Was The Fix In? 2000 Agriprocessors Immigration Raid Blocked At Last Minute Due To Rubashkin Connection To Senator Joseph Lieberman

Immigration agents were poised to raid the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in late summer 2000, but their bosses canceled the action because of fears it might affect the presidential election. Agents had gathered from around the country and search warrants were ready to go when the action was canceled the day before it was to happen. "I was shocked that at the last minute they scrubbed it."

Immigrant raid halted in 2000 on election fear, ex-agent says
TONY LEYS • Des Moines Register

Federal authorities could have spared Postville a great deal of upheaval if they had gone ahead with a planned 2000 immigration raid there instead of waiting nearly eight years to deal with a blatant case of illegal hiring, a retired federal agent says.

Estela Biesemeyer said last week that she and other immigration agents were poised to raid the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in late summer 2000, but their bosses canceled the action because of fears it might affect the presidential election.

Agency administrators were concerned about political blow-back from the raid, because they had heard the plant's owners were friends with U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, she said. Lieberman was the Democrats' vice presidential candidate that year.

The result of the cancellation, she said, was that the kosher meatpacking plant was allowed to expand dramatically, hiring hundreds more illegal immigrants. By the time authorities launched a huge raid there in 2008, the plant was Postville's dominant economic support, and its ensuing bankruptcy threw the town into a tailspin.

Rumors have long swirled that immigration officials knew about the plant's illegal work force but put off action for years. Confirmation came this summer in "Train to Nowhere," a book about immigration written by former Des Moines Register reporter Colleen Krantz.

Biesemeyer's former boss told Krantz about the 2000 raid being canceled abruptly, though his recollection of the exact timing and motive differs from Biesemeyer's.

Biesemeyer was the supervising agent in Des Moines for the Immigration and Naturalization Service and its successor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She retired in 2008, a few months after scores of federal agents charged into the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant and arrested nearly 400 workers in what was then the largest such raid in U.S. history.

Most of the arrested workers were Guatemalans or Mexicans, who served five months in prison before being deported. Hundreds more workers who avoided the raid fled town. The incident made national waves, and local leaders said it devastated the area's economy.

Biesemeyer, who lives in Indianola, said she was in charge of organizing the 2000 raid. Agents had gathered from around the country and search warrants were ready to go when the action was canceled the day before it was to happen, she said. "I was shocked that at the last minute they scrubbed it."

If the raid had gone through as planned, it probably would have caused much less disruption than the 2008 raid, because Agriprocessors was a much smaller operation than it would become, Biesemeyer said. She said agents in 2000 expected to arrest about 100 Agriprocessors workers, most of whom were from eastern Europe.

The agency was well aware that most of the plant's workers were illegal immigrants, she said, but for some reason, the problem was allowed to fester and grow for nearly eight more years after the canceled raid. "We could have curbed some of the goings-on that were happening there," she said.

She saw no indication that Lieberman asked anyone to scrub the raid. But she said her supervisors were concerned that the raid could affect the election, and they didn't want the agency to get involved in a political mess. She said she never understood why they didn't resume the plan after the election was over.

Immigration agencies were reorganized in 2003, with most of the workplace enforcement duties transferred to the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Shawn Neudauer, a spokesman for ICE, said last week that he couldn't comment on "outrageous statements" Biesemeyer might make as a private citizen. He said he doubted any records from the 2000 incident still existed, because they involved the defunct INS. "When federal agencies go away, they really go away," he said.

A spokeswoman for Lieberman said the senator never intervened in the matter, and she said his staff doubts he ever had contact with the Rubashkin family, which owned Agriprocessors.

Alonzo Martinez, a retired immigration agent who was Biesemeyer's boss, said last week that he was mystified by the cancellation of the 2000 raid. Martinez disputed Biesemeyer's recollection that he told her the raid was being canceled because of concerns about Lieberman, though he said he recalls higher-ups mentioning the senator's name during discussions of the planned raid.

