Federal authorities raided several Mississippi chicken plants yesterday, arresting hundreds of workers.
On Wednesday, August 7, approximately 600 agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement executed federal search warrants at seven food processing plants throughout the state of Mississippi in what has been described as the largest immigration sting in the nation in at least a decade.
The chicken plant raids had reportedly been planned for several months.
The locations that were raided by federal agents included Koch Foods Inc.’s processing plant in Morton, Mississippi. Peco Foods Inc. located in Canton, Mississippi was also raided.
Following the raids, ICE arrested 680 people who were allegedly working illegally in the U.S. Agents also seized business and employment records, ICE said in a press release. Those who were arrested were bussed to a military hanger to be interviewed and processed for any immigration violations.
Koch Foods said that they were unable to operate their first shift on Thursday because of the raids: “Koch’s Morton facility, which employs more than 1,000 people, did not operate during the first shift today and is trying to determine how many employees were detained by federal authorities. The company intends to continue to operate all shifts at the facility and minimize customer impact.”
The companies that were raided could also face charges.
You can see the aftermath of one of the ICE raids in Morton in the video below.