Illegal immigration prosecutions pic

To date, 47 of the 119 indicted illegal aliens have pleaded guilty, with several others indicating their intent to plead guilty. Of those who have already pleaded guilty, 26 admitted to fraudulently using the Social Security Number of an American citizen. The other 21 of these illegal aliens have pleaded guilty to unlawfully reentering the United States after having been previously deported or removed.

Prosecutions have been made in cases involving 119 illegal aliens by the U.S. Attorney’s Office since the execution of multiple federal criminal and administrative search warrants at seven sites across Mississippi on Aug. 7.

Several sites, including PECO Foods in Bay Springs, were raided by ICE and other entities on Aug. 7. The story made national news as the raids were conducted and following in the days afterward. (See related posts below for previous stories associated with the August raids.)

The federal indictments charged the defendants with crimes ranging from misusing social security numbers of American citizens, to fraudulently claiming to be a U.S. Citizen, to falsifying immigration documents, to reentering the United States after having been previously deported or removed.

To date, 47 of the 119 indicted illegal aliens have pleaded guilty, with several others indicating their intent to plead guilty. Of those who have already pleaded guilty, 26 admitted to fraudulently using the Social Security Number of an American citizen. The other 21 of these illegal aliens have pleaded guilty to unlawfully reentering the United States after having been previously deported or removed.

The remaining have been charged with these same crimes, as well as some charged with falsely claiming to be a United States Citizen and making false statements in immigration documents.

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U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, U.S. Southern District

“Americans have been directly harmed by the theft of their identities, resulting in citizens not being able to get loans or credit cards, obtain health insurance, and perform other basic activities,” U.S. Attorney Michael Hurst said. “Every single one of the 680 aliens arrested in August broke our nation’s laws by coming to our country illegally. Turning a blind eye to their illegal acts would not be fair to our nation, their victims, or the millions of naturalized American citizens who waited years and meticulously followed the process by which to become an American. It is our job in the U.S. Attorney’s Office to enforce our federal laws equitably and fairly, and we have done so, and (we) will continue to vigorously do so, protecting all Americans and ensuring the national security and sovereignty of our country is upheld.”