Agricultural Personnel Management Program
University of California

12/5/00 News Report -- The Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) --Immigration officials screened workers Tuesday at a meatpacking plant to see if they were illegal immigrants.

Immigration and Naturalization Service spokesman Art Moreno said agents swept through the Nebraska Beef plant in south Omaha, checking workers for
illegal documents they may have used to get a job in the country.

Up to 1,000 people were working in the plant when it was raided, Moreno said. Officials did not know how many people would be detained, he said.

The Internal Revenue Service also was part of the raid, Moreno said.

Plant officials did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

About $7.5 million in tax credits given to Nebraska Beef in 1996 were voided in May when a judge ruled that a state board approved the tax credits before it adopted the rules to take such action.