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Feds: "Laurel Sweep Largest in Country" Save Email Print
Laurel, Miss.
Posted: 6:19 PM Aug 26, 2008
Last Updated: 6:19 PM Aug 26, 2008
Reporter: The Associated Press

A | A | A

Federal officials say nearly 600 suspected illegal immigrants were detained in a raid on a manufacturing plant in southern Mississippi, making it the largest such sweep in the country.

A spokeswoman says more than 100 of those caught up in Monday's raid on Howard Industries were released based on humanitarian concerns, mostly because they have children.

Most of the rest were transferred to a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Jena, La. Nine 17-year-olds were transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

The Mississippi raid was one of a series of recent high-profile crackdowns on illegal immigrants. In May, officials swept into the Agriprocessors Kosher Meat Packing Plant in Iowa and detained 400 workers.

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Posted by: sparky Location: Meridian on Aug 27, 2008 at 05:29 PM
Now that Hughes has been raided _What is going to happen to illegal immigrants ? will they be sent back? Will Hughes be fined a HUGH amount of money? If nothing is done and nobody is responsible why raid the plant! If miss would look around and see our young people are leaving !Until our goverment (STATE) acepts responsibility we are going to continue to be the poorest state.We have people who are LEGAL cannot find work,hughes should be fined and the plant manager put in JAIL.

Posted by: Anonymous Location: kemper on Aug 27, 2008 at 08:17 AM
This is rediculious we have people here robbing and almost starving and cannot find work when plants here are hiring illigal people from overseas for cheeper labor, come on what are we going to do about this problem? I hope they (the Plant Owner) are prosecuted to the fulliest.

Posted by: DOROTHY BEATY Location: illinois on Aug 26, 2008 at 07:09 PM
don't you have americans in miss that need a job

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