Because San Diego correspondent Elliot Spagat received a tip that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were planning massive raids on food processing plants, AP was uniquely positioned – literally – when ICE stormed seven Mississippi chicken processing plants and arrested 680 people, the largest workplace raid in a decade.
ICE acting Director Matthew Albence said the next day that the investigation was so secret that even the White House didn’t know.
In following up on the tip, Spagat, leader of the U.S. immigration beat team, had discussed a coverage plan with editors in the South region. He was initially told the raids were going to be in New Orleans but subsequent reporting quickly clarified they would be in Jackson, Mississippi, causing everyone to shift gears. Timing of the early-morning raids was challenging with Mississippi’s primary elections falling the night before. The AP worked on getting unfettered access in the weeks leading up to the raid but encountered pushback from some nervous officials as we discreetly tried to learn as much as we could about the yearlong investigation. South editors, working with Spagat, put final touches on the coverage plan as Mississippi voters were casting ballots.
Handcuffed workers await transportation to a processing center following a raid by U.S. immigration officials at the Koch Foods poultry plant in Morton, Miss., Aug. 7, 2019.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
A man is taken into custody as U.S. immigration agents raid the Koch Foods processing plant in Morton, Miss., Aug. 7, 2019.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
Friends, coworkers and family members watch as U.S. immigration officials raid seven Mississippi food processing plants, including this Koch Foods plant in Morton, Miss., Aug. 7, 2019.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
Friends, coworkers and family members talk among themselves as they watch U.S. immigration officials raid the Koch Foods processing plant in Morton, Miss., Aug. 7, 2019.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
A trailer loaded with chickens passes a federal agent during an immigration raid at the Koch Foods processing plant in Morton, Miss., Aug. 7, 2019.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
A federal agent searches the trunk of an auto leaving the employee parking lot during an immigration raid at the Koch Foods processing plant in Morton, Miss., Aug. 7, 2019.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
Left: A handcuffed woman stares though the chain link fencing at the Koch Foods processing plant, in Morton, Miss., Aug. 7, 2019, as U.S. immigration agents raided seven Mississippi food processing plants on Wednesday, arresting 680 people. Center: A federal agent searches a man during the raid a Koch Foods Inc. Right: A young woman cries for her mother as she stands outside the Koch Foods processing plant following the early morning raid.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
Friends, coworkers and family members watch as U.S. immigration officials raid the Koch Foods processing plant in Morton, Miss., Aug. 7, 2019.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
A Koch Foods employee reacts to an early morning immigration sweep of undocumented workers at the processing plant in Morton, Miss., Aug. 7, 2019.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
A young woman cries outside the Koch Foods processing plant as U.S. immigration officials raid the plant in Morton, Miss., Aug. 7, 2019.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
Domingo Candelaria, a registered immigrant, shows federal agents his identification as he prepares to leave the Koch Foods poultry processing plant in Morton, Miss., following a raid by U.S. immigration officials, Aug. 7, 2019.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
Handcuffed women are escorted into a bus for transportation to a processing center following a raid by U.S. immigration officials at a Koch Foods poultry plant in Morton, Miss., Aug. 7, 2019.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
Friends, coworkers and family members wave to one of several buses filled with detainees following immigration raids at several Mississippi food processing plants, including this Koch Foods poultry processing plant in Morton, Miss., Aug. 7, 2019.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
Business continues at this Koch Foods poultry plant in Morton, Miss., Aug. 8, 2019, as chickens are shipped in for processing one day after a raid by U.S. immigration officials.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
Jesse Van Fleet, left, helps Jasmine Ward and Myles Wright, 5, unload donated items for the pantry at the Carlisle Crisis Center in Forest, Miss., Aug. 8, 2019. The center said they would need more food items to help out the families affected by the fallout of the previous day’s raid by U.S. immigration officials at poultry plants in neighboring Morton.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
A Latino youth wears a t-shirt that has “American” written on the back at a Spanish Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Canton, Miss., Aug. 11, 2019. Churches have been key to providing spiritual, emotional and material aid to workers and their families following immigration raids at seven Mississippi poultry plants.
AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis
The careful sleuthing and planning put AP way ahead of all local and national media outlets in the speed and depth of the report. Jackson photographer Rogelio V. Solis, working on only a few hours rest, was the only journalist on scene when about 600 agents simultaneously hit the plants, positioning himself at a facility in Morton, Mississippi. Solis documented the confusion and panic, while Jackson reporter Jeff Amy, also working on little rest, got an exclusive tour of the military hangar that became a processing center, as well as an exclusive interview with Albence in which he disclosed the arrest count before his news conference. The APNewsAlert announcing the count was minutes ahead of everyone else.
Amy and Solis followed up in subsequent days with stories about terrified residents unwilling to leave their houses for fear of arrest, how nearly half those arrested had been released and how churches were stepping in to help families of those affected. Text and photos worked closely on the coverage. Solis used his Spanish language skills to interview immigrants who didn’t speak English, and his contributions were integral to the text report. It was also a good example of a national beat team working with staff on the ground in a state.
Solis was the only journalist on scene the day of the raids. Weeks of sleuthing and planning put AP way ahead of all local and national media outlets in the speed and depth of coverage.
The stories received monster play. For example: The first-day story had 3 million social interactions by the next morning. Photos were used by many major customers, including The New York Times and USA Today. The stories were mentioned on the widely read Axios AM and Amy was interviewed on NPR’s Morning Edition.
For scoring scoops on a major ICE operation, Spagat, Amy and Solis are the winners of this week’s Best of the States honors.