. When he said as much to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who carried out the raid, they told him the E-Verify system 'is broken.' 'I mean, what am I supposed to do with that?' Hartmann said. 'This is your system, run by the government. And you're raiding me because your system is broken?' Omaha police and the Douglas County sheriff said immigration officials had warned them about their plans, and their departments helped block off traffic around the neighborhood where many food production plants are located while ICE officers worked. Meatpacking plants rely heavily on immigrant workers who are willing to do the physically demanding work. The industry has not yet been the focus of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement efforts, but the administration has been intensifying its efforts in recent weeks. Trump called out the National Guard this week to respond to ongoing protests in Los Angeles over his immigration policies. In Omaha, a small group of people came out to protest the raids, and some of them even jumped on the front bumper of a vehicle to try to stop officers in one location while others threw rocks at officials' vehicles as a white bus carrying workers pulled away from a plant. CEO and owner Gary Rohwer told WOWT in Omaha he wasn't made aware of the operation ahead of time. He said federal agents entered the plant with a list of 97 people they wanted to screen. 'Of course not. It's a raid,' said Rohwer, whose company makes the Gary's QuickSteak brand of ready-to-grill steak. Estefania Favila, a supervisor at Glenn Valley Foods, said she was in a morning meeting when federal officials began banging on the plant's doors and yelling, 'Homeland Security!' 'They just came in and said that it was a raid and we had to get everybody out of production," Favila said. Employees were separated by those who had documents showing they were U.S. citizens, those who had valid work documents and those who did not have documents, she said. About 70 people were taken away in buses with the windows blacked out, Favila said. Among them were two of her cousins who immigrated from Honduras, she said. ICE officials confirmed in an email the raid at Glenn Valley Foods, saying it was 'based on an ongoing criminal investigation into the large-scale employment of aliens without authorization to work in the United States.' They said it was likely the largest 'worksite enforcement operation" in Nebraska since the start of Trump's second term. Hartmann, the company president, said he planned to contact Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who represents the district, and other Nebraska leaders to try to get answers. By Tuesday afternoon, Bacon had issued a statement saying the ICE raid sought to investigate stolen identities and that 'ICE verified that Glen Valley Foods complied with E-Verify 100% and is a victim in this as well.' Douglas County Commissioner Roger Garcia, who rushed out of a regular meeting Tuesday morning after he learned about the raid, said the community is shaken. 'It clearly instills a lot of fear,' said Garcia, who represents the area. 'People are asking me if this is going to continue for multiple days here in Omaha. People are asking me if this is going to spread to other cities.'
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Federal immigration raid at Omaha meat production plant sparks protests
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Immigration authorities raided an Omaha meat production plant Tuesday morning, inspiring some small protests, but details on exactly how many workers were detained weren't immediately clear. The raid at Glenn Valley Foods in south Omaha, which has a large immigrant population, happened around 9 a.m. Tuesday and left workers and executives at the plant shaken. Chad Hartmann, president of the food packaging company, said the front office was stunned by the aggressive nature of federal officials' raid and bewildered by why the company was targeted. 'My biggest issue is: why us?' Hartmann said. 'We do everything by the book.' The plant uses E-Verify, the federal database used to check the immigration status of employees. When he said as much to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who carried out the raid, they told him the E-Verify system 'is broken.' 'I mean, what am I supposed to do with that?' Hartmann said. 'This is your system, run by the government. And you're raiding me because your system is broken?' Omaha police and the Douglas County sheriff said immigration officials had warned them about their plans, and their departments helped block off traffic around the neighborhood where many food production plants are located while ICE officers worked. Meatpacking plants rely heavily on immigrant workers who are willing to do the physically demanding work. The industry has not yet been the focus of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement efforts, but the administration has been intensifying its efforts in recent weeks. Trump called out the National Guard this week to respond to ongoing protests in Los Angeles over his immigration policies. In Omaha, a small group of people came out to protest the raids, and some of them even jumped on the front bumper of a vehicle to try to stop officers in one location while others threw rocks at officials' vehicles as a white bus carrying workers pulled away from a plant. CEO and owner Gary Rohwer told WOWT in Omaha he wasn't made aware of the operation ahead of time. He said federal agents entered the plant with a list of 97 people they wanted to screen. 'Of course not. It's a raid,' said Rohwer, whose company makes the Gary's QuickSteak brand of ready-to-grill steak. Estefania Favila, a supervisor at Glenn Valley Foods, said she was in a morning meeting when federal officials began banging on the plant's doors and yelling, 'Homeland Security!' 'They just came in and said that it was a raid and we had to get everybody out of production,' Favila said. Employees were separated by those who had documents showing they were U.S. citizens, those who had valid work documents and those who did not have documents, she said. About 70 people were taken away in buses with the windows blacked out, Favila said. Among them were two of her cousins who immigrated from Honduras, she said. ICE officials confirmed in an email the raid at Glenn Valley Foods, saying it was 'based on an ongoing criminal investigation into the large-scale employment of aliens without authorization to work in the United States.' They said it was likely the largest 'worksite enforcement operation' in Nebraska since the start of Trump's second term. Hartmann, the company president, said he planned to contact Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who represents the district, and other Nebraska leaders to try to get answers. By Tuesday afternoon, Bacon had issued a statement saying the ICE raid sought to investigate stolen identities and that 'ICE verified that Glen Valley Foods complied with E-Verify 100% and is a victim in this as well.'
