ICE closes six Swift plants
Special agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been conducting employee interviews at six of
Operations at the affected Swift facilities have been temporarily suspended pending completion of the interview process. Shortly thereafter, Swift expects to resume operations, but production levels will depend on the number of employees, if any, detained for further interviewing or otherwise unable to return to work.
The six facilities represent all of its domestic beef processing capacity and 77% of its pork processing capacity. The company also operates a pork processing facility in
ICE claims the operation is part of a worksite enforcement investigation that has identified a large identity theft scheme. Evidence uncovered during the ICE investigation, which began in February, indicates that large numbers of illegal aliens may have illegally assumed the identities of US citizens or lawful US residents and used their social security numbers to gain employment at Swift facilities.
Swift president and CEO Sam Rovit said, “Swift has never condoned the employment of unauthorised workers, nor have we ever knowingly hired such individuals. Since the inception of the Basic Pilot programme in 1997, every single one of Swift’s new domestic hires, including those being interviewed today by ICE officials, has duly completed I-9 forms and has received work authorisation through the government’s Basic Pilot programme.”
