The ICE Hammer Falls [Reader Post]

Looks like lame ducks can learn to hunt after all, and their preferred prey are illegals and their American employers.

On May 12, 2008, ICE raided Agriprocessors, Inc. in Waterloo, Iowa, and detained 389 workers. Then the prosecutors took off the kid gloves. The judge sentenced 270 illegal immigrants to five months in prison for working under false documentation. Most of the illegals agreed to deportation after serving their sentences.

The prosecutions, which ended Friday, signal a sharp escalation in the Bush administration’s crackdown on illegal workers, with prosecutors bringing tough federal criminal charges against most of the immigrants arrested in a May 12 raid. Until now, unauthorized workers have generally been detained by immigration officials for civil violations and rapidly deported.

There was a certain incentive to plead to the charges, because the alternative was not altogether pleasant.

If the immigrants did not plead guilty, [the prosecutor] Mr. Dummermuth said he would try them on felony identity theft charges that carry a mandatory two-year minimum jail sentence. In many cases, court documents show, the immigrants were working under real Social Security numbers or immigration visas, known as green cards, that belonged to other people.

Looks like Agriprocessors may also need some good lawyers.

The workers said that supervisors and managers were well aware that the immigrants were working under false documents. [snip]

No charges have been brought against managers or owners at Agriprocessors, but there were indications that prosecutors were also preparing a case against the company. In pleading guilty, immigrants had to agree to cooperate with any investigation.

The Iowa raid came shortly after ICE bagged 905 illegals in San Diego. And though you may not have an outstanding deportation order, if you are here illegally and ICE comes knocking, you are going away too.

ICE agents increasingly have been tracking people who ignore deportation orders. When authorities visit a suspect’s last known address and find other immigrants, they ask them to prove they are in the country legally.

Don’t forget to send ICE a Christmas card this year.

H/T Michelle Malkin

Bill Dupray at The Patriot Room

Tags: 5 months, Agriprocessors, California, Deportation, Documentation, Fraud, ICE, illegal immigration, Immigration, Iowa, Prison, San Diego, Waterloo