ICE breaker

In my position, I deal with a lot of government public affairs spokespeople. Not too long ago I visited with one of the more helpful ones I have come across; . Pat Reilly, spokeswoman with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

My original question to her related to ICE raids on agriculture. Reilly said the ICE doesn't keep sector specific statistics on raids and enforcement actions

One of the good things she did was help me navigate the ICE Web site. A key page for the ICE site is found at this link to fact sheets. One of the links on that page, Worksite enforcement, has a summary of recent actions.

I asked her if agriculture was more easily targeted than a hotel in Los Vegas or other hospitality venues.

"It is not the ease of the target, it is the possibility of illegal activity that brings in a a work site enforcement." she said.

"If you look at a summary of our cases, they are generally in labor intensive and lightly skilled areas, where you need a lot of people but the training is relatively light. "

With the exception of the Swift Co. investigation, all of the dozen or so worksite enforcement actions in the past year or so have resulted in charges against one or more officers of those companies employing illegals. And the Swift Co. investigation continues. Reilly said Fresh Del Monte will subject to an investigation for some time.

"No pun intended, but these investigations work their way up the food chain." she said.

She had more to say about no-match Social Security letters, and how employers who are known to hire illegals are a magnet to potential workers in Mexico. More on those topics later.