MASSILLON, Ohio Federal immigration officials on Tuesday raided a large meat supplier based in Massillon, Ohio, and arrested more than 100 workers suspected of using stolen or fraudulent identification to gain employment.
As many as 100 agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Customs and Border Protection and the US Border Patrol descended upon four facilities operated by Fresh Mark during the late afternoon raid.
The raid which was conducted with no prior notice to the business was the largest workplace enforcement action to take place under the Trump Administration, said Steve Francis, special agent in charge of ICEs Homeland Security Investigations unit, which oversees Michigan and Ohio.
Officials arrived with criminal and federal search warrants to collect documents on more than 200 employees. The warrants were served at Fresh Marks facilities in Salem, Massillon and Canton, Ohio.
ICE officials said the number of workers arrested was likely to climb once the operation concluded. Officials said some arrested workers could face federal charges for identity theft and/or reentry after deportation.
All of the workers who were arrested during Tuesdays raid worked at the companys Salem meat processing facility, said Francis. Most of the workers involved are from Guatemala, he said.
The companys web site indicates it employs more than 1,000 employees.
Francis said the raid was the result of more than a year-long investigation into Fresh Mark and its employees, and whether the company knowingly hired and harbored undocumented workers. He declined to offer further details.
Shortly after the raid began, Fresh Mark confirmed that representatives from the Department of Homeland Security were at its Massillon, Canton and Salem facilities. We will have more information as it becomes available, spokesperson Brittany Julian said in a statement.
The family-owned company sells meat products, such as bacon, deli ham, lunch meats and sausages under the brands Sugardale, Sugardale Food Service and Superiors Brand Meats to restaurants, delis, grocers and stadiums nationwide.
Francis said some of the workers who were arrested would be taken to detention centers in Michigan and Ohio, while others may be deported immediately. ICE said those who are detained will await removal proceedings. Other workers could potentially be released on humanitarian grounds, say if they are a parent of a young child who doesnt have immediate backup care in place, said Francis. In those cases, they would be given a notice to appear at an immigration court.
Work site raids have escalated dramatically under the Trump administration.
In October 2017, ICEs acting director Tom Homan said he had ordered the agencys investigative unit to increase enforcement actions at businesses by as much as fivefold.
Were not just talking about arresting the aliens at these work sites, we are also talking about employers who knowingly hire people who are unauthorized to work, Homan said at a press conference in Washington D.C., in December.