Claims dismissed in Worthington immigration raid
Associated Press
March 31, 2009
A federal judge has dismissed all claims against the Department of Homeland Security over an immigration raid at the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Worthington.
The U.S. attorney's office says Judge Joan Ericksen dismissed the claims last Friday.
The lawsuit was filed by 10 people who claimed their constitutional rights were violated during the Dec. 12, 2006, enforcement action dubbed Operation Wagon Train. The raid followed a 10-month investigation into the alleged use and distribution of fraudulent identity documents by Swift employees in six states.
Immigration agents arrested 239 people on immigration violations in Worthington, out of a total of more than 1,200. Twenty of them were also charged with identity theft or related counts.
Ericksen ruled that the government's search warrant established a sufficient basis for questioning the workers about their citizenship, and that the agents were entitled to detain people who were present there.
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