Federal immigration authorities arrested 46 suspected illegal immigrants from Mexico and Indonesia at an Eastern Shore poultry processing plant early yesterday.
Benedict J. Ferro, district director of the Immigration and Naturalization Services office in Baltimore, said the arrests at the Chestertown Foods Inc. chicken processing plant took place as the plant's midnight shift was ending.
Those detained in the raid -- ranging in age from 15 to 50 -- were employees of a separate company, Chester Labor Servicing Corp., which had a contract to supply workers to Chestertown Foods, Ferro said.
"Depending on whether the contractor had knowledge these individuals were illegally in the U.S., it could be subject to fines of up to $2,000 per violation," Ferro said.
Ferro said it was the contractor's responsibility to make sure that all workers provided to the poultry processing plant are legal residents, since the contractor was their direct employer, not Chestertown Foods.
"The responsibility is with the employer," he said.
Efforts to locate officials with Chester Labor Servicing Corp. were unsuccessful last night. A receptionist at Chestertown Foods said she was told to direct questions about the raid to the plant's manager, H. A. Laird. Laird did not respond to several telephone messages left at his office.
Ferro said the 46 people detained had been brought in from Philadelphia and New Jersey and were reportedly paid "from $5 and up" for their work. He said members of the group, which included 14 women, had been living in the U.S. for a few months to a few years. Of the group, 34 were Mexican and 12 were from Indonesia. Six of the Mexicans were minors.
The suspects were being held at the Wicomico County detention center on $3,000 to $5,000 bond each.
INS raids have not been infrequent on Maryland's Eastern Shore, where illegal immigrants are willing to step in and fill low-paying, physically demanding and unpleasant jobs that are typical of poultry processing.
In October 1996, federal agents arrested nearly 200 illegal immigrants at Allen Family Foods, Inc. poultry processing plant and at Angelica Nurseries Inc. Ferro said the INS typically removes 600 to 700 illegal immigrants a year from Maryland.
Pub Date: 3/20/99