Site of record immigration raid, Mississippi plant uses federal program to check workers' status

The Laurel, Miss. transformer plant that was the scene of the largest immigration raid in U.S. history uses "a federal system to check new hires' work documents, a program whose expansion the Bush administration has made a cornerstone of its fight against illegal immigration," The Washington Post reports.

While the E-Verify program "can determine whether a Social Security number presented by a worker is valid, it often cannot determine whether the number belongs to the applicant," write Post reporters Spencer S. Hsu, Alejandro Lazo and Darryl Fears.

"Major U.S. employers assailed the expanding crackdown, saying it creates a Catch-22. If businesses fail to enroll in E-Verify, they run the risk of a raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said. But if they sign up, they face added costs, labor disruptions and discrimination complaints -- as well as the risk that flaws in the program won't stop all illegal hiring or prevent government raids, they said. ... A spokeswoman for ICE noted the investigation began two years ago, before Howard joined E-Verify."

ICE said it was deporting 475 workers; "106 were released for humanitarian reasons to tend to a child or a medical condition pending court appearances; nine were juveniles transferred to a refugee resettlement agency, and eight face charges of criminal identity theft," the Post reports. (Read more)