Martinez also said his recollection is that the raid was supposed to be in early November, possibly on Election Day, not in late summer. He said immigration agents planned to raid both Agriprocessors and a nearby turkey processing plant, which later burned and went out of business.

Some observers have speculated that Agriprocessors was able to operate for years with a blatantly illegal work force because it was in a relatively remote area and was "off the radar screen." Martinez chuckled at that theory. "It was always on the radar screen," he said.

The Rev. Steve Brackett, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Postville, agreed with Biesemeyer that a 2000 raid would have caused less disruption and pain. He generally dislikes workplace immigration raids, because he contends they shatter families without addressing underlying immigration problems. But, he said, if federal authorities wanted to deal with the Postville situation, they shouldn't have let it go on for years.

"Because nothing was done sooner, it allowed the business plan of the Rubashkins to continue down a line that was unsustainable," Brackett said.

Sholom Rubashkin, who ran the plant, is serving a 27-year prison sentence on federal fraud convictions. After the 2008 raid, Agriprocessors went into bankruptcy and briefly closed. It then was sold to a Montreal businessman, who reopened it under the name Agri-Star.

Federal prosecutors in Cedar Rapids, who presumably would have helped draw up search warrants for the 2000 raid, declined to comment on the new revelations.

Chabad was and is very close to Senator Lieberman.

Rabbi Yisroel Deren, Chabad's Connecticut regional director, identified himself then as Sentaor Lieberman's rabbi, and Chabad's Washington, DC staff, led by Rabbi Levi Shemtov and his father Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, were exceptionally close to Lieberman. And all three Chabad rabbis are still close to the Senator from Connecticut.

All of those Chabad rabbis knew the Rubashkin family well.

Did they or a member of the Rubashkin family itself get to Lieberman? Or did they or the Rubashkin's get to a senior level INS staffer?

Or was the raid stopped at considerable expense and inconvenience to the government only because of the fear the Rubashkin family was linked to Senator Lieberman, and a massive raid at the Rubashkin's company would make Senator Lieberman look bad?

This all bears looking into.

Comments

[Yosef ben Matitya]

"Due To Rubashkin Connection To Senator Joseph Lieberman"
yea, some connection, behind his back they mock/loath him as a phoney orthodox jew while he obliges for possible (hardly) vote.

[mordecai]

Interesting article. Seems that the gross disregard for law and regulations was so rampant as to catch the attention of the FEDS early on. Most fraudsters commit their crimes surreptitiously and subtly so as not to draw the attention of the authorities. I imagine that RUBASHKIN from the very beginning was "in your face" taking the "my way or the highway" approach.

No matter how big a gorilla RUBASHKIN may have thought he was the FEDS are always the bigger gorilla.

[Morris the Katz]

A new target for Shmarya Rosenberg, Joe Lieberman. I guess anyone with any connection to Chabad, no matter how tenuous it may be, is automatically a friend of Sholom Rubashkin. I wonder if Lieberman had even heard of Rubashkin eleven years ago.

Of course, it took the Bush Administration another eight years to get around to rounding up Rubashkin's employees, throwing them all in jail without any semblence of due process, and deporting them. Was that because of George W. Bush's close ties to the dead Rebbe, or maybe was it Dick Cheney's?

You've hit a new low with your guilt by association tactics.

[Shmarya]

You've hit a new low with your guilt by association tactics.

Posted by: Morris the Katz | August 07, 2011 at 07:32 AM

Unlike you, I actually know the Shemtovs and Deren.

Unlike you, I actually know something about this.

Read up on Aron Rubashkin's son-in-law Rabbi Milton Balkany, AKA the Brooklyn Bundler. You'll get a taste of the possibilities.

[well connected]

You meant Balkany, Aaron Rubashkin's son in law,..not son..hes was, and probably still is very well connected in hes own rights. And if you do know the Shemtov's so well,then you should know as well, that they never get wet for anyone if it will jeapordize theyre connection...

