ICE claims of non-targeting don’t appear to fit the facts

Although ICE has maintained that no businesses were targeted during the Sept. 30 enforcement operation, a longtime employee of the Moroni turkey-processing plant said all five people detained that night worked at the facility.

Through contacts with family members, friends and other plant workers, the Messenger obtained additional information about the five detainees, such as their countries of origin, family circumstances and experiences following their arrests.

One detainee, a man in his 50s, came from El Salvador and had lived in the United States for more than 15 years. He has an adult daughter living in the county.

Another man had also lived in the United States for more than 15 years. He had been married to a U.S. citizen for 13 years and the couple have three children. According to his family, he was in the process of applying for a green card when he was detained.

Family members said that since Sept. 30, he had been transferred to detention facilities in three states, including California and Texas.

“They move them to different places so that can’t get an attorney to fight for them,” said Fernando Montano of Moroni, a leader in the local Hispanic community.

A third detainee was identified by sources as a man from Mexico in his 30s who had been living with his girlfriend. Sources did not know how long he had been in the United States.

At least two of the detainees were from Colombia, our sources told us. They arrived in the United States two to two-and-a-half years ago and do not have families here.

Colombia has become a significant source of international migration in recent years. There are presently 1.6 million Colombians in the United States.

A report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an organization of 38 countries promoting economic growth and an improved standard of living around the world, said economic inequality, limited access to stable employment and concerns about violence and political persecution are factors contributing to migration from the South American nation.

However, the circumstances that brought the two Colombian detainees to the United States have not been established.