Poultry Company Avoids Prosecution on Federal Immigration Charges

The Baltimore Sun online is reporting that House of Raeford Farms, which is located in North Carolina, has been fined $1.5 million and must change its hiring practices as part of an agreement that “will allow a subsidiary to avoid prosecution on federal immigration charges.”

The settlement is an agreement between federal prosecutors and company officers and was signed “hours before the case was set for trial Tuesday [.]” The settlement essentially gives House of Raeford subsidiary Columbia Farms the ability to keep its record clean, and ends a legal battle “that could have cost the company millions of dollars in federal poultry contracts,” according to the Baltimore Sun story.

The Greenville, SC plant was raided last year and charged with intentionally hiring illegal immigrants. “Under the agreement, the government will dismiss charges against the company if it improves its hiring practices over the next two years and submits to federal monitoring at its eight plants in the Carolinas and Louisiana.” The agreement apparently accomplishes the goal of Walt Wilkins, US Attorney for South Carolina, which was to make the company a ‘“responsible corporate citizen.”’

According to the Baltimore Sun, under the terms of the deal the company must do the following to avoid future prosecution: 1) take part in federal programs that check workers’ documents and Social Security numbers against federal databases, 2) report evidence of immigration violations to the federal government, 3) “[u]se an outside auditor to help ensure those hired provide proper documents [,]” and 4) regularly train employees to better identify fraudulent documents and “comply with federal law.”

Despite the $1.5 million dollar fine for violating federal immigration laws, the company has received roughly $6.7 million in federal contracts, including close to $1 million in federal stimulus money “to supply turkey for school lunches and low-income people.” According to US Department of Agriculture spokesman Billy Cox, department attorneys will have to determine whether the company can still receive future contracts.

In 2008 US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided the Greenville, SC plant. The ICE officials arrested 300 workers. “At the time, authorities said, 777 of the plant’s 825 workers had apparently submitted false documents.” House of Raeford is one of the largest chicken and turkey producers in the nation with eight processing plants throughout the Southeast, roughly 6,000 employees, and almost $600 million in annual sales.

To read the Baltimore Sun article online click here.

Posted: 11/04/09