[seymour]

some things are not what they seem

Just because I did an avira and then 2 seconds later got hit by a car that is not prove of cause and effect.

so maybe this is just coincidences

[state of disgust]

... " Martinez chuckled at that theory. "It was always on the radar screen," he said... "

Given that most of the meat industry runs on undocumented labor, one has to wonder why this particular plant "was always on the rader screen." It could be given the RCF history of playing fast and loose with the law put them under the microscope or they could have been "profiled."

As for Lieberman - fear of being accused of being anti-semitic during an election cycle makes perfect sense. No one in government service wants that kind of publicity so pulling back at that time would be a wise move.

[Alex]

Shmotta,

That stench you smell is rising from your own rotten heart. You actually knew nothing of this but it is stunning evidence of your grossly enlarged ego that you'll grasp at anything to promote yourself. If you had even an inkling of a possibility, you would have posted it a long time ago.

[Shmarya]

Posted by: Alex | August 07, 2011 at 09:47 AM

Idiot.

What I know about are the behavior of Deren and the Shemtovs, along with the Lieberman connection, along with Balkany and related Rubashkin family behavior.

I also know about things done with the USDA in 2003 that were certainly unethical and probably illegal.

And yes, moron, I've written about that several times.

Now go blow your putrid hot air somewhere else.

[A. Nuran]

Yet another reason to despise Joe Lieberman.

[george]

I looked up "Rabbi Milton Balkany" in Wikipedia. It shows clearly that the former was "into" Republicans and "at odds" with Democrats. Seeing as the 2000 adminstration was ... (I will let the reader fill in the blanks).

[Alex]

Scat,

Name dropping is for gossip mongers and other similar bottom-feeders and proves nothing more or less than how pathetically mediocre you surely are. It is also clear that because your exceptional qualities and talents never gained you entry into that coveted social milieu you so desperately wanted join, which you would have done nearly anything to join, your yearning has been sublimated into rancor.

[Shmarya]

Posted by: Alex | August 07, 2011 at 10:36 AM

Please.

Go emit your noxious gasses elsewhere.

[Shmarya]

I looked up "Rabbi Milton Balkany" in Wikipedia. It shows clearly that the former was "into" Republicans and "at odds" with Democrats. Seeing as the 2000 adminstration was ... (I will let the reader fill in the blanks).

Posted by: george | August 07, 2011 at 10:31 AM
Alex

Um, the administration was Republican for the next 8 years, and the raid was inexplicably put off for 7 1/2 of them.

I'll leave it to readers to fill in the rather large blank between your ears.

[george]

Shmarya

We'll start with the topic of the headline. The topic was the year 2000 and the alleged 2000 raid that was allegedly called off. The year 2000, in its entirety, was under the administration of one William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (according to Wikipedia), and the same source states that he "became the first member of the Democratic Party since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second full term as president". One may add that Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman (accorfindg to Wikipedia) was (at the time) a "member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President".

Thus all Democrats from start to finish.

Now getting off topic into the "next 8 years", which is *after* the alleged raid had allegedly been called off, one might remember a little thing called "9/11" that came early enough in the administration to throw a big monkey-wrench into anything as petty as a non-Muslim non-terrorist targeted raid of, as alleged in the article, a mere 100 petty suspects.

They didn't get back to Rubashkin until they needed the publicity to justify their new multi-billion dollar budgets. So while politics is undoubtedly involved, the place to look is in the administration's own self-interests and motivations rather than impuning shady government-controlling power to a hand full of Jews.

[treif]

I was there, shmarya, sholom gave lieberman's campaign them thousands of dollars,he was coming to la crosse, they wanted to get kosher meals out to him through the store there. he gave political contributions,it would all make sense now. agriprocessors was always protected, they have been receiving letters from the gov't since 1994, always had a hand to wash, only sholom got to big for himself and stopped paying, he was to big to be touched, he pissed off the wrong politician and union that's all.

[Morris the Katz]

Joe Lieberman was first elected to the Senate in 1987. His current term is up in January, 2013 meaning he will have served four complete terms, assuming he follows through on his decision to retire at age 70.

