COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Federal agents on Wednesday arrested a supervisor at a poultry plant in Greenville as part of an investigation of alleged immigration violations, the fifth person taken into custody at the plant in two days.
Four other workers were arrested Tuesday by immigration agents at a House of Raeford Farms plant after finding what appeared to be false information on plant employment records, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald said.
An inspection by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on May 30 uncovered records showing there were plant employees who had used invalid alien registration numbers and Social Security numbers, or listed numbers as their own that belonged to others, according to federal court documents.
The Charlotte Observer reported in February that 42 of 52 Hispanic current and former plant workers it had spoken with were in the country illegally. The Observer also said former supervisors said managers at the North Carolina-based company were aware that undocumented immigrants worked for the business.
Simon Gomez, Juan Rodriguez, Juan Suarez, Guadalupe Templos and Evaristo Vasquez are charged with making false statements and possession of either false identification or identification belonging to someone else, according to federal court documents.
A federal judge set bond of $50,000 each for the men, who remained in federal custody Wednesday, McDonald said.
A spokesman for the House of Raeford and attorneys for all five men did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
