North Dakota: Officials arrest 13 immigrants at dairy

TOWNER (AP) - Immigration officials say 13 employees at a dairy here have been arrested on charges of being in the country illegally. A government spokesman and U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley denied the dairy operator's allegations that officers used unnecessary force.Mike Zimmerman, who operates the Sandhills Dairy, estimated about 50 officers were on the scene Tuesday. He said they displayed weapons, kicked down doors and handcuffed his son and employees. Officers also handcuffed a longtime friend of his, held a gun to his head and asked for his birth certificate, Zimmerman said."It's an unbelievable, frustrating and humiliating experience," Zimmerman said of the raid.Wrigley and Tim Counts, a spokesman for federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said Wednesday that officers did not hold a gun to anyone's head.
"That is a preposterous allegation and that's false," Counts said. The officers "acted with professionalism and fully within the law," he said.Wrigley said Zimmerman was "throwing around baseless claims that are completely false."

"Not a single individual received so much as a scratch," he said.Counts said 36 officers were on the scene, including Border Patrol agents and agents from the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the McHenry County sheriff's office and the Highway Patrol. He said Zimmerman's son was "briefly handcuffed because he was uncooperative and belligerent," but quickly calmed down.

Wrigley said officers did have to force their way into some buildings on the dairy farm but that they did so professionally.

"That is not only their right when armed with a federal search warrant. It is their obligation to search and secure the premises," he said.

Those arrested Tuesday included 12 men and one woman, Counts said. One of the workers is from Guatemala and the rest are from Mexico, he said.

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