(The Center Square) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers continue to be assaulted carrying out federal search warrants and orders from federal judges. While rioters are targeting ICE agents carrying out official duties in local communities, assaults are also occurring during worksite enforcement actions.
Nationwide, assaults on ICE officers are up 413%, The Center Square reported. Targeted worksite enforcement actions are also up, with a record more than 1,000 worksite enforcement actions conducted in the last few months, The Center Square reported.
The latest assault of ICE officers and federal partners occurred at Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha, Nebraska, where mostly Honduran nationals illegally in the U.S. were employed. Federal officers “were assaulted by an illegal alien while executing a federal search warrant into the large-scale employment of aliens without legal work authorization” ICE said.
“An illegal alien from Honduras brandished a weapon and assaulted federal agents and officers who were doing their job: protecting American citizens, the public and businesses who are being victimized through identity fraud,” ICE acting director Todd Lyons said. “Let’s be clear – this wasn’t just someone ‘out of status.’ This was a violent criminal who attacked law enforcement while they were serving the public, which is why the term ‘criminal alien’ is a distraction. If you’re here illegally, you’ve already broken the law. When you break the law by coming here illegally and then threaten and assault federal officers on top of that – you’re a threat, plain and simple.”
The worksite enforcement operation led to the arrest of more than 70 illegal foreign nationals, the largest worksite enforcement action to occur in Nebraska since the beginning of the Trump administration.
Some of those arrested had active local warrants, some had prior DUI convictions and some were previously deported and illegal reentered, ICE said. Many arrested face additional charges including “fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents; assaulting a federal officer; resisting arrest; illegal reentry; and/or misuse of social security numbers.”
“Our ICE agents and officers – along with our federal partners – put their lives on the line every day to protect the American public. They don’t ask for praise. They ask for the support,” ICE Homeland Security Investigations Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Mark Zito said. “The reckless rhetoric being thrown around doesn’t just insult their sacrifice, it actively puts communities at risk, undermines law enforcement, and emboldens those who are actively looking to do harm. These men and women swore an oath to uphold the law and should not have to fear the very people they are sworn to protect.”
ICE HSI and ICE ERO-Omaha officers led the operation with the assistance of DHS Office of Inspector General, Department of Justice, FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, Nebraska State Patrol, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Nebraska Department of Vehicles Fraud Unit. Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies and Omaha Police officers assisted with traffic control and public safety in the areas near the operation.
Glenn Valley Foods owner Gary Rohwer said the company used E-Verify to verify employee applications and “was shocked” that those hired were in the country illegally, the Associated Press reported. Federal officials said the information the company received included stolen identities and fake IDs to skirt the E-Verify system.
More than half of the company’s workforce was arrested, all in the country illegally.
The federal E-Verify program was launched in the 1990s; employers are required to use it to verify identity and legal status of job applicants. Authorities have found that the program has long been abused by entities and individuals engaged in identity theft and Social Security fraud.
The U.S. Attorney for Nebraska has prosecuted cases involving Social Security document fraud used by illegal foreign nationals to work in meat processing plants in Nebraska. In Fremont, roughly 45 minutes from Omaha, investigators identified an identity theft conspiracy using a deceased person’s Social Security number that was used to make fraudulent Social Security cards, state driver’s licenses, and lawful permanent resident cards, The Center Square reported.
In Illinois, a staffing service for a food processing plant hired underage illegal foreign nationals reportedly using fraudulent documents, The Center Square reported.
In other cases, employers are knowingly hiring illegal foreign nationals in violation of federal law, including commercial cleaning and construction companies, The Center Square reported.
“Worksite enforcement remains a priority for ICE as it seeks to protect the nation’s workforce, eradicate labor trafficking and hold employers accountable for practices that encourage illegal immigration. Employers found in violation of federal hiring laws may face civil penalties and, in some cases, criminal prosecution,” ICE said.
