More than 165 workers detained after agents raid Portland food plant

PORTLAND -- Federal agents Tuesday raided offices at a food-processing plant suspected of employing hundreds of illegal workers who used Social Security numbers that belonged to other people or were made up.

More than 165 workers were detained to be processed for possible deportation, officials said. The detained workers were being sent to a processing facility in Tukwila, before transfer to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, pending an appearance before an immigration judge. More than 30, however, were released based on humanitarian concerns with a notice to appear, officials said.

The raid -- involving more than 100 agents -- occurred at the Fresh Del Monte Produce plant. Hundreds of workers there are provided by American Staffing Resources, which has an office at the plant. Three managers from American Staffing Resources were arrested Tuesday and charged with knowingly hiring illegal workers. The raid followed a lengthy undercover investigation at the Fresh Del Monte plant, and reflects stepped-up worksite enforcement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Northwest food-processing industry depends heavily on immigrant labor to process fruits and vegetables. On Tuesday, only about a dozen workers among the more than 175 at the plant were considered to be legal employees, according to Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of the ICE regional office in Seattle.

Winchell said there are no plans to target the Northwest food-processing industry in future raids. Agents develop leads to potential criminal activity, and follow those leads wherever it takes them, he said.

Workplace raids have been controversial.

"The raids are forcing misery and suffering on many women and children. Instead, we need real, comprehensive immigration reform," said Pramila Jayapal, executive director of the Hate Free Zone, an immigrant-advocacy group in Seattle.

Portland Mayor Tom Potter criticized Tuesday's raid. The managers' arrests were understandable, he said, but "to go after local workers who are here to support their families while filling the demands of local businesses for their labor is bad policy."

Winchell said, "I don't make the laws. I enforce the laws. ... If we have a need to change those laws, it's up to Congress and Washington, D.C., to come up with a comprehensive approach to immigration reform."

According to an affidavit filed by Maximillian Trimm, a special ICE agent, a check of employee records at one point showed that only 48 of nearly 600 workers at the plant had valid Social Security numbers.

In a related criminal indictment Tuesday, three people were charged. They were Jose de Jesus Zarazua-Lopez, accused of illegally re-entering the U.S. after being convicted on heroin charges and deported to Mexico; Jose Dejesus Buenrostro, accused of encouraging an illegal immigrant; and Margarita Amezcua-Salvador, accused of possessing counterfeit alien-registration documents, identity theft, selling a Social Security card and encouraging an illegal immigrant.

Seattle Times staff reporter Hal Bernton contributed to this report.