12/18/06 Meat Institute reacts to Swift raids

American Rancher December 18, 2006 Those Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids at meatpacking plants last week caused Swift, the world's second largest meat processing company, to close down for much of a day. Janet Riley, Vice President of the American Meat Institute, the trade association of the meat processing industry, says that event highlights the dilemma employers both inside and outside the meat industry face. Riley: "And that is verifying employment in a manner that makes sure that employees are eligible to work in the U.S. while also protecting the civil rights of foreign born people." Riley says the industry's employers often face a catch 22. An employer who accepts documents as legitimate can face federal penalties if the documents are in fact fraudulent. But at the same time, if the employer questions legitimate documents the employer can face civil rights charges. Riley says that's why the meat industry embraced the Basic Pilot on-line verification system when it became available in a handful of states in the late 1990's and fought to get it extended nationwide. Riley: "It is a useful tool in screening new hires, however it cannot check to be sure that names and Social Security numbers are not being used in multiple states. So that is one of its limitations and that's a limitation we hope we can remedy when reauthorization of the program comes up in another two years." And Riley says the American Meat Institute is hopeful the Swift incident will cue Congress to pass immigration reform. I'm Bob Hoff.