July 24, 2006

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided the Petit Jean poultry plant in Arkadelphia (Clark County) just before 7:30 a.m., arresting 119 illegal alien workers and leaving about thirty children without parental custody. Immigration raids in Arkansas (some of which have attracted national attention) on factories and other businesses have forced many illegal immigrants to be clandestine or move to other states. Another raid occurred on August 23, 2006, when ICE agents arrested eleven workers at the Country Club of Little Rock (Pulaski County). Many Latinos are afraid that their deportation may sever family ties with their children born in the United States.