Illegal Aliens Arrested In Workplace Raid Sue ICE, IRS For Racial Profiling

Seven illegal aliens arrested by federal law enforcement during a workplace raid are suing the federal agencies that arrested them, alleging that they were victims of racial profiling for being Latino. The illegal aliens are being represented by a radical nonprofit that includes in its lists of “hate groups” conservative organizations while ignoring organizations funded by radical multi-billionaire George Soros and violence prone groups such as Antifa (anti-fascists) and Black Lives Matter (BLM).

The pro-bono case filed by attorneys from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) claims that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents violated their constitutional rights against illegal seizures and to equal protection under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is regarded by many journalists as valuable source for information on hate groups. But its record is dotted with inconsistencies—it has itself engaged in hateful discourse against some traditional minded organizations: branding the Family Research Council a hate group is one glaring example. Not as well known are its more subtle ways of emitting bias.

According to law enforcement sources who were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements during the Obama administration, employers are mandated by law to perform background checks on all employees using the form I-9:

Form I-9 is used for verifying the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. All U.S. employers must ensure proper completion of Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and noncitizens. Both employees and employers (or authorized representatives of the employer) must complete the form. On the form, an employee must attest to his or her employment authorization. The employee must also present his or her employer with acceptable documents evidencing identity and employment authorization. The employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) an employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and to relate to the employee and record the document information on the Form I-9. The list of acceptable documents can be found on the last page of the form. Employers must retain Form I-9 for a designated period and make it available for inspection by authorized government officers. 

The arrests occurred early 2019 at a slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant in the small town of Bean Station in eastern Tennessee. Agents from ICE assisted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) conducted the raid on the facility as part of a large-scale criminal investigation into the business owner’s multi-million-dollar tax evasion and fraud scheme.

Upwards of 100 illegal aliens were arrested, most of them emanating from Guatemala and Mexico. Some of those arrested had been previously deported from the United States more than once. While the first arrest is processed as a misdemeanor, re-entry by an illegal alien after deportment is a felony.

More than 50 illegal aliens were deported immediately,  while some of those being held by ICE were released. Others faced federal or state charges, according to a member of the local police department, Officer Daniel Hoftsteader.

The owner of the business, James Brantley, entered into a plea agreement for multiple federal crimes, including tax fraud, wire fraud and employment of unauthorized illegal aliens.

An IRS statement said Brantley had reduced his federal tax burden by nearly $1.3 million through hiring at least 150 illegal aliens and paying them “off-the-books” in cash. The scheme began 30-years-ago in 1988 and continued through 2018 when the suspect was arrested.

Brantley had reported to the IRS that he had only 44 wage earning employees, according to the Department of Justice. To avoid Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax obligations, unemployment insurance premiums, unemployment tax and workers’ compensation insurance premiums he paid illegal immigrants in cash at a rate of between $8 per hour.and $10 per hour.

The federal law enforcement supervisors said this case was a criminal investigation from day one and not  an immigration-enforcement action as many open-borders politicians, news outlets and activists allege.

“Tax fraud is an outrage to hard-working Americans directly harmed when criminals cheat their obligation to society by failing to pay their fair share, and the employment of illegal workers also poses a serious threat to public safety as the use of fraudulent identity documents exposes Americans to potential identity theft and other financial harm,”  the special agent from ICE Homeland Security Investigations who led the probe told the local news media.

Outraged by the treatment of illegal immigrants by ICE, the leftist SPLC attorneys claim it the largest workplace immigration raid since the George W. Bush administration. “What happened on April 5, 2018 was law enforcement overreach, plain and simple,” said SPLC’s senior supervising attorney, Meredith Stewart:

“We, as a nation, have a shared set of ideals, rooted in the Bill of Rights: We have a right to be free of racial profiling and unlawful arrests,” she added.

Timmonsville Police Chief Billy Brown accused Rev. Jerrod Moultrie, the president of the local NAACP, of trying to stir up racial unrest after the newly released video contradicted his claims. ‘I was shocked that someone who is supposed to be a community leader, a pastor, and head of the NAACP would just come out and tell a blatant lie,’ Brown said.