HOUSTON In what some legal observers speculate could be stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws, federal agents early Wednesday raided a Shipley Do-Nuts facility in Houston and arrested 20 workers suspected of being undocumented.
Officers in more than 50 federal and Harris County vehicles executed a search warrant at 5 a.m. at the Shipley manufacturing center, which makes dough for the 200-unit Shipley Do-Nuts chain. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 20 individuals, including some who apparently were living at the facility. One individual was a juvenile, authorities said.
Shipley Do-Nuts, which is headquartered in Houston and has units in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas, said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon: “Shipley Do-Nuts is a family-owned and -operated business with a 72-year history in the Houston area. It makes every effort to comply with very complicated immigration laws, and is currently cooperating with authorities in an ongoing investigation.”
The raid was believed to be the largest in the Houston area this year. On Wednesday morning, immigration agents also made arrests at a poultry plant in northern Arkansas as well as other raids in Georgia, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.