There are few senators who have served longer than Lieberman, who is now the head of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. If Lieberman was a powerful senator in 2000, he's far more powerful in 2011, even though he was reelected in 2008 as an independent (who generally lines up with the Democrats). So if the INS was afraid to cross Lieberman in 2000, they'd be far more afraid to do so in 2008. Yet they raided Postville in 2008.

Yes, Lieberman ran as the Democratic VP candidate. Nonetheless, Bush was expected to win in 2000, and was ahead in all the polls until about a week before the election, when it was revealed that he had a drunk driving conviction in the late 1970's.

Rubashkin was a small fish in 2000, and swam beneath the government's radar. That's probably why the Clinton Administration didn't go after him, rather than because of any nefarious plot involving Joe Lieberman.

[Chacham Bayom]

Clinton was too busy figuring out how to not go after Bin Laden than to worry about Rubashkin

[Shmarya]

Posted by: Morris the Katz | August 07, 2011 at 02:15 PM

Ah. More hot air from Katz the blowhard.

Do try very hard to process, Morris:

Lieberman was on the NATIONAL TICKET in 2000, running for VP and a very close friend of his running-mate, Al Gore.

The INS wasn't worried about crossing one senator, no matter how powerful.

It was worried about interfering in the presidential election.

Now toddle off.

[Shmarya]

Posted by: george | August 07, 2011 at 11:17 AM

Sigh.

They didn't stop raids for 7 1/2 years, genius. Quite the opposite is true.

But don't let facts get in the way of your desperate desire to do what you always do – defend Rubashkin and Chabad.

[Shmarya]

Clinton was too busy figuring out how to not go after Bin Laden than to worry about Rubashkin

Posted by: Chacham Bayom | August 07, 2011 at 03:18 PM

Actually, Clinton's record on trying to get Bin Laden is pretty good.

But Bush did nothing at all once he took office – until 9-11 happened. Then he tried for a bit and then said getting Bin Laden wasn't important.

[Alex]

"We've (Sudan) got Bin Laden, do you want him?"
"Nah, thanks anyway." Clinton Admin.

If you can call that a pretty good record then...

After 9-11 getting Bin Laden was just feel good stuff. The real effort was rightfully directed at suppressing and eliminating Muslim fascism.

You needn't bother replying. I'll do it for you: You are an idiot, troll, ignorant blowhard...and whatever else passes for a sober and reasoned response on your part.

[Shmarya]

You needn't bother replying. I'll do it for you: You are an idiot, troll, ignorant blowhard...and whatever else passes for a sober and reasoned response on your part.

Posted by: Alex | August 07, 2011 at 06:02 PM

Yes, that's true – you are all those things.

You're also not very bright.

Bin Laden was the active head of a terrorist organization that killed thousands of US citizens – and was still trying to kill more when he was killed.

[george]

Shmarya

It may be argued that could be one reason why it took so long. With so much to do, some have to come first and some have to come later. So, for example, why would it take till 2006 to raid "Swift & Co.", which had twice as many illegal immigrants caught (nearly 1,300)? Just the luck of the draw.

[Morris the Katz]

"The INS was worried about interfering in a presidential election."

Wow, Scottso. You really believe that punishing Rubashkin, a man who was unknown to 99.999% percent of Americans, would have had any effect whatsoever on the 2008 election? Well, maybe his mom would have voted for Bush. I suspect she did anyway.

As if the INS knew months beforehand that the election would be that close. Bush was leading by about 4% at the time in the polls.

One former INS agent has speculated this. One. Her comments were denied by everybody else. Then you have the goddamned nerve of accusing Sen. Lieberman of obstruction of justice. And you call ME a blowhard.

No, I'm not toddling off. Not now and not until hell freezes over.

[Morris the Katz]

My error. That's the 2000 election. BTW, I never heard of Rubashkin, nor his products, and I voted for Bush in 2000. And 2004.

[Morris the Katz]

'Actually, Clinton's record on trying to get Bin Laden is pretty good."

--Shmarya Rosenberg

Clinton's record on trying to get Osama was pretty bad. As was Bush's, although Bush tried a lot harder.

