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The Department of Homeland Security said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and their federal partners were assaulted by an illegal immigrant while executing a warrant Wednesday at a meat producing plant in Omaha, Nebraska.
During the raid, ICE detained more than 70 illegal immigrants, some of whom had local warrants for their arrests, prior DUI convictions or had previously been deported, the agency said.
“Yesterday, an illegal alien from Honduras brandished a weapon and assaulted federal agents and officers who were doing their job: protecting American citizens, the public and businesses who are being victimized through identity fraud,” ICE acting Director Todd Lyons said Wednesday.
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“Let’s be clear — this wasn’t just someone ‘out of status.’ This was a violent criminal who attacked law enforcement while they were serving the public, which is why the term ‘criminal alien’ is a distraction.
“If you’re here illegally, you’ve already broken the law. When you break the law by coming here illegally and then threaten and assault federal officers on top of that — you’re a threat, plain and simple.”
Many of the 70 people detained Wednesday may now face additional federal charges, including fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents; assaulting a federal officer; resisting arrest; illegal reentry; and/or misuse of Social Security numbers, ICE said.
“Our ICE agents and officers — along with our federal partners — put their lives on the line every day to protect the American public. They don’t ask for praise. They ask for the support,” ICE Homeland Security Investigations Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Mark Zito said in a statement.
“The reckless rhetoric being thrown around doesn’t just insult their sacrifice, it actively puts communities at risk, undermines law enforcement, and emboldens those who are actively looking to do harm. These men and women swore an oath to uphold the law and should not have to fear the very people they are sworn to protect.”
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ICE did not specify how officers were assaulted, but protesters who gathered outside the food plant Tuesday during the raid jumped on the front bumper of an official vehicle, while others threw rocks at ICE vehicles as a white bus carrying workers pulled away from the operation.
Chad Hartmann, president of Glenn Valley Foods, told The Associated Press he was surprised by the raid, saying the plant uses E-Verify to confirm the immigration status of workers before hiring them.
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“My biggest issue is: Why us?” Hartmann told the AP. “We do everything by the book.”
Hartmann added that ICE officers at the raid apparently told him the E-Verify system is broken.
“I mean, what am I supposed to do with that?” Hartmann told the AP. “This is your system, run by the government. And you’re raiding me because your system is broken?”
Douglas County Commissioner Roger Garcia said in a Facebook post Wednesday that officials are “telling friends and allies to standby momentarily as we continue to gather and verify information and coordinate proper guidance for families affected.”
“There are response groups that have been activated and also safe spaces for families to go, alongside legal representation that is being coordinated,” Garcia said. “We are still trying to find out more information on how many were detained today, how many sites (Lala and Glenn Valley verified thus far, JBS may have been mistakenly listed we are looking into it), and where those detained are being taken.”
The operation was a multi-agency effort that included ICE Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations Omaha; DHS Security Office of Inspector General; Department of Justice; FBI; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Marshals Service; IRS Criminal Investigation; Nebraska State Patrol; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; and the Nebraska Department of Vehicles Fraud Unit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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