By Molly Ashford, Nebraska Public Media
Four people accused of interfering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as they left the Glenn Valley Foods meatpacking plant after an ICE raid last week made their first appearances in federal court on Monday.
After 76 employees were detained during the June 10 raid on the Omaha meatpacking plant, protesters and family members attempted to stop law enforcement vehicles from leaving the area. Three people face federal misdemeanor charges of interfering with law enforcement and damaging government property, while a man accused of breaking out a vehicle’s window with a rock faces multiple felonies.
Those charged with misdemeanors are alleged to have impeded officers by jumping on top of law enforcement vehicles as they attempted to leave the scene. Two of the three are also accused of misdemeanor property damage for kicking and throwing rocks at vehicles.
Osmar Lorenzo-Genchi, 20, was a Glenn Valley Foods employee and is the only protester to face felony charges. He faces one count of assaulting or impeding officers using a dangerous or deadly weapon – a rock – and destruction of government property exceeding $1,000. Both are felonies.
At initial appearances Monday afternoon, Lorenzo-Genchi and the three people charged with misdemeanors opted to continue their detention hearings to later in the week. Prosecutors are asking a judge to keep all four behind bars pending trial.
Lorenzo-Genchi, a U.S. citizen, was working in the production area of Glenn Valley when the raid occurred. The complaint said he was handcuffed during the raid because he was “agitated” and “shouting profanities and racial slurs” at officers. After ICE officers determined that Lorenzo-Genchi is a citizen, they escorted him off the property, where he remained until federal agents left the scene.
According to court documents, Lorenzo-Genchi was part of a group of people who stood in front of a vehicle occupied by U.S. Marshals as it attempted to leave the area following the raid. The complaint further alleges that he struck the driver’s side mirror of the vehicle with his fists, bent a rear windshield wiper and shattered the passenger side window of a law enforcement vehicle with a rock.
A GoFundMe for Lorenzo-Genchi’s family said his mother was also a Glenn Valley employee who was detained during the raid. She remains in custody at the Lincoln County Jail in North Platte, according to jail records.
Prosecutors seek pretrial detention
In a Tuesday morning detention hearing that lasted about 30 minutes, federal prosecutors argued that a man charged with misdemeanor interference and property damage should be held in custody pending trial.
For a person to be held in pretrial detention, prosecutors must prove that they are more likely than not to pose a threat to the safety of the community and/or a flight risk. There is no bail, in the typical sense, in federal court. Defendants are either held in custody ahead of trial or released on conditions, like GPS monitoring.
Justin Temperly, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations who was present at the raid, testified for prosecutors at the hearing. He said officers became aware that there were protesters showing up in the area around 10:30-11 a.m., and they began wrapping things up inside to leave.
Temperly said the man was recorded on video “mounting the hood” of law enforcement vehicles and “shoulder checking” them as the vehicles attempted to leave Glenn Valley Foods. He also said the man drove his pickup truck in front of law enforcement vehicles in an attempt to block them.
Prosecutors argued that the nature of the case “speaks for itself” in regards to danger, and said the man has a history of failing to appear in state court. David Domina, a high-profile trial attorney retained by the man, said there is “really no evidence” to suggest that the man is a flight risk. Domina said his client has a history of failing to register his vehicle, but little recent criminal history beyond that.
“I just don’t think there’s any evidence here that meets the burden of proving that this gentleman needs to be detained,” Domina told the judge.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Ryan Carson deferred making a decision on detention until he can gather more information from the pretrial services office, which had not yet met with the defendant at the time of the hearing. Carson will likely issue a written order in the coming days.
Detention hearings for Lorenzo-Genchi and the other two people charged with misdemeanors are scheduled for Wednesday.
Most detainees remain in Nebraska
Of the 76 people arrested during the Glenn Valley raid, 63 were transported to the Lincoln County Jail on the evening of June 12, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Jerome Kramer.
“They will be held here while they work through the process of having hearings to determine their futures as eligible workers in the United States,” Kramer said in a press release.
Kramer said Monday that none of the 63 people have been released from custody, but a couple have been transferred to other facilities, which he said is “pretty common.”
A statement from Tanya Roman, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said three Mexican citizens “voluntarily returned” to Mexico on an ICE Air flight that departed on June 11. Three Guatemalan citizens with prior removal orders were also transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana for future deportation proceedings, she said.
It isn’t clear where the seven people who are not accounted for on the ICE flight or in the Lincoln County Jail are being held, or if they have been released. In a Monday statement, Roman declined to provide specifics, but said some people detained who “either had legal basis to work in the United States or special circumstances such as significant medical conditions or sole caregiver responsibilities” have been released from custody.
“The total number of individuals in custody remains fluid as determinations continue to be made on a variety of factors such as individual immigration proceedings or other pending legal actions,” Roman said.
It also isn’t clear how many people currently in custody will now face federal charges. Roman previously said “many” of those detained may face charges relating to using false documents to gain employment. As of Tuesday, only one person had been charged with a document-related crime.
Guadalupe Cabrera Mejia, a Glenn Valley employee accused of felony misrepresentation of a Social Security number, also made her first appearance in federal court on Monday. Federal prosecutors allege she was using the Social Security number of a U.S. citizen who had previously reported identity theft to the Internal Revenue Service.
The complaint outlining the reason for Mejia’s arrest does provide some additional information about the investigation preceding the raid. Investigators with Homeland Security requested to inspect I-9 employment forms and identification documents from Glenn Valley Foods employees in March, according to the complaint. They received information about 177 employees, and identified 107 of them as suspect.
At her initial appearance, Carson ordered Mejia to remain behind bars pending trial. Carson said ICE has placed a detainer on Mejia, which is often a precursor to deportation.
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