Lawsuits & Judgments

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union has filed a class action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Division in Amarillo Texas. The complaint stems form a series of “workplace enforcement raids” the unit conducted at six Swift and Company meat packing plants in Texas on December 12, 2006.

The suit was filed on behalf of eight employees at the plaint, all of whom were either US citizens ore legal aliens. The suit claims that they were detained illegally during the raids, in violation of their fourth amendment rights. The union alleges that more than 12,000 employees were detained for up to 12 hours, against their will, during the action.

The Immigration agency points out that the raids were result of a year long identity fraud investigation and that there were search warrants issued that gave the agents the right to search the plants and question anyone there. Further, more than 1,200 were arrested during the raids. 649 had been deported as a result of illegal immigration and another 274 were charged with non-immigration felonies and almost all of those have been convicted.

We can appreciate the union’s desire to stand up for its members, but this redada (raid in Spanish) does not seem to have been done on a whim. Any raid that requires a year long investigation and generates almost 900 convictions or deportations would seem to be justified.