Politics & Government
ICE Arrests 146 People In Ohio Meat Plant Raid
Fresh Mark is one of Salem, Ohio's largest employers. The raid was part of a years-long investigation, ICE said.
SALEM, OH — Fresh Mark, an Ohio meatpacking plant, saw 146 employees arrested on Tuesday by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. This is the second large-scale ICE raid at an Ohio company this month.
"Unlawful employment is one of the key magnets drawing illegal aliens across our borders," said Steve Francis, Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge for Michigan and Ohio. "Businesses who knowingly harbor and hire illegal aliens as a business model must be held accountable for their actions."
ICE said in a press release that Fresh Mark may have knowingly hired undocumented workers at its meat processing and packaging facility in Salem. The agency further suggested that some of these workers may have obtained fraudulent identification.
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Fresh Mark locations in Massillon and Canton were also searched by ICE agents, but it is unclear if anyone was arrested, or anything seized during those raids. All 146 people arrested were working at the Salem plant.
The meat packing plant is part of ICE's IMAGE program, which stands for ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers. However, the agency said that does not make Fresh Mark, or other participating companies, immune from action.
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The agency said that some of the people arrested were processed and then released at the scene for "humanitarian" concerns. Anyone arrested and kept in custody will be taken to a processing facility nearby, ICE said. Arrestees will be detained in facilities in Michigan and Ohio while awaiting removal proceedings.
For relatives of friends wondering if a loved one was arrested, ICE operates a 24-hour toll-free detainee locator hotline. The hotline operates in both English and Spanish. The phone number is 1-888-351-4024.
Several organizations reacted vehemently to news of the operation.
In the truthful words of our Executive Director, @jbennettguess "There is no other way to say it. This is appalling and disgusting. It's about racial profiling, the systematic targeting of brown-skinned people and the gross denial of due process." https://t.co/uJknclMLBo
— ACLU of Ohio (@acluohio) June 20, 2018
The Fresh Mark raid in Salem comes just weeks after 114 people were arrested at Corso's Flower and Garden Center in Sandusky and Castalia, Ohio.
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