One of the main reasons IBP may be so competitive is the type of workers it employs. On July 29, 1996, INS agents arrived at the plant in Waterloo and took 26 suspected illegal workers off the production line. After being taken off the line the workers were then questioned by officials about their immigration status. The 26 workers were taken into custody where they were put in a holding area away from other inmates at the Black Hawk County Jail. IBP spokesman Gary Mickelson said, "The removal was conducted in cooperation with IBP." He went on to say, "We've known for a number of weeks that this was going to take place." IBP officials claimed they did not know that the workers were illegal. They went on to say that they do all they can to verify the legal status of the people they have working for them; however, most of the suspects presented plant officials with what appeared to be valid documents. IBP's Vice President of Human Resources Ken Kimbro said, "Some plant workers used false documents to obtain employment." He also added, "We have no desire to employ people who are in this country illegally." The initial raid of IBP seemed to strike a chord in the community and the papers ran it as one of their big stories. Of the original 26 undocumented workers that were seized, 25 of them were arrested, while the other had charges pending against him because of juvenile status. The INS wanted to look tough when dealing with the first undocumented workers seized at the plant because it would then send the message to other illegal workers that they would be prosecuted. According to Michael Went, the INS deputy director of the Iowa-Nebraska district, it was important that undocumented workers not receive any mixed signals on the issue. Went added that it was important to send a message to those workers who were not arrested that they would be soon.

    Upon the time of their deportation many of the undocumented workers had lived in the Waterloo area for several years. Most of the undocumented workers were forced to leave the country less than a week after the raids had taken place and were only allowed to take what they could carry onto the plane with them. This forced many to leave behind items such as cars, stereos, and other large purchases that would be left in the hands of someone else. Perhaps the most disturbing thing about the deportations was the fact that many were forced to leave behind their families and friends in Waterloo while they were shipped back to Mexico.

    In trying to find more undocumented aliens at IBP, INS officials ran into some problems with community activists who were willing to defend the controversial workers. In late August 1996, U.S. Attorney Stephen Rapp sent letters to Hispanics at IBP urging them to surrender if they were in the country illegally. He drew criticism from Sandra Soto of the American Friends Service Committee, which is a branch of the Quakers; joining Soto in her criticism was Sister Kathleen Grace. Grace and Soto criticized Rapp because letters were only sent out to people with Hispanic surnames without regard to their immigration status. In his defense, Rapp claimed that all of the illegal workers found were Hispanic. Rapp went on to add that such letters are commonly sent out by his office to target people who may be here illegally. He also argued that it was necessary to send out letters to workers in order to sift through more than 170 employees whose records showed they may have been in the country illegally.  The use of letters was also a way the INS could discourage undocumented aliens from working at the plant. Since the initial raid of IBP on July 29, 1996, another raid had taken place on August 12, 1996, and this raid resulted in 26 more employees being taken from the plant. With a total of 52 undocumented aliens already found at the Waterloo plant, INS officials thought it would be easier to write letters to suspected undocumented workers rather than raid the plant again. The fact that Soto and Grace were willing to stand up for the Hispanic workers at IBP shows that many of these people were viewed as part of the community.