On Thursday, April 6, 2018, federal and state officials arrested approximately 97 workers at a meat-processing facility in Tennessee. The charges faced by the individuals primarily relate to immigration-related offenses.
Media reports noted that the federal affidavit submitted in connection with the raid stated that the facility was targeted as a result of an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) criminal investigation related to whether the company had been filing false tax returns and avoiding payment of payroll tax. The company’s bank reported repeated large cash withdrawals to the IRS, which prompted the investigation. The IRS contends the funds were used to pay undocumented workers.
The collaboration between immigration officials of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which are agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with IRS, which is an agency within the Department of the Treasury, as well as with state officials, is an example of the cross-agency collaboration advancing the Trump Administration’s policy priorities affecting US employers, specifically in immigration enforcement.