(The Center Square) – More crimes continue to be uncovered stemming from illegal foreign nationals working at Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha, Nebraska.
After a worksite enforcement operation was conducted earlier this month at which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and FBI agents were assaulted, authorities have confirmed a massive identity theft scheme was used by plant employees.
A multi-agency investigation uncovered “massive identity theft impacting unsuspecting U.S. citizens whose personal information was used by illegal aliens to gain unlawful employment at Glenn Valley Foods,” ICE said after arresting 70 illegal foreign nationals, mostly Hondurans, illegally in the country working there.
They were all “using stolen Social Security numbers and identities to unlawfully obtain wages, health benefits and employment authorization, leaving more than 100 real victims to face devastating financial, emotional and legal consequences,” ICE said.
Identity theft and Social Security fraud is a crime often found among illegal foreign nationals working in the U.S., especially at meat processing plants, authorities have found.
The U.S. Attorney for Nebraska has prosecuted similar cases, including in Fremont, where a deceased person’s Social Security number was used to make hundreds of fraudulent Social Security cards, state driver’s licenses, and lawful permanent resident cards, The Center Square reported. In Illinois, a staffing service for a food processing plant hired underage illegal foreign nationals reportedly using fraudulent documents, The Center Square reported.
Despite violent crimes being committed against federal agents and identity theft against Americans, “there have been individuals who have gone on the record recently referring to the identity thieves we arrested … as ‘good, hardworking, and honest,’” ICE Homeland Security Investigations Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Mark Zito said.
“These so-called honest workers have caused an immeasurable amount of financial and emotional hardship for innocent Americans. If pretending to be someone you aren’t in order to steal their lives isn’t blatant, criminal dishonesty, I don’t know what is.”
ICE highlighted identity theft victims from Pennsylvania, Texas, Colorado, Missouri and California who allegedly suffered from the scheme used by Glenn Valley Foods employees.
A Pennsylvania resident was denied medically necessary prescriptions by their health-care provider because their name and Social Security number has been used “to illegally gain employment and healthcare benefits based on fraudulent employment at Glenn Valley Foods,” ICE said.
A disabled resident of Texas, unable to physically work, fought to receive Social Security disability payments “because an illegal alien was fraudulently using their identity and earning wages at Glenn Valley Foods,” ICE said.
The IRS required a Colorado resident to repay more than $5,000 after their income was falsely increased “due to an illegal alien stealing their identity and using it to work at Glenn Valley Foods,” ICE said.
A full-time nursing student in Missouri lost her college tuition assistance because it was fraudulently reported that they earned too much money; she was also unable to renew her driver’s license because “an illegal alien at Glenn Valley Foods was using her Social Security number for employment,” ICE said. The victim was only able to renew her driver’s license after HSI contacted the Department of Motor Vehicles confirming an illegal foreign national not only stole her identity but had multiple unpaid traffic violations.
A California resident has been working for nearly 15 years “to regain their identity and fix the financial damage done by an illegal alien who was working at Glenn Valley Foods,” ICE said.
“The criminals who stole these identities didn’t just break the law, they upended lives,” Zito said. “These victims aren’t faceless statistics; they’re real people who are being denied healthcare and have lost educational opportunities.”
Despite Americans being harmed by Glenn Valley Foods employees, protestors actively attempted to block federal law enforcement officers from executing lawful orders. Initially, four protestors were arrested for allegedly attacking them. Overall, five were charged, including two with using a deadly or dangerous weapon to assault, resist or impede a federal officer, which carries a sentence of 20 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney announced.
DHS later announced a Venezuelan national and alleged TdA member was arrested and charged with attempted murder of special agents in Bellevue, Nebraska, after throwing an ICE agent to the ground, slamming her head on the pavement, ripping off her body armor, and making “repeated and physical violent contact,” The Center Square reported.
“Assaulting a law enforcement officer engaged in their lawful duties or damaging government property is not protected under the First Amendment – it is a criminal offense which we will investigate and apprehend those responsible,” FBI Omaha Field Office Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel said. A Homeland Security task force in the region is working to protect Americans “by eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations operating in Nebraska and Iowa,” he said.
Multiple investigations are ongoing.