New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Federal immigration raid at Omaha meat production plant sparks protests
Immigration authorities raided at least one Omaha meat production plant Tuesday morning, inspiring some small protests, but details about how many workers were affected weren't immediately clear. Omaha police and the Douglas County sheriff said immigration officials had warned them about their plans, and their departments helped block off traffic around the neighborhood where many food production plants are located while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers worked. Meatpacking plants rely heavily on immigrant workers who are willing to do the physically demanding work. The industry has not yet been the focus of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement efforts, but the administration has been intensifying its efforts in recent weeks. Trump called out the National Guard this week to respond to ongoing protests in Los Angeles over his immigration policies. Advertisement 3 Federal agents are seen near Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha, Nebraska, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. AP In Omaha, a small group of people came out to protest the raids, and some of them even jumped on the front bumper of a vehicle to try to stop officers in one location while others threw rocks at officials' vehicles as a white bus carrying workers pulled away from a plant. Glenn Valley Foods officials didn't immediately respond to an inquiry from The Associated Press, but WOWT reported that CEO and owner Gary Rohwer said he wasn't made aware of the operation ahead of time and that there was no warrant. Advertisement 'Of course not. It's a raid,' said Rohwer, whose company makes the Gary's QuickSteak brand of ready-to-grill steak. Federal agents entered the plant around 9 a.m. Tuesday with a list of 97 people they wanted to screen, Rohwer said. He said the company regularly checks the immigration status of employees with the federal E-Verify database. 3 Sara Schulte-Bukowinski, a faith leader in Omaha, Neb., holds a sign protesting an immigration raid, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Glenn Valley Foods, a meat packaging plant in south Omaha. AP ICE officials didn't immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press, but the agency confirmed the raid at Glenn Valley Foods to the Omaha World-Herald. Advertisement 'U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and federal law enforcement partners, executed a federal search warrant at Glenn Valley Foods, today, based on an ongoing criminal investigation into the large-scale employment of aliens without authorization to work in the United States,' ICE said in a statement. 'The worksite enforcement operation is likely the largest to take place in Nebraska since the start of the current presidential administration, which has prioritized immigration enforcement efforts and strengthened focus on border security.' 3 A person holds a sign outside of Glenn Valley Foods, a meat packaging company that was raided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Omaha, Neb. AP The raid prompted one Douglas County Commissioner to walk out in the middle of a meeting Tuesday to head down to the area he represents in southeast Omaha where the plants are located. Commissioner Roger Garcia and City Councilman Ron Hug both expressed concern about the impact on families. Advertisement 'These actions are deeply harmful to the South Omaha community,' Hug said in a statement. 'Not only are they unjust and disruptive, but they also directly undermine the economic stability and growth of District 4 and the broader community.' Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson said his agency is 'not privy to the exact nature of the ICE operation' but that his agency is there to assist with assuring 'peace and safety' of everyone in the area. Asked when he learned of the operation, he said his department received 'respectful and ample notification.' He says he got the notification about a week ago.
