(Worthington, Mn.)– Federal officials are receiving increasing criticism for how they conducted an immigration raid at a meatpacking plant in Worthington, Minnesota.
Immigration lawyers say dozens of workers were arrested at the Swift and Company plant December 12th and deported to Mexico in the next three days. The raid was part of a five-state sting operation.
Plant workers and lawyers say the immigration agents entered the Worthington plant with guns and established an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
One legal worker said she was in handcuffs for nearly four hours before being released.
In Iowa last week, Governor Vilsack also sent a letter to President Bush complaining about how the raids were executed.
A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says the raid was perfectly legal. He denies charges that workers’ rights were violated.
(Story from the Associated Press.).
