Immigration agents arrest almost 600 at a Mississippi factory. in what was
the largest workplace enforcement raid in the United States to date.

LAUREL, MISSISSIPPI, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 25, 2008) NBC -
 U.S. immigration agents have arrested 595 people at a Mississippi
factory in what was the largest workplace enforcement raid in the United
States to date, an immigration official said on Tuesday (August 27). 
    The swoop at the plant, which makes electrical equipment including
transformers, was part of an ongoing crackdown on identity theft and
fraudulent use of Social Security numbers by illegal immigrants. 
    Those arrested included citizens of Peru, Mexico, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Panama, Honduras, Brazil and one from Germany, ICE said in a press
release. 
    The detainees were interviewed, fingerprinted and photographed by
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, and processed for
deportation from the United States. 
    ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez said federal agents arrested the
workers in a raid at the Howard Industries Inc. factory in Laurel, Miss, on
Monday (August 25), describing it as the largest targeted workplace
enforcement operation in the US. 
    Gonzalez said 475 detainees were transferred to an ICE detention
facility in Jena, Louisiana, while nine unaccompanied minors -- eight males
and one female -- were placed in the custody of the office of refugee
resettlement. 
    A further 106 people were released based on "humanitarian
concerns," Gonzalez said. 
    The raid comes amid a toughening stance toward illegal immigrants in
the United States, where some 12 million live and work in the shadows. 
    Since Oct. 1 last year, more than 4,000 people have been arrested in
stepped-up enforcement raids across the country. 
    Gonzalez said all those under arrest had the right of due process and
would have an opportunity to state their case before an immigration judge.
    "If the judge determines that they are ineligible to remain in the
country and orders them deported, then certainly we will carry out those
orders of removal," she added.
    Immigration activists said the raid in Laurel had left an unknown
number of children without one or both of their parents and many Hispanic
residents afraid to leave their homes.