NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A federal immigration raid that took 97 people into custody at a Tennessee meat processing plant may be the biggest employment crackdown under President Donald Trump’s administration, civil rights activists said Friday.
Eleven people were arrested on criminal charges and 86 were detained for being in the country illegally, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Tammy Spicer said in a statement Friday.
The Thursday raid on Southeastern Provision, a meat processing plant in Bean Station in eastern Tennessee, is the largest single worksite immigration enforcement action since the administration of President George W. Bush, said Jessie Hahn, labor and employment policy attorney at the National Immigration Law Center.
“This is part of the stepped-up Trump mass deportation enforcement agenda for sure,” Hahn said.
The current administration has promised to crack down on employers who hire immigrants living in the country illegally, and several raids have taken place across the country. A total of 21 people were arrested after immigration agents raided 7-11 stores nationwide in January.