Location of most of 55 immigrants in ICE raid unclear

Two days after 55 people were detained in multiple raids at Mississippi restaurants, the charges against them are not known, nor is their location, and their future is uncertain.

Fifty-five undocumented workers were detained Wednesday as a result of federal criminal search warrants, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Thomas Byrd.

The search warrants stemmed from a year-long investigation, Byrd said. He referred all questions regarding the nature of the warrants to the Department of Justice.

The Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment.

Immigration attorney Abby Peterson, of Peterson & Elmore, said it appears at least three of the 55 detained were "casualties."

"Based on the knowledge we have, it seems like these are casualties," Peterson said. "In a criminal investigation, these guys were bystanders. That's what it seems, but we don’t know."

Byrd said all of those detained Wednesday are in ICE custody but would not give their exact location. He would not give specifics on those taken into custody, including gender, but did say all of them were restaurant employees.

An immediate breakdown of how many people were detained at each restaurant was not available.

According to Byrd, each of the 55 detainees "should have already been afforded the opportunity to speak with a lawyer."

Immigration attorney Jeremy Litton, also with Elmore & Peterson, is representing three of the detainees.

All three are men from Guatemala, including an 18-year-old who has been in the process of becoming a permanent U.S. resident, Litton said.

Charges against those clients, as well as possible hearing dates, are unknown.

"We haven't seen charging documents," he said. "As far as charges with this raid, I don't know."

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Byrd said each of the hearings would be held where the person was detained.

Litton said his three clients are being held at the LaSalle Detention Facility in Jena, Louisiana.

When reporters attempted to speak with employees at the LaSalle Detention Facility as well as the Pine Prairie Correctional Center, another ICE detention center in Louisiana, they were referred to The GEO Group.

The GEO Group, a for-profit prison operator, runs both Louisiana facilities. It also previously ran private prisons in Mississippi that faced federal scrutiny about conditions and staffing.

In an emailed response, The GEO Group referred all questions to ICE. It did not respond to questions regarding the number of detainees in both facilities.

ICE has an online detainee locator on its website; however, the names of those detained in the raids has not been made public. The location for the other 52 isn't known.

Litton said with a possible influx of 55 people at LaSalle, the 1,160-bed facility would be backed up, potentially pushing back hearing dates.

"If you get 55 people there, all of a sudden out of the blue, there’s no telling when bond hearings would be scheduled, much less when they have a non-custody hearing scheduled as well," he said.

Litton's 18-year-old client, whom he would not name, has previously come in contact with Homeland Security. The teen was apprehended coming into the United States from Guatemala when he was 17. He was then placed in a refugee resettlement camp. He will turn 19 on Saturday.

Litton said, to his knowledge, outside of their undocumented status, none of his three clients has any prior criminal history.

"These are not criminals, these are people who have done the immigration equivalent of getting a speeding ticket," he said. "Everybody has gotten a speeding ticket. A great majority of the undocumented people in the country are doing what these guys are doing. They’re going to work every day and trying to provide for their families and they got caught in a speed trap."

The majority of restaurants affected were part of the Ichiban chain of Chinese restaurants, Byrd said. The raids occurred in Jackson, Flowood, Pearl and Meridian.

A sign outside Ichiban Chinese Buffet in Flowood on Friday advertised for "dishwashers and buffet bar helpers."

The sign cautioned customers "due to short staff there will be delays on refilling the buffet food."

Management on scene on Friday would not comment.

A China Buffett in Pearl was also a target of the Wednesday search warrants.

China Buffet II and Sake Sushi were the two Meridian restaurants involved, according to The Meridian Star.

Byrd would not say what evidence was collected from the scenes, citing an ongoing investigation.

Kristin Askelson with The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette, Louisiana, contributed to this report.

Contact Sarah Fowler at 601-961-7303 or sfowler@gannett.com . Follow her on Facebook and Twitter