Dragnet for Illegal Workers

Miscues and poor planning in a search for scapegoats

Anthony Spinale, owner of G& T Terminal Packing, Inc., in New York City, was startled when armed agents from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) burst through the door last Monday. "They came in like Jesse James, covering this door, covering that door," Spinale said. "I thought it was a holdup." The agents arrested 18 of Spinale's workers, who had been packing fruits and vegetables for grocery-store produce counters, and took them away. Reason: the INS thought they might be illegal aliens.

Across the...