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Marc Giauque and John Daley ReportingSid Siders, Immigration and Customs Enforcement: "I'm pretty sure that's a given. There will be other companies targeted."
Tony Yapias, Community Activist: "Right now, immediately, people are scared tonight."
Two days after nationwide sweeps round up undocumented workers, there's fear among some members of the Latino community and evolving positions over a proposed labor strike. Instead of a May 1st strike, there's now talk of a "Walk for Liberty." Latino activists nationwide are pushing for workers and students to take a day off for immigration reform demonstrations. But here in Utah, immigration sweeps earlier this week have dampened enthusiasm for a strike
The families of undocumented workers arrested in Tooele are meeting to decide what's next for them. Meantime, at least one organizer of this month's rallies is rethinking plans for a strike May 1st.
No doubt, the federal government sent a message by targeting the nation's largest pallet company, arresting nine company managers and more than 1,000 undocumented laborers, including 13 who worked here in Tooele.
At Tooele's IFCO Systems, thirteen of the company's 20 workers are now in jail, facing possible deportation. It's part of a national crackdown that officials say is aimed at unscrupulous employers. Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff says the investigation will continue.
Michael Chertoff: "We want to look at high impact cases. Much the same way when we started to look at criminal groups or businesses engaged in wide-scale criminality in other areas."
Utah agents say it's likely other companies will be pursued.
Sid Siders, Supervisory Special Agent, Immigration and Customs Enforcement: "We don't have specific information on who, what, when and where, but yeah, it makes sense that this is not the last."
David Scott, Special Agent, Immigration and Customs Enforcement: "We have to do our jobs and enforce the law. A lot of times it does separate families temporarily, but there's a relief for that. Like I say they know what they're up against in the first place, something like that could happen to them."
The sweeps come at a key moment as Congress prepares to revisit the issue and after demonstrations focused the US on immigration like never before. A national strike is planned for May 1st. Now some who organized Utah's rallies favor a "Walk for Liberty" at Liberty Park instead. They're urging students set to take important tests that day to stay in school, and workers to decide for themselves.
Tony Yapias, Community Activist: If many of these kids don't take the tests, it creates a huge problem for our community, especially with No Child Left Behind, with all the compliances they have to follow."
Meantime, the sweeps highlight America's complicated relationship with undocumented laborers.
A prominent Latino academic says, as the demonstrations have shown, when American companies hire those workers, it creates an expectation that they deserve some legal recognition in return.
Theresa Martinez, Uni. of Utah Sociologist: "If we're not going to hire them, so be it. Let them go. Tell them they have to go back. Deport them if you will, but don't hire them. If you're going to hire them, then we have a moral obligation to see that relationship through."
Meantime, federal agencies are beefing up the number of immigration investigators they have. Also, federal officials are asking Congress for greater access to workers' Social Security data to uncover undocumented workers who use bogus identification cards.
