Chairman of the committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson said, “Communities are living in fear because of the manner these raids were conducted.” Thompson, a Tougaloo alumnus, led the hearing along with Democratic Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green from Texas and Steve Cohen in Tennessee. 680 chicken workers were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Mississippi on Aug. 7. Two panels of experts were questioned by the committee about their experiences and how they dealt with the aftermath. Jere Miles (ICE special agent from New Orleans Field Office), Scott County Sheriff Mike Lee, and Canton Mayor William Truly Jr. sat on one panel. Miles was the only panelist to defend the operation in a room full of affected family members and community members. He was seated to his right by Sheriff Mike Lee who claimed he wasn’t given any notice prior to the raids. Miles replied that ICE did not have a policy regarding giving advance notice to local authorities when Committee members pressed him on this point. Miles supported the arrests as Thompson and Sheila Jackson Lee continued to press Miles. Rep. Lee stated that “to date, it is my understanding that no major crime has been solved, except the immediacy immigration laws but no major offenses out of the 680 people who were taken.” Miles responded, “Four hundred cases identity theft, ma’am.” Thompson intervened and told Miles to relax. Miles replied, “I am calm.” Thompson replied, “Well then be calm,” which was met with applause by the crowd. Miles agreed with Rep. Lee’s point that no “major criminal syndicate” was being detained. Green highlighted one of Miles’ replies, that none the employers at the poultry farms have been charged. “Mr. Miles, if the employees are present and they have an E Verify system, and you are going to arrest them, then you have evidence that employers are also violating the law.” Green stated. “You stated that you want to remove the economic incentives (of moving to the U.S.), and that you will do this by going in and taking undocumented people and having them do perp walks, but you don’t have perp walks for the employers,” Green said. Cliff Johnson, the MacArthur Justice Center director, and the Rev. Odel Medina is the pastor at St. Anne Catholic Church, Carthage. Constance Slaughter Harvey is the president of Legacy Education and Empowerment Foundation. Lorena Quiroz, who is the organizer of Working Together Mississippi and Mississippi immigration Coalition, was also present. Quiroz spoke about her experience consulting families affected by the tragedy of finding bilingual trauma counselors in Mississippi. She said that the kids she spoke to were teased in class, even after their parents had been taken. Johnson, who was an ex-assistant attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office said that the raid was a “shocking use” of resources. 600 federal agents were used to arrest 680 persons. Johnson stated that the raid could not have been avoided because it did not serve a substantial federal purpose. U.S. attorney Mike Hurst also announced that 119 detainees were being prosecuted. These indictments include misusing social security numbers, falsely claiming to have been citizens, falsifying immigration documents and reentering America after having been deported or removed. 47 of the 119 indicted have pleaded guilty._x000D