Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Ohio pulled off the largest workplace raid the region had seen in over a decade.
Khaalid Walls, ICE spokesman for the Northeastern region (Ohio, Mich., N.Y.) confirmed to the Washington Examiner that officers arrested 114 individuals at two different Corso’s Flower and Garden Centers. one in Sandusky and the other in Castalia.
The operation begain at 7:00 am Tuesday morning and lasted until late in the evening.
Most of the 114 arrested were Mexican nationals, and Walls added that ICE began investigating the centers in October 2017 after a series of tips.
Steve Francis, the special agent in charge of the operation, wanted to make clear to local business owners that “if your business is operating legitimately, there’s nothing to fear.”
“If you are hiring illegal aliens as a business model,,” he continued, “we will identify you, arrest you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
The raid was made public the same day as new data from Customs and Border Protection showed a 1.9 percent bump in border apprehensions in May, making it the third consecutive month to bear such a trend.
Additionally, border apprehensions were up 160 percent from May 2017.
