Dairy Operation Raided, Owner Unhappy

A large dairy farm in central North Dakota was raided by federal agents yesterday a raid that re...  More »

A large dairy farm in central North Dakota was raided by federal agents yesterday a raid that resulted in the arrest of 13 workers who are charged with being in the country illegally. But the owner of Sandhills Dairy says the tactics used by the agents were over the top. Abby Wuellner reports from near Towner... This Dairy Farm west of Towner looks much different now than it did a week ago. Equipment that usually operates at a steady hum sits idle, while Mike Zimmerman, the diary's operator, struggles to grasp all that has transpired in the past several hours. Yesterday morning at about 8:00, we got a call from our daughter, and she was hysterical. (Abby Wuellner, KX News) A sign at the entrance to the Sandhills Dairy welcomes visitors. But on Tuesday morning, authorities parked their cars in front of all of the entrances, and made sure no visitors were welcomed in, and no one walked out. (Zimmerman) They just had everything locked down on the dairy. With the help of the Highway Patrol and the McHenry County Sheriff's Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcementarmed with a criminal search warrantraided the dairy, and arrested thirteen workers on charges of being in the country illegally. Tim Counts represents the agency, and spoke with us over the phone. (Tim Counts, Immigration and Customs Enforcement) When we find evidence of wrongdoing, we pursue it. And our investigation led us to the Sandhills Dairy Farm yesterday, and resulted in the arrest of 13 people. But the means by which authorities went about arresting the twelve men and one woman have left Zimmerman frustrated. He says the arresting officers broke down doors, drew guns, and even pulled his son out of the shower to handcuff him. If they would have come to the office and asked for whatever documentation, we would have given them whatever documentation. However, authorities defend the actions they took on April 10. The actions of our agents and every law enforcement officer yesterday were entirely appropriate and fully within the law. Counts also says the investigation is ongoing, so no one knows at this point whether the dairy operators will face charges. But for the time being, Zimmerman says he's focused on the task at handkeeping the facility functional. We tried to get the cows milked, at least this morning. We're feeding the calves, trying to get the livestock taken care of. And he hopes with the help of some volunteers and a quick hiring process, the machinery that now sits idle in front of the facility will be back to its standard hum in the next few days. Near Towner, Abby Wuellner, KX News. Zimmerman says he's now operating a dairy with 700 head of cattle with a staff of about half what it was two days ago. Twelve of those arrested are from Mexico, and one from Guatemala. Zimmerman says to his knowledge, each of the employees had presented proper documentation at the time each was hired.  « Less