Feds arrest two Hispanic supervisors of Iowa plant that was scene of largest immigration raid yet

Two supervisors at the meatpacking plant targeted in the country's largest immigration raid were arrested Thursday on charges that they helped illegal immigrans use false Social Security numbers and resident alien cards, and a third supervisor appears to be on the lam.

The man being sought, Hosam Amara,"according to former plant workers, was the master-mind behind a car sales scheme that encouraged undocumented workers to purchase used cars and fraudulently register them," Lynda Waddington reports for the Iowa Independent. Arrested were Martin De La Rosa-Loera, 43, who "was in charge of the poultry facility and three other departments at Agriprocessors" in Postville, and Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, who "supervised beef kill as well as three other departments at the plant," Waddington writes. The latter is a U.S. citizen; the foirmer's immigration status is unknown.

The indictment charges that a few days before the May 12 raid, "Guerrero-Espinoza told a group of employees that they needed new identification and Social Security numbers in order to continue working at the plant," Waddington reports. "He then, according to testimony, told the workers that they would need to provide him with a photograph and $200 or $220. Fraudulent resident alien cards were allegedly supplied to Agriprocessors workers."

Agriprocessors, "the dominant kosher food company in the nation, is owned by the Rubashkin family, a politically-connected clan from Brooklyn, N.Y.," Waddington notes. "Sholom Rubashkin stepped down as the company’s CEO after the raid that resulted in the arrest of 389 undocumented workers, most of whom were convicted of criminal wrongdoing and will be deported." (Read more)

But not just yet. Critics and supporters of the raid agree that "It's surprising that 304 immigrants are serving jail sentences instead of being deported immediately," and both sides "say the decision marks a significant change: in) federal enforcement attitudes, Tony Leys reports for the Des Moines Register. "Most of the immigrants arrested at the Agriprocessors plant were sentenced to spend five months in jail before being sent home. Some interviewed in jail said they hope to be sent home sooner than that, but lawyers on both sides said that's unlikely to happen. . . . Federal prosecutors won't talk about why they decided to push for jail time." Natalie Wettstein, legal director for the American Immigration Law Foundation, which works with defense lawyers, "questioned why the federal government is spending millions of tax dollars to imprison non-violent immigrants whose only crime was using false papers to work." (Read more) (Register photo)