When ICE comes to your workplace

Photo courtesy of Immigrant Legal Center 

The Federal Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a large-scale immigration raid at several companies in O’Neill, Nebraska during the morning of Aug. 8, 2018. The raid that initially targeted 17 people and three companies for hiring and mistreating immigrants resulted in 133 detained workers.

The ACLU of Nebraska provided rapid legal response support in the aftermath of the raid and spoke to many people who upon release, reported being victims of ICE’s mistreatment and potential civil rights violations. When ICE asked for the individuals’ name and immigration status, many were unable to prove that they were documented and were handcuffed with chains around their waists and placed on a Department of Homeland Security bus. 

The detained individuals stayed in a private parking lot in the Grand Island ICE Detention Center, in some cases overnight, until their immigration removal paperwork was processed. Since some of them were not proficient in English, they could not ask questions about their rights or the documents they were signing.

Once in the detention center, those detained went without food for approximately 12 hours. Although the planning for this raid was in progress for 15 months, these first-hand reports showed no real planning for adequate shelter, language interpretation, food and water, and account for the children who were separated from their families in the process. Although several local organizations, volunteer attorneys, and neighbors came together to support the families affected, they are again left to clean up the damage. The long-term effect on the community and employers of the O’Neill will last long into the future.

The mistreatment that immigrants received proves that immigration raids can undermine the workers’ civil rights, especially when workers don't know what their rights are during a raid, or what to do during one.