It was only 19 degrees that morning a year ago when the federal agents arrived at the north Greeley packing plant.

On that cold morning, while it was still semi-dark, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents moved in, wearing black jackets with “ICE” printed on the back. They came in buses and quietly surrounded the Swift & Co. plant on north 8th Avenue, and then began the coordinated raid at 7:25 a.m.

The repercussions of that raid, the unfinished cases, the lack of follow-up to the federal investigations and the anger from the local Latino and Anglo communities continue.

On that morning almost a year ago, five other Swift meat plants across the country were hit in raids in Nebraska, Texas, Iowa, Minnesota and Utah. In all, 1,282 Swift employees were arrested.

Almost immediately, word got out of the Greeley raid. Family members swarmed to the plant, standing outside the locked fence gates shouting at ICE agents, shouting at their family members who were being led—in handcuffs and chains—to the buses inside the fence.

When the buses filled with prisoners, they drove out of the gates, while families cried and screamed. The detained prisoners would be held at the federal facility in Denver. By 11:30 a.m.—four hours after the raid began, the last of the prisoners were gone.

About noon, the ICE agents left. The crowd stayed another two hours before they dispersed and went home.

The impact of that raid in Greeley hit the city like a bad storm. In the coming months, the plant would close for a few days, losing millions in revenue; then-mayor Tom Selders traveled to Washington, D.C. to tell of the impact of the raids on Greeley. That trip to the capital would come back in the election campaign and, in part, cost Selders the election last month.

Local churches, charities and volunteers stepped up to help the families left behind by the arrests.

When Swift reopened, the jobs filled quickly, and the company said it would do a better job of checking Social Security numbers and ID papers. Months later, Swift sold the plant to JBS S.A., a Brazilian meatpacking company, and although the sale was not related to the ICE raids, the new company admitted it has been difficult to find employees for additional shifts.

But the raid and its results created a deep rift in Greeley between the cultures. Both Latinos and Anglos complained and praised the raids. Some say the rift was already there, but the raid, arrests and deportations merely fanned the flames.

It’s been a year since the raid hit Greeley, grabbing the national spotlight.

Of the 262 who were arrested in Greeley that day, most were deported to Mexico through the ICE offices in Denver. Eighteen were kept in Greeley and booked into the Weld County Jail to face charges of identity theft and fraud. Of those, 11 were charged, and seven had their charges dismissed if they agreed to testify in future trials. Those trials never came.

“The people who had their charges dismissed agreed to testify for the federal charges against Swift,” Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck said. “But ICE dropped the ball.”

Buck said his office had enough evidence to go after employees higher up in the Swift organization, but it was in the federal jurisdiction. ICE and federal officials decided not to prosecute.

“It was a great injustice that higher-up people at Swift were not prosecuted,” Buck said.

Latino leader Ricardo Romero, project coordinator for Al Frente de Lucha in Greeley, said the cases are still plaguing many of the people who were arrested that day and released on bond.

“We have 26 families who have members out on bond,” Romero said Friday. “They can’t leave because they have to be available for court. They can’t work, and some of them can’t go to court for seven more months.”

Carl Rusnok, director of communications and spokesman for ICE, said of the 262 arrested a year ago, 132 have been returned to Mexico or other countries; seven have become fugitives from justice, not appearing for court dates or leaving the jurisdiction without permission. The rest—123—are still awaiting immigration hearings. One of those people has an appeal before the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Romero said the families that remain in Greeley don’t want to talk to the media, fearing repercussions.

Almost everyone involved in the raids said some of the deported people have likely returned to Greeley.

“But if they are found again,” Buck said, “they will go to jail.”

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