BEAN STATION, Tenn. — Nearly five years after an ICE raid at a Bean Station meat processing plant, nearly 100 people affected will receive part of a more than $1 million settlement from a lawsuit that alleged unreasonable seizures, arrests and use of force by federal agents.
On April 5, 2018, federal immigration agents detained roughly 100 people at the Grainger County meatpacking plant. Since then, many people left the U.S. and several were deported.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough gave final approval to the more than $1 million settlement that he gave preliminary approval to back on Sept. 9.
The U.S. government agreed to pay $475,000 total to six plaintiffs in the case, and two of the plaintiffs will receive nearly $37,000 each for individual claims.
The settlement provided $150,000 to pay for attorney fees and expenses to be split evenly between the Southern Poverty Law Center and National Immigration Law Center. The U.S. also agreed to defer ICE enforcement action on those plaintiffs as they apply to legally work in the country.
Another $550,000 of the settlement will be paid toward the Class Settlement Fund, in which any of the 95 people affected by the ICE raid would be able to receive between $5,000 and $6,000. As part of the settlement, the class members can also request to receive a letter from ICE confirming their membership in the class that can be included in applications for immigration relief.
“Today, justice was served to the Latinx workers, and their community, who took a stand against federal agents targeting them because of their ethnicity,” said Meredith Stewart, senior supervising attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center's Immigrant Justice Project. “The unprecedented, court-approved settlement demonstrates that we, as a nation, will not tolerate racial profiling. That type of policing goes against not only our rights but also our values. We look forward to the workers receiving the relief the settlement provides.”