December 12, 2006

Operation Wagon Train: Coordination and Communication

On December 12, 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched the largest worksite enforcement action in history targeting illegal workers at Swift & Co. meat processing plants, arresting more than 1250 persons in six states as part of an ongoing investigation into immigration violations and identity fraud.

ICE agents, working in conjunction with other federal agencies, executed civil search warrants at six facilities owned by Swift & Co., one of the nation’s largest beef and pork processors. The targeted facilities were located in Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Iowa, and Minnesota.

Each of the more than 1,250 individuals apprehended was detained on administrative immigration violations and practically all had unlawfully assumed the name, date of birth and social security number of a United States citizen. Of these more than 200 were also charged with criminal violations related to identity theft and fraud.

Given the size and scope of Operation Wagon Train, ICE took unprecedented steps to ensure that the operation was conducted in a manner that was orderly, humane, and respectful of the rights and needs of all involved parties. Among the steps taken by ICE to ensure that the operation was effective:

Coordination and Communication with Other Agencies and Stakeholders

ICE worked with numerous federal agencies in planning this law enforcement action, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General and their Food Safety and Inspection Service to ensure the safety of ICE agents and Swift employees during the course of the enforcement action. Department of Agriculture representatives also worked to ensure the safety of the food supply and to mitigate the risk of product spoilage for the company during the operation.

In addition, ICE coordinated with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division to help ensure that those employees arrested had a mechanism to receive the wages owed to them prior to their removal from the United States.

ICE consulted with the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in each of the Districts affected prior to the enforcement action to obtain court-authorized warrants and to coordinate the subsequent prosecutions of those arrested in the enforcement action.

When the operation commenced, ICE also contacted the offices of the Governors, state Homeland Security Advisors, U.S. Senators of all six states, and U.S. Representatives for all districts in which the operation took place. Furthermore, ICE provided arrest notification and identifying information about the apprehended aliens to the consulates of their respective countries. To ensure officer safety, non-participating state and local law enforcement agencies were notified of the enforcement action shortly before it commenced.

To ensure an orderly process and the safety of employees and agents, Swift managers cooperated by shutting down their production lines while ICE agents conducted the enforcement action.

Communication with the Media and the Public

To ensure accuracy and timeliness in disseminating information related to the operation and to respond to questions from the media, ICE Public Affairs Officers maintained ongoing contact with representatives from members of the media both at the national level and in all six impacted states.

On Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2006, while the operation was still underway, ICE issued an extensive statement to provide available details and context about the ongoing operation.

On Wednesday, Dec. 13, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff hosted a news conference in Washington D.C. to provide additional details about the operation and its results. Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Julie L. Myers, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras and Cache County (UT) Attorney N. George Daines joined Secretary Chertoff at the news conference to discuss the operation and answer questions.

Services Provided to Detainees and Their Families

ICE took extraordinary steps to respect the rights of those detained in the operation and their families and to ensure that open lines of communication were available between the agency and the detainees, their legal representatives and other interested parties.

ICE took unprecedented steps to determine if arrestees had minor dependents and to ensure that children were not separated from their parents. Not only did ICE ask the arrestees themselves about dependent obligations prior to transporting any arrestees away from the locations of arrest, ICE worked with Swift human resource personnel to determine if they had minor children at home and took steps to ensure that the children were cared for. In addition, detainees were given numerous opportunities to advise ICE agents of unattended dependents or other humanitarian issues prior to their transportation to detention facilities. In fact, ICE released more than 100 aliens after administrative processing for humanitarian reasons. Moreover, phones were made available for use by the aliens at the arrest locations, processing centers, and detention facilities.

All illegal aliens apprehended in the enforcement operation were informed of their right to a hearing before an Immigration Judge, their right to communicate with consular or diplomatic officers from their country, allowed attorney visits, and provided with a listing of pro bono legal representatives.

For the first time ever, ICE created a 24-hour toll-free hotline for family members of the illegal aliens who had been arrested to field questions about their locations and about the removal process. When the volume of calls to the hotline exceeded expectations, ICE moved quickly to add a second line and additional operators to accommodate the incoming calls.

Attorneys from ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor were present at all processing centers to coordinate with detainees’ legal representatives at the scene.

For detained aliens, ICE made information on case status, detention location and points of contact at detention facilities available to family members and attorneys on request. Where appropriate, this information was also supplied to members of the clergy and to non-governmental organizations.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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