Swift Justice: Illegal Immigration in America (2009)

The raid on Swift meatpacking plants in Greeley and six other locations nationwide in December 2006 by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau (ICE) ignited a heated debate about the place of undocumented workers in the United States and their exploitation by employers. More than 1,200 workers were arrested, and many have been held in legal limbo ever since as their cases are sorted out - while others were immediately deported back to Mexico and Central America. Human rights advocates accused law enforcement officers of casting the workers as dangerous criminals, noting the atypical and unusually public steps of not only long-term incarceration but also burdensome fines imposed before deportation. A Swift official's description of the raids (or "enforcement actions," as one district attorney calls them) makes clear that ICE had planned its sweep with the single goal of making Swift an example for other companies.