The good news:

Federal agents raided six Swift & Co. processing plants in six states on Tuesday in search of illegal immigrants who stole the identities of lawful U.S. residents and used their Social Security numbers to get jobs at the beef and pork company.

Agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency executed search warrants at Swift’s processing facilities in Greeley, Colo.; Grand Island, Neb.; Cactus, Texas; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minn.

ICE officials didn’t give the total number of people arrested but said workers were being apprehended on administrative immigration violations and in some cases, existing criminal arrest warrants. The warrants allow federal agents to arrest anyone at the plant who is in the United States illegally.

The bad news:

No charges have been filed against the company.

And if there are employer sanctions, they’ll be bargained down to nothing.

What won’t make news:

1) It’ll be just a matter of days before all of the illegal aliens caught are released. And then disappear.

2) The congressional representatives in each of these states–on both sides of the political aisle–will lobby behind the scenes to get any charges dropped.

Finally, I’ve noted the Bush administration’s penchant for politically-timed immigration raids before. These raids may be a prelude to the coming bipartisan amnesty.

***

On a related note, a source tells me that ICE head Julie Myers, a crony appointee with virtually no law enforcement experience, has been rejected by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee:

Julie L. Myers, to be Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security; vice Michael J. Garcia, resigned, to which position she was appointed during the last recess of the Senate.

Received: February 10, 2006 Referred: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Latest Action: December 09, 2006 – Returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.