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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Senators Question Immigration Raids Against Meat Packer WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is taking heat from lawmakers for the harm done to a company during last month's largest-ever immigration raid. Immigration officials on Dec. 12 arrested 1,297 illegal workers at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Utah. After a closed-door meeting Monday with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, senators from the affected states said the raid exposed flaws in the federal government and in a program designed to help employers screen for illegal immigrants. Among the concerns, senators reported, were that agencies can't share information about stolen identities and that programs designed to catch illegal immigrants allow many lawbreakers to slip through the cracks. "I can't think of a system that would be better designed to fail," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. Cornyn said he was not defending Swift's hiring of illegal workers but acknowledged that the federal government has not provided employers all the tools they need to make sure their workers are legal. Cornyn said financial agencies have figured out how to prevent document theft and the federal government should be able to do the same. "It's not a lack of technology, it's a matter of political will," Cornyn said. Cornyn was the sponsor of an immigration bill that called for requiring illegal immigrants to leave the U.S. before returning as guest workers, but left open how long they'd have to be out of the country before returning. But he voted against a sweeping bipartisan immigration bill passed by the Senate last year. Swift, based in Greely, Colo., is owned by the Dallas investment firm, HM Capital Partners LLC. Chertoff acknowledged some of the problems, and said his department's programs are not "the perfect cure." Senators said they wanted Chertoff to enforce the laws, but they needed to assure companies that working with the government would not ultimately hurt them. Swift participated in a program called Basic Pilot, which screens employees for illegal Social Security numbers. The system doesn't snag stolen Social Security numbers or numbers that are being used in multiple locations. Although the government took no action against Swift in the Dec. 12 raids, the meat processor was forced to temporarily halt operations. The raids could cost the company an estimated $30 million. "We want employers to use Basic Pilot," said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn. "But we need to have a clear understanding with the business community. I think it's very unclear now." The senators said they planned to introduce legislation to fix some of the problems. For example, they hope to change the law to allow the Social Security Administration to tell the Homeland Security Department when a Social Security number is being used more than once. Since the arrests, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has announced the indictments of 148 illegal immigrants, who used other peoples' Social Security numbers and other personal information to get jobs at Swift. Local prosecutors are bringing state charges against the immigrants, including 80 in Cache County, Utah, and 18 in Weld County, Colo.
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