[Shmarya]

As if the INS knew months beforehand that the election would be that close. Bush was leading by about 4% at the time in the polls.

One former INS agent has speculated this. One. Her comments were denied by everybody else. Then you have the goddamned nerve of accusing Sen. Lieberman of obstruction of justice. And you call ME a blowhard.

No, I'm not toddling off. Not now and not until hell freezes over.

Posted by: Morris the Katz | August 07, 2011 at 10:49 PM

You see, blowhard, there are actual people here who know things, unlike you.

Yes, it would have been terrible for Lieberman if the raid happened in 2000 (or 2004, for that matter) and he was connected to the Rubashkins in any way.

As for what Lieberman did or did not do, nowhere do I accuse him of obstruction of justice.

What I wrote is that the allegation made in the Des Moines Register article needs to be looked into – just as any Chabad connection to this, if it exists, needs to be looked into.

I realize your reading comprehension is quite poor, but read this paragraph carefully:Alonzo Martinez, a retired immigration agent who was Biesemeyer's boss, said last week that he was mystified by the cancellation of the 2000 raid. Martinez disputed Biesemeyer's recollection that he told her the raid was being canceled because of concerns about Lieberman, though he said he recalls higher-ups mentioning the senator's name during discussions of the planned raid.Biesemeyer was the AGENT IN CHARGE OF THE RAID.

Martinez was her boss.

Now look at what you wrote:One former INS agent has speculated this. One. Her comments were denied by everybody else.

"Everybody else" turns out to be a weak denial by her former boss and a denial from the current spokesman of ICE – which is a different agency than INS.

That ICE spokesman even says the agency probably does not have records from INS.

He has no firsthand or secondhand knowledge of the raid. He has no details, no information. All he says is that he won't comment.

So, blowhard, you've proven again that all you are is a pathetic little man puffed up with his own hot air.

Toddle off.

[Shmarya]

Shmarya

It may be argued that could be one reason why it took so long. With so much to do, some have to come first and some have to come later. So, for example, why would it take till 2006 to raid "Swift & Co.", which had twice as many illegal immigrants caught (nearly 1,300)? Just the luck of the draw.

Posted by: george | August 07, 2011 at 10:08 PM

Swift and Co was SEVERAL plants (6, if memory serves me).

There appears to be no good explanation for an 8 year delay of the Agriprocessors raid, except for Joe Lieberman – who was considered for Secretary of Defense in the Bush Administration.

[Morris the Katz]

Boy, I love it when you vilify those who disagree with you, especially over minor issues.

This isn't a minor issue. You're accusing Joe Lieberman, one of the nation's best senators, of obstruction of justice. Your fixation with Sholom Rubashkin, and your hatred of anything and everything orthodox has turned you into a vindictive, petty, shrill shmendrick.

And as I indicated in my previous post, I'll "toddle off" when Hell freezes over, and the weather report for Hades calls for continuing heat indefinitely.

[Shmarya]

Boy, I love it when you vilify those who disagree with you, especially over minor issues.

This isn't a minor issue. You're accusing Joe Lieberman, one of the nation's best senators, of obstruction of justice. Your fixation with Sholom Rubashkin, and your hatred of anything and everything orthodox has turned you into a vindictive, petty, shrill shmendrick.

And as I indicated in my previous post, I'll "toddle off" when Hell freezes over, and the weather report for Hades calls for continuing heat indefinitely.

Posted by: Morris the Katz | August 08, 2011 at 05:49 AM

Again, the facts here are against you and repeating lies won't change that.

Anyone can read the post and read the comments and see that you are very, very messed up.

[george]

Shmarya

And so it may be argued that because Swift and Co was so much bigger it took priority over Rubashkin and so the relatively smaller Rubashkin was pushed to the end of the queue.

But probably more to the point, the prosecutors were preparing arm-twisting "plea bargains" with the workers at Agriprocessors (using legal interpretations which the Supreme Court later, and too late, threw out in a *unanimous* vote). All that innovation also took time.

