Monte Vista raid shakes Colorado's farm groups

Immigration agents arrest 22 at potato plant

Rosa Ramirez And Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, April 20, 2007

Colorado farmers say a major immigration raid this week at a potato processing plant in the San Luis Valley will make it even harder to draw workers to the state's already labor-tight fields.

Farm groups said the raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was believed to be the first in recent memory on a Colorado agricultural operation tied to a field crop. It follows a major ICE raid at the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant in Greeley in December.

The ICE activity, combined with tougher new state immigration laws and a political climate in Colorado that's perceived by immigrant workers to be hostile, has major ramifications for state farms and livestock operations dependent on migrant labor, agriculture officials said.

"We have a chronic labor shortage here," said Jim Ehrlich, executive director of the Colorado Potato Executive Committee in Monte Vista. "Legal immigrants are even afraid to come to the state because they feel Colorado has jumped out in front of the rest of the nation and targeted them . . . Spanish-speaking radio in other states (sends out the message) that you shouldn't come to Colorado."

The Tuesday raid netted 22 arrests at the Worley & McCullough potato plant in Monte Vista. Nineteen workers were arrested on immigration charges. Three others, including the general manager and a company foreman, were arrested on charges of obtaining and possessing false identifications and aggravated identify theft.

The raid followed an 11-month investigation into hiring practices at the facility and involved an ICE special agent posing as an illegal immigrant and obtaining false identification.

The arrests "are part of ICE's aggressive, ongoing pursuit of employers who egregiously violate the law," said Jeff Copp, special agent in charge for ICE in Denver. "All employees in all industries and locations must comply with the nation's laws."

Copp said that the raid was the first on an agricultural facility in Colorado in his six years on the job. But he seemed to discourage the idea that ICE was on the verge of targeting agricultural operations statewide.

He described the agency's priorities as areas connected to "national security interests," citing military bases, utilities, "critical infrastructure," or elements connected to them. He did not cite agricultural operations, and said they were not looking at other potato plants.

"The information that we received on what they were doing out there was so egregious that we needed to address it," Copp said. "Just because they're not on top of our priority list doesn't mean we're not going to look into them."

Farm groups reacted warily to the Monte Vista raid. While careful to say they support the notion of hiring legal workers, they worried about the impact.

They said state legislation passed during a special session last year that tightened the rules for businesses to ensure that they hire only people eligible to work in this country has created confusion for farmers and made it tougher to find labor.

"Agricultural labor is an (increasingly) complicated issue for the producers within Colorado, and this is just another sign of probably the times to come," said Troy Bredenkamp, executive director of the Colorado Farm Bureau.

"Whether guest workers or temporary workers are legal or not, the impression this sends throughout the community is that Colorado is not a guest- worker-friendly environment, and so it definitely makes it more difficult for us to find the appropriate legal labor that we need," he said.

U.S. Rep. John Salazar, a Democrat representing southern Colorado, issued a statement that said the action shows the need for immigration reform at the federal level to clarify rules for businesses and workers alike.

"The ICE raid that happened in Monte Vista this week loudly echoes the message being sent by the American people that Congress must get to work now on this difficult issue that only we can solve," Salazar said.

Meanwhile, Flora Archuleta, executive director of the San Luis Valley Immigrant Resource Center, said the raids abruptly break families apart.

"We have people who don't know what's going to happen to them," she said, describing a father and his three children who came to her office. His wife had been arrested during the raid.

"The children were asking me: 'What's going to happen to my mom? Are we going to have to go to Guatemala? Where is Guatemala?' "

Immigration officials stressed Thursday the consequences of the alleged illegal activity by company officials and workers.

Copp said one suspected illegal immigrant arrested at the potato farm was using an authentic Social Security number that belongs to a full-time student in El Paso, Texas. The victim, Copp said, was mistakenly arrested in 2002 on a warrant in Brownsville, Texas, for failure to appear in court on a DUI charge.

'Egregious' activities alleged

Three employees arrested on ID charges

Facing criminal charges of obtaining and possessing false identification cards, and aggravated identity theft:

• Michael Abeyta, 40, company general manager.

• Javier Fuentes- Sotelo, 32, a company employee.

• Luis Trujillo, 42, a company foreman.

Recent workplace immigration raids

• Feb. 22, 2007: A dozen suspected illegal immigrant workers at three metro-area chain restaurants are arrested as part of an ongoing investigation of a nationwide janitorial service.

• Dec. 12, 2006: About 260 immigrant workers are arrested at the Swift & Co. Greeley plant. It is one of a number of raids conducted the same day at Swift facilities in six states.

• Sept. 20, 2006: At least 120 workers are arrested at a military housing project adjacent to Buckley Air Force Base.

• April 19, 2006: Immigration agents raid 40 sites owned by IFCO Systems, the nation's largest pallet recycler, including its operation in Commerce City. Thirty-eight workers are arrested there.

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5048