From ICE:

A human resources employee who worked for Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville, Iowa, pleaded guilty here Wednesday to harboring illegal aliens and aggravated identity theft. U.S. Attorney Matt M. Dummermuth, Northern District of Iowa, announced the plea, which resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Laura Louise Althouse, 38, of Postville, Iowa, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens and one count of aggravated identity theft. Althouse faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison and a possible maximum sentence of 12 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, $200 in special assessments, and four years of supervised release.

According to documents filed in federal court, Althouse conspired with others to harbor illeal aliens at her place of employment in Postville. The documents state that she harbored the aliens for commercial advantage and private financial gain. The Information also states Althouse possessed and used, without lawful authority, a resident alien number that was assigned to another person in committing the harboring offense.

Sentencing before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Althouse remains free on bond pending sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter Deegan, C.J. Williams, and Matt Cole, Northern District of Iowa, prosecuted this case.

Without a plan to legalize workers, no-match is going to be a big problem.

Remember Hazleton, Pennsylvania? That's the town that passed a law punishing landlord who rent to unlawfully present immigrants and employers who hire them. The law was thrown out by a district court judge. The case was appealed and the Third Circuit will hear oral arguments next week on the constitutionality of the law and whether a local government can regulate in this area. The ACLU is keeping tabs online.

From ICE:

Andrew T. Baxter, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York and Lev Kubiak, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office of investigations in Buffalo, announced today the guilty pleas of Steven Means, 31, of Cincinnati, OH, and Bryan Bailey, 29, of Nashville, TN, former New Market Development Managers for the Pallet Management Division of IFCO Systems North America ("IFCO").

Both Means and Bailey pled guilty before the Hon. Lawrence E. Kahn, in United States District Court in Albany, NY, to the misdemeanor offense of Conspiracy to Unlawfully Employ Illegal Aliens. Means pled guilty today; Bailey pled guilty October 14, 2008. At sentencing in February 2009, the defendants face a potential sentence of up to 6 months imprisonment and a fine of up to $3,000 for each unauthorized alien with respect to whom the crime occurred.

The guilty pleas stems from the government's investigation of illegal immigration and employment-related practices at IFCO's pallet management services plants, which procure, recondition and distribute wood pallets. On April 19, 2006, agents arrested seven current and former IFCO managers, and executed search warrants at 9 IFCO facilities, including IFCO's U.S. headquarters in Houston. At the same time, ICE agents conducted a worksite enforcement action at over 40 IFCO pallet plants nationwide. ICE detained nearly 1,200 illegal aliens who were working at the plants. Means and Bailey were not arrested at that time.

"Bryan Baily and Steven Means, represent respectively, the eighth and ninth IFCO managers who have admitted their guilt related to the employment of illegal aliens at IFCO," said Lev J. Kubiak, special agent in charge of ICE's Office of Investigations in Buffalo. "These guilty pleas, and the ongoing investigation and prosecution of the unlawful immigration practices that took place at IFCO, demonstrate ICE's commitment to aggressively pursue those individuals who take advantage of illegal alien labor to gain an unfair business advantage."

It is to take effect immediately upon publication in the Federal Register (which will happen in the next few days). I've got the text of the rule on my ILW blog here and my detailed summary here.

The Charlotte Observer reports that Federal investigators intend to follow up this month's raid on a poultry plant with charges against managers of the plant. 331 workers were arrested. Investigators report that 94% of the I-9 forms from the company, House of Raeford Farms, appeared to have false information. The Observer reports that human resource employees at the company's Greeneville plant told authorities they were directed not to examine actual identification documents when hiring and to simply make black and white copies to conceal flaws in the documents.

The Phoenix Business Journal is reporting that there has been a surge in tips being filed with the Phoenix Sheriff's office against employers allegedly hiring illegally present immigrants.

In the mean time, the Arizona Republic newspaper reports that a rash of immigration raids by the sheriff against employers in Chandler and the East Valley will have a chilling effect and drive employers out of the area.

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