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Whit Johnson ReportingThe US Department of Justice is handing down 17 Federal Indictments for some of the people involved in the Hyrum immigration raid. This is the latest in the ongoing investigation involving six different meat packing plants across the country.
The indictment documents are more than 50 pages long. Most of those indicted will appear here before a US judge tomorrow.
In the middle of all this more rallies were held in Salt Lake City today, widening the division over illegal immigration. The rallies were small, but the message on both sides remained very clear.
Daniel Argueta, Brown Berets: "We don't agree with armed raids on the working people. We don't agree with the separation of families."
Alex Segura, Utah Minuteman Project: "We are in support of immigration and customs enforcement, their actions up at Swift."
A raid at Swift and Company meat packing plant in Hyrum brought the immigration debate back to life. About 150 undocumented workers were arrested. Of those, about 80 are facing state prosecution for forgery and today, 15 federal indictments for those who knowingly used stolen identities.
Brett Tolman, U.S. Attorney, District of Utah: "Instead they have assumed the identities of US citizens. That's somewhat different than many of the cases that are brought and very significant."
In the six raids across the country there were about 13-hundred arrests, but the Hyrum raid was different.
Brett Tolman, U.S. Attorney, District of Utah: "It's most important to try to stop the flood of aggravated identity theft that occurs in a scenario like this, and the only way you can do that is if you're going after those that may be vending."
That's what they did, with two more indictments. On the same day of the Hyrum raid authorities arrested Veronica Carillo and identified Eleuterio Gutierrez. They both allegedly sold hundreds of stolen identities. Carillo is in custody, Gutierrez is still on the run.
Outside the arrests and paper work the anger, opinion and discussion over illegal immigration is very much alive.
Teresa Martinez, Professor, University of Utah: "They're not just targeting Latinos who are undocumented immigrants, they're targeting Latinos who are American citizens."
Alex Segura, Utah Minuteman Project: "If you are a parent of a child and you commit a crime, you are in violation of law and you will have to be taken care of."
Some of the stolen identities were of people in Utah, we don't know exactly how many. The US Attorney's Office says all of those people arrested at Swift & Company will be deported.
