Immigration raids Koch Foods Ohio chicken plant

By Andrea Hopkins

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Hundreds of U.S. immigration agents raided the Koch Foods Inc. chicken plant in Fairfield, Ohio, and arrested more than 160 employees as part of a criminal operation against illegal immigrants, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said on Tuesday.

"As of 2:45 p.m. (EDT) more than 180 Koch employees have been identified for further questioning and more than 160 have been administratively arrested for immigration violations," ICE special agent in charge Brian Moskowitz told a news conference in Cincinnati.

Moskowitz said employees faced a range of charges including illegal reentry to the United States, identity theft, document fraud, social security fraud and forgery. Koch Foods was being investigated for federal crimes including encouraging, inducing or harboring illegal aliens.

ICE said in a statement the raid by more than 300 agents was "part of a two-year, ongoing ICE investigation based on evidence that Koch Foods may have knowingly hired illegal aliens at its poultry processing and packaging facility."

The raid at Koch Foods, which produces chicken for export, food service and retail markets, began at 10 a.m. EDT. Moskowitz said simultaneous search warrants were executed at the plant near Cincinnati and Koch's Chicago headquarters.

Calls to Koch Foods, based in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Illinois, were unanswered. Koch Foods is not affiliated with Wichita, Kansas,-based Koch Industries, the largest private company in the United States, a Koch Industries spokeswoman said.

Tim Bachman, development services director for the city of Fairfield, said the plant employs about 500 workers.

This month the Bush administration said it would increase scrutiny and impose heftier fines on U.S. businesses that employ illegal immigrants. The administration had lobbied Congress unsuccessfully for an overhaul of immigration laws.