Pelahatchie man in first indictments of poultry managers

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Mississippi has indicted four managers or supervisors or human resource officers stemming from the raid last September that saw 680 illegal alien employees detained. The indictments were based on information collected through criminal and administrative search warrants that were executed during the highly publicized raid of Mississippi poultry companies. It was the largest single-state worksite enforcement operation in U.S. history, resulting in the prosecution of 119 illegal aliens for stealing the identities of American citizens, falsifying immigration documents, fraudulently claiming to be United States citizens, and illegal re-entering the country after they were deported, among other federal crimes. Salvador Delgado-Nieves, 5, of Pelahatchie was charged with three counts of harboring illegal aliens, three counts of assisting illegal aliens in falsely representing themselves to be United States citizens, three counts of assisting illegal aliens in obtaining false Social Security cards, and one count of making a false statement to law enforcement officials when he denied having hired illegal aliens at A&B, Inc. in Pelahatchie. Delgado-Nieves faces up to 4 years in federal prison and $2.5 million in fines for these criminal violations, as counts one through six carry a maximum of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each violation, counts seven through nine carry a maximum of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count, and count ten carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The four unsealed indictments mark the first criminal actions against poultry company management personnel and is limited to two companies, A&B Inc. of Pelahatchie and Pearl River Foods, LLC. "This office has a successful history of prosecuting employers for violating our immigration laws, and today marks another step in ensuring that justice is fairly and impartially done, no matter the law-breaker. I want to thank our partners at ICE Homeland Security Investigations and our office’s federal prosecutors for doggedly pursuing these criminal violations. The indictments unsealed today mark the beginning, not the end, of our investigations and prosecutions. Rest assured that we will continue to pursue criminal wrongdoers and enforce our criminal laws wherever the evidence may take us," said U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst. "The results of this ongoing criminal investigation illustrate the importance of strong interior enforcement. The arrests made last year pursuant to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s execution of more than a dozen search warrants have thus far yielded 126 indictments, 11 criminal arrests, and convictions. In total, more than 40 individuals falsified social security information in order to gain illegal employment in the United States," said acting ICE deputy director and senior official performing the duties of the director Matthew T. Albence. "Companies who intentionally or knowingly base their business model on an illegal workforce deprive law- abiding citizens and lawful immigrants of employment opportunities, which are especially critical as our economy looks to recover from the challenges faced by the COVID-19 pandemic. ICE Homeland Security Investigations will continue its commitment to uphold the laws Congress has passed. These laws protect jobs for the legal workforce, reduce incentives for illegal migration, and eliminate inequitable financial advantages for businesses employing illegal immigrants."