Greeley – At least five people were arrested at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in Colorado and Nebraska amid a federal investigation into identity theft, but some of the charges were unrelated to the probe, union and immigration officials said.
It was the second such roundup since December, when 1,200 people were arrested at Swift plants in several states. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said they were cracking down on immigrants who steal identities to get jobs.
One person arrested in Greeley Tuesday was held on a traffic warrant and the other was an immigrant subject to deportation because of a previous offense, ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice told the Greeley Tribune in Wednesday’s editions.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether either person was suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
Dallas-based ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok declined Wednesday to confirm any arrests in Greeley. He said the agency would release details of the “worksite enforcement operation” later.
Three workers at a Swift plant in Grand Island, Neb., were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of identity theft, said Dan Hoppes, president of the local United Food and Commercials Workers Union.
Hoppes said immigration officials came to the plant with five warrants but only three of the suspects were present.
Dave Minshall, a spokesman for the UFCWU in Colorado, said ICE agents had at least 40 arrest warrants for suspects in Greeley; Cactus, Texas; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minn.
The UFCWU criticized the December raids for “intimidation and overkill” but said Tuesday’s arrests were better-executed.
Greeley-based Swift says it is the world’s second-largest beef and pork processor.