It seems that the "identity theft" charges they used as a leverage in the plea bargains (and which they wanted to use against Rubashkin et al as well) was based on a 2004 amendment to the identity theft law. Not that I would know about that, but that is how a number of web sites explain it.

[george]

Further, though the following is only speculation, it is at least as good as your speculation. Someone high up on the totem-pole wanted a judge who had a track record, so that they could determine the proper course of action to suit the judge's peccadilloes.

As far as I can tell from Wikipedia sources, the relevant position of Chief Justice of the court in question was vacated around 1999 and was not formally filled (confirmed) until Judge Reade at the *end* of 2002. So it might not be so surprising it took a while for them to get "confortable" with the new judge to go ahead with their innovative interpretations of law.

[Morris the Katz]

Maybe the INS didn't want the bad publicity which it would have gotten from punishing poor exploited immigrant workers, while leaving the bosses unpunished.

Janet Reno caught enough heat with Elian Gonzalez.

[Shmarya]

Maybe the INS didn't want the bad publicity which it would have gotten from punishing poor exploited immigrant workers, while leaving the bosses unpunished.

Janet Reno caught enough heat with Elian Gonzalez.

Posted by: Morris the Katz | August 08, 2011 at 07:47 AM

Please INS deported illegal workers all during that time.

[Shmarya]

Shmarya

And so it may be argued that because Swift and Co was so much bigger it took priority over Rubashkin and so the relatively smaller Rubashkin was pushed to the end of the queue.

But probably more to the point, the prosecutors were preparing arm-twisting "plea bargains" with the workers at Agriprocessors (using legal interpretations which the Supreme Court later, and too late, threw out in a *unanimous* vote). All that innovation also took time.

It seems that the "identity theft" charges they used as a leverage in the plea bargains (and which they wanted to use against Rubashkin et al as well) was based on a 2004 amendment to the identity theft law. Not that I would know about that, but that is how a number of web sites explain it.

Posted by: george | August 08, 2011 at 07:20 AM
george

Please.

You're so pathetically ignorant.

The pleas in question were not used until later – but they were used, and they relied on precedent that was NOT set by Judge Reade.

Swift and Co was raided because ICE needed a target to prove its point.

The number of workers arrested at that plants far exceeded what ICE really expected.

And raiding Agriprocessors was inexplicably off the table.

Your pal Rubashkin was and is a thief and a criminal.

He stole from his poor workers, from suppliers, from neighbors, from competitors – and even from his rabbinic workers.

And none of your idiotic attempts to whitewash that will work.

[Morris the Katz]

If INS had raided Agriprocessors in 2000, it would have had the following upside:

1. Shmarya Rosenberg wouldn't have been so pathologically obsessed with Rubashkin as he is. The man will remain in prison for the next 20 years.

2. He would have figured out something productive to do with his life, other than insulting all who disagree with him, even on minor issues.

3. This blog wouldn't exist.

[Shmarya]

Posted by: Morris the Katz | August 08, 2011 at 01:52 PM

Like I said previously, once I showed your facts were wrong, all you were left with are insults.

[george]

Shmarya

> The pleas in question were not used until later

I do not understand what you mean by "later".

The pleas were used at the Agriprocessor raid. In fact, that was the major reason that they processed so many immigrants in so short a time - assembly-line.

> They relied on precedent that was NOT set by Judge Reade.

I never said Judge Reade invented it. The point is the prosecution wanted a judge they could be confident would interpret the law (on several different points) as they saw it.

> Swift and Co was raided because ICE needed a target to prove its point

I don't know which point that is. Unless you are referring to my remarks at the end of this post.

> The number of workers arrested at that plants far exceeded what ICE really expected.

Hard to follow what you are saying. A major multi-state raid like that and you are alleging incompetence?

> Your pal Rubashkin ...

I don't know the guy from Adam. And I was not addressing his guilt or innocence or character, at all.

All this is about the government/prosecution behaviour with the immigrants and (speculatively) how/why they chose to do what they did.

