[JURIST] US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [official website] agents Tuesday arrested more than 300 people [ICE press release] suspected of being illegal aliens during an immigration sting at a Columbia Farms poultry processing plant in South Carolina. ICE officials said the raid was part of a 10-month criminal investigation into employment practices at Columbia Farms, which has already led to the filing of criminal charges against 12 upper-management employees. AP has more.

There have been several mass arrests of suspected illegal immigrants [JURIST news archive] in the US in recent months. In May, ICE arrested nearly 400 illegal immigrants [AP report] during an immigration sting at an Agriprocessors Inc. [corporate website] meatpacking plant in Iowa, in what federal officials then called the largest operation of its kind. Nearly 300 of those arrested were sentenced to five months in prison [JURIST report] and 27 more received probation after pleading guilty to the use of false immigration documents. Also in May, ICE arrested more than 900 illegal immigrants in California [ICE press release] during a three-week enforcement surge.