OMAHA, Nebraska — The waiting area of Glenn Valley Foods buzzed with activity on Thursday afternoon, just two days after the meatpacking facility experienced the largest worksite immigration raid in Nebraska this year. Prospective employees filled every seat, diligently working on job applications, while others attended training sessions.
The influx of hopeful job seekers, many of whom spoke Spanish, provided a sense of optimism for the company’s president, Chad Hartmann. This optimism arrived amidst the upheaval following Tuesday’s raid, which resulted in the arrest of approximately half of his workforce. These employees had been integral to the company, which has specialized in processing boxed beef for over 15 years.
Hartmann, who had never witnessed such a raid before, shared with NBC News that he is learning that there is “no playbook” for recovery in the aftermath. He described the difficulty of re-hiring new staff, equating it to replacing a family member. “You cannot, in my mind,” Hartmann stated. “They were part of our family, and they were taken away.”
On Tuesday morning, federal immigration authorities arrested 76 individuals working at Glenn Valley Foods, according to an email from the Department of Homeland Security to NBC News. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency confirmed that these arrests were linked to a federal search warrant related to a probe into “the large-scale employment of aliens without legal work authorization.”
As of Friday night, no criminal charges had been filed against those detained during the operation. A small number had already been deported or moved out of state, while at least 63 others were held at the Lincoln County Detention Center. Sheriff Jerome Kramer reported that none of the detainees were identified as “violent offenders,” expressing his intention to assist them in navigating their work status and reuniting them with their families or employers.