Brittany Brown and Ed Kemp
Hattiesburg American
August 23, 2009
One year ago this week, Tomas Hernandez-Urueta saw one of his worst fears realized when he was snared by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a Howard Industries raid that netted 592 arrests.
"I felt horrible, as if I were a criminal," said Hernandez-Urueta, through translator Juan Carlos Cook, communications director of the Mississippi Immigration Rights Alliance.
The sweep, executed on Aug. 25, 2008, led to the arrest of about 14 percent of Howard's 4,200-member work force. It was the largest roundup of suspected illegal workers since the founding of the Department of Homeland Security.
Howard Industries officials declined to comment for this article.
For Hernandez-Urueta, who had a work visa that expired eight years ago, the day of the sweep began a year of turmoil. After the roundup, he spent one month at the LaSalle Detention Center in Jena, La., and still awaits a final verdict on his immigration case. He said his attorney believes the matter will extend into 2010.
Of the 592 arrested, some workers, like Hernandez-Urueta, were released on humanitarian grounds while others await adjudication for pending court cases.
Hernandez-Urueta is one of five defendants from the Howard Industries raid represented by immigration rights lawyer Patricia Ice whose cases have not been decided.
Temple Black, a spokesman with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said 66 suspected illegal workers arrested last August who were in alternative detention have been released on a recognizance order and fitted with ankle bracelets for monitoring.
Black said the initial nine juveniles who were placed with the Office of Refugee Resettlement have been deported or released into the custody of family members in the United States and await dispositions of their cases.
To date, Black said 424 of the 462 illegal workers detained have been deported.
Ice said that's a worst-case scenario she's working to avoid for her defendants.
"We are seeking immigration relief to allow (Hernandez-Urueta) to stay in the United States if legally possible," she said.
Not only does the recently-married Hernandez-Urueta still live in Laurel with his wife, Sybil, but his sister, Artemisa Hernandez, also lives in Laurel and is in the process of applying for residency.
He is adamant he did nothing wrong.
Hernandez-Urueta said he came to Mississippi in December 2000 with a Mexican passport and a work visa sponsored by Universal Forestry. His first job, planting pine trees, brought in starting wages that far exceeded those of his old job as a dump truck driver in Veracruz, Mexico, he said.
From Universal Forestry, he switched jobs to Sanderson Farms in Laurel and then to Howard Industries' transformers plant, where he worked as a welder. He said the only documentation he was required to show these employers was his Mexican driver's license and the Social Security card issued to him as a foreign worker.
It was while at Howard Industries in 2001 that his work visa expired. Hernandez-Urueta said that he did not attempt to renew it because he "didn't know that it was a possibility to renew it."
"I never bothered to get more documents because that was the job I had," he said.
And Hernandez-Urueta said he was never asked about his documents - until the morning the ICE agents arrived.
Until the raid, Hernandez said he rose to the challenge of the increased post-Hurricane Katrina demand for Howard products, working 60 to 70 hours, seven days a week.
Hernandez-Urueta was released on $5,000 bond. Since then, he has made several court appearances at the New Orleans Immigration Court, all the while living in Laurel. He is currently not authorized to work.
"I would say to them that if it's a sin to work, then I'm a sinner," he said. "I don't feel like I've caused any harm to this country. I just want to be here and work - stay and continue to be a productive member of society."
Meanwhile, Howard Industries' former human resources manager, Jose Humberto Gonzalez, could spend the rest of his life in a federal prison.
He is charged with 25 counts of conspiracy and employee verification fraud.
A trial date for Gonzalez, who was arrested in May, will be set for a criminal calendar beginning on Oct. 19, according to court documents.
Gonzalez's pre-trial hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 8 at the Mississippi Southern District Court in Hattiesburg.
In an 11-page indictment, Gonzalez is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit multiple offense against the United States and 25 counts of falsely certifying employment eligibility of job applicants and employees.
From June 2006 to June 2007, the indictment states that Gonzalez failed to adequately examine employment eligibility verification forms submitted by undocumented immigrants.
Additional Facts
By the Numbers
As a result of 2008's federal raid of Howard Industries in Laurel:
592: Workers arrested
462: Detained
424: Deported
44: Voluntary departures
103: Released on bond
Source: Immigration and Customs Enforcement
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090823/NEWS/908230358/1001/Arrested-migrant-awaits-verdict
