US Attorney Mike Hurst and the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Matt Albence, announced the indictments as the documents were unsealed Thursday, as originally reported by ABC News.
Their announcement happened a day before the one-year anniversary of the workplace enforcement operations in which 680 people were arrested at seven poultry plants in central Mississippi.
Hurst and Albence also scolded journalists for reports that focused on the arrests separating children from alien parents who were sent to detention centers.
None of the four people from the newly unsealed indictments were arrested on the day of the operations, said Hurst, who is the U.S. attorney for south Mississippi. He said they worked as managers, supervisors or human resources employees.
Hurst said journalists have failed to focus on the American victims of identity theft — people whose Social Security numbers have been falsely used by aliens working in the U.S. without proper documentation.
“The simple fact of the matter is, illegal aliens steal jobs of American citizens,” Hurst said. “And illegal aliens depress the wages of American citizens.”
Albence said last year's operations in Mississippi have brought 126 indictments, 117 criminal arrests and 17 convictions. Hurst said the investigation continues.
The chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, said in a statement Thursday that he's glad the Trump administration, a year later, is bringing criminal charges against employers and plant managers.
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