Word that Howard Industries didn’t pay suspected illegal immigrants sparked a protest Thursday when family members of those former workers found out.

Reports the company withheld pay to the 595 people suspected of being in the United States and working at the Laurel plant illegally up until a U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid Monday were unverified. But, Vicky Cintra with the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance said she was onsite to help the families receive money owed to the former employees, and she is prepared to involve the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service if the company still refuses to pay. Cintra said Howard Industries security personnel immediately called law enforcement when she intervened on behalf of the former employees.

“They were trying to remove me because I said I was representing them,” Cintra said. “They said they had nothing to say to me. I am their representation.”

Cintra said she has been involved with similar, but not as large cases, before. The raid on Howard Industries Monday was the largest such operation in United States history. Cintra said she has contacts with the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service and has no problem getting them involved. She said she helped recover $1.5 million in another instance.

“People are going to get paid anyway,” she said. “We’re going to come back and do a picket. Get that in the national news again.”

She also said that she’s not afraid of law enforcement because, she said, she knows laws and won’t do anything illegal.

“I’m not going to do anything stupid,” Cintra said. “I can’t do people good if I am in jail, but I am going to exercise my first amendment right.”

Howard Industries has not responded to several requests from the Laurel Leader-Call except for the original statement Monday (published Tuesday and available in full at www.leadercall.com). The Leader-Call did receive an e-mail from an employee Wednesday, saying the company would probably have a statement Thursday. However, the Leader-Call did receive what was reported to be a statement to customers Wednesday. Again, the report is unverified with Howard Industries officials, but the document was on Howard Industries, Inc. Distribution Transformer Division letterhead.

The document reads, “ Statement Regarding the Events of August 25, 2008:

“Howard Industries has always conducted its hiring practices in strict compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations. It is the policy of Howard Industries to hire only U.S. citizens or those who have legal authorization to work in the U.S. We have not knowingly hired anyone who was not legally authorized to work in the U.S. Our Personnel Department uses every legal means possible to verify legal status, including the E-Verify system and fingerprinting. Prior to the availability of E-Verify, the company required Social Security matching to verify legal status, both systems being supplied by agencies of the federal government. Howard Industries has done nothing wrong and has not been charged.

“We know you have heard that on Monday, August 25, 2008, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted an enforcement operation at our Laurel Distribution Transformer Facility and our Ellisville Headquarters Facility. ICE completed their operation late Monday evening. ICE detained approximately 595 employees – some have already been released. Some of those detained possessed documentation but did not have it on their person at the time.During the course of their operation ICE agents forced us to discontinue our manufacturing processes for that day although our shipping operations were allowed to continue.Our employees were not allowed to use our e-mail system or company telephones.

“Manufacturing operations were restarted at our Laurel Facility on regular shifts Tuesday morning with the remainder of our 3000-plus work force. We began an immediate testing and hiring program to replace transformer production employees who may not be returning to work. We anticipate being fully staffed within one week.

“Howard Industries pays all of its production employees according to the same pay scale, and all production employees receive the same benefits. Payroll taxes are withheld and paid for all manufacturing employees in accordance with applicable tax rates.

“Howard Industries will be in full production by the end of this week. We anticipate that all finished goods will be shipped as previously scheduled. We will provide regular status updates to our customers. Customers are encouraged to direct any questions or concerns to their assigned Howard Industries Sales Representative, who will give the necessary assistance.”