JACKSON, Miss. — Three months after immigration agents arrested 680 Latino workers in a massive workplace sting at seven Mississippi chicken processing plants, a congressional committee plans a hearing into the raids and their effects.
The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, led by Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson, will hold the hearing Thursday in Jackson.
Thompson says he still wants answers as to why U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched the raids without making sure children wouldn’t be left without parents, even temporarily. Thompson says dozens of children went home without parents that day, although many parents were among the more than 300 people who were released within 24 hours following their initial arrest.
Hundreds of people remain in custody, with dozens facing federal criminal charges. Many are already pleading guilty.