> And raiding Agriprocessors was inexplicably off the table.

As I said, they were busy. A search on Smith & Co came up with, for example:

>> The raids come eight months after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 1,187 illegal workers at plants operated by IFCO Systems, a company that makes pallets.

And following are my remarks at the "end of the post".

Also interesting, which I just found, is this about Swift & Co:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/12/15/swiftprogram/

>>

"What happened this time was very interesting," says Grey. "Of course Swift knew that these actions were on their way. So what they did is they actively tried to block them."

That's a change from the past. Grey says usually immigration raid details like date and duration are worked out in advance between the government and the meatpacker. Companies went along to avoid possible prosecution for harboring illegal immigrants. This time, Swift was an unwilling partner.

Two weeks before the December 12th raid the company went to court. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Amarillo, Texas the company said the impending raid represented a broken government promise.

For the last 10 years Swift has participated in a special federal program to catch illegal job applicants. Under the program, the company compared an applicant's social security number to the federal data base to determine if it's authentic.

For much of this year the government used information gathered by Swift in that program to build a case for the December raid. One goal was to catch workers who used real, but stolen social security numbers.

Swift lawyers said federal statute prohibits the government from imposing penalties on the company for data gathered in the special federal program.

On December 7th Judge Mary Lou Robinson ruled against Swift. Five days later the federal agents arrived.

<<

The ALIPAC web site asserts that plant executives were not charged.

In fact, google books gives me "Business Ethics: Case Studies and Selected Readings" where page 172 states:

"After years of neglect, the federal government is once again serious about cracking down on employers who hire undocumented workers."

So while I know nothing about what the US government did, it would seem from web sites that more attention was initially paid to security-sensitive geographic locations (near nuclear plants et al) and/or suspicious-Muslim-immigrant type raid.

Rubashkin qualified as neither. The "employer oriented" raids were on the "back-burner".

Approaching the 2006 period, the massive employer-oriented raids shifted to top priority.

And to close off, there is page 173 which tells the following:

In 2002, the Department of Justice brought a suit against Smith & Co for "discrimination" because the latter was *too* diligent in scrutinizing the documents of employees who seemed "foreign". Being too careful, of course, is "discrimination".

[Shmarya]

You're a certifiable idiot.

The pleas for the undocumented workers allowed the post-raid processing to go much faster than otherwise, which was their point.

Whether or not a particular immigrant committed aggravated identity theft or simple identity theft did not in any way impact the justification for the raid or the deportations – or Rubashkin's crimes.

And your troll crap stops now.

Process?

[Shmarya]

In 2002, the Department of Justice brought a suit against Smith & Co for "discrimination" because the latter was *too* diligent in scrutinizing the documents of employees who seemed "foreign". Being too careful, of course, is "discrimination".

Posted by: george | August 08, 2011 at 02:48 PM

I should also add that your lack of understanding of the American judicial system continues to be evident.

If you had interest in the truth – which you do not – you would check to see how Swift was allegedly violating the law.

But you're a troll, and you're also far too dull to think anyone would notice your very evident deficiencies.

[george]

Shmarya

As I said, I am not discussing the guilt or innocence of Rubashkin, so your constant reference to it are completely irrelevant.

But to reverse your argument, the guilt or innocence of Rubashkin has nothing to do with the government's deliberate twisting of the law. Immigration law is very complex and full of loopholes. The point was that the prosecution created a situation where they threatened the immigrants with charges that did not exist in law. That happens to be illegal in itself. But that maneuver streamlined the process, so that makes it okay?

[george]

And "And your troll crap stops now" apparently means to stop, so I will no longer post on this thread.

[Shmarya]

You may no longer post at all on any thread as far as I'm concerned.

Now process: the government did not threaten the immigrants with "charges that did not exist in law."

The charges do exist in law.

What the court ruled was that those charges – aggravated identity theft – cannot be applied to people who purchase fake IDs, even if those IDs use a real person's name or social security number.

But you're a troll, and a dull one at that, so I'm sure this is all beyond your very limited ability to understand.