'They were part of our family': Illegal worker accused of pulling box cutters on ICE agents during raid on meatpacking plant

A raid on a meatpacking facility in Nebraska led to nearly half of the workforce being apprehended by immigration agents.

Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha saw 107 of its employees targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agentsl; 70 eventually were detained by ICE regarding their immigration status.

Some of the illegal workers took extreme measures in an attempt to evade the sweep. One allegedly threatened federal agents.

'These are good, good people. They really truly are, and they’re part of our family.'

Some of the meatpacking employees hid in rafters of the building, which is located in an industrial area. Other workers hid in walk-in freezers and required emergency medical assistance to check for any immediate safety concerns, NewsNation reported.

One man took it upon himself to allegedly threaten federal agents with box cutters when they attempted to remove him from a wall compartment into which he had apparently barricaded himself.

The man is now facing charges for assaulting a federal officer.

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An ICE agent told NewsNation that the civil search warrant was executed due to "fake IDs, fraudulent IDs, or some type of combination of IDs that weren't real" among workers at the facility.

However, Glenn Valley Foods President Chad Hartmann mourned the exodus of his illegal workers, saying some had worked there for more than 15 years.

"There's no playbook" on how to move forward, Hartmann told NBC News. The company president then compared hiring new employees to replace the illegal workers to replacing a family member.

"They were part of our family, and they were taken away," Hartmann said.

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According to NewsNation, Glenn Valley Foods owner Gary Rohwer said he used the government's E-Verify system to check the status of his employees, but claimed he was deceived by those who used stolen identities.

"I don't understand why in the hell they were using false ID when they can get a visa," Rohwer said, according to NewsNation. "I was dumbfounded. These are good, good people. They really truly are, and they’re part of our family."

A federal agent told the outlet that Rohwer was indeed a "victim" of workers presenting fraudulent documents and that the government hoped to teach the company how to better process potential hires.

The business owner is not facing charges.

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