In August, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted the largest workplace raid in more than a decade across five food processing plants in Mississippi, netting the arrests of 680 illegal aliens. That same day, though, ICE officials said they released about 300 of the illegal workers back into the U.S. on "humanitarian grounds," while more than 200 of the illegal workers had prior criminal records. Prosecutors say many of the illegal workers stole Americans’ identities to work at the plants.
Despite federal prosecutors alleging that employers were fully aware that they hired hundreds of illegal aliens to work at their plants, none of the owners or businesses have had charges filed against them.
Mississippi residents overwhelmingly support prosecuting the employers for hiring illegal aliens over Americans, telling Millsaps College/Chism Strategies pollsters that not just the illegal aliens, but the employers should be prosecuted.
More than 68 percent of Mississippi residents said the employers who hired the illegal aliens arrested in the ICE raid should be prosecuted, with only about 15.5 percent opposing their prosecution. Another 16.4 percent of residents said they were unsure of what to do.