DENVER -- While Swift & Co. in Greeley is back in business after Tuesday's Immigrations and Customs Enforcement raid, questions remain about the hundreds of people who were arrested.

The Mexican government said about half of the detainees in Greeley and five other states are Mexican citizens.

Two days after the raids, those arrested for identity theft are starting to make their appearances in Weld County District Court.

In orange jumpsuits, handcuffed and shackled, three men and three women shuffled into court Thursday afternoon, some of them crying.

There is a sense of fear among the defendants about what their future holds, 7NEWS reported

Elsie Alvarado, whose sister is detained, cried when she saw her sister in court. She said that handcuffed and shackled, her sister looks like a criminal, but Alvarado said that she's not.

"Yes, she is scared with what's happening. Yes, she is really scared," said Cirillo Bartolo, whose daughter was arrested. "I don't know what's going to happen."

He hired an attorney to help with the situation, but he wishes he could do more.

"I am really worried. If I could change things, I would stay in her place," Bartolo said.

The attorney he hired, Robert McCormick, is representing 15-20 people who were arrested during the raid. He said in order to get jobs, some illegal immigrants use the Social Security number of a friend or family member who is a U.S. citizen, while others bought false identification.

"Many times, it's someone who has legal status -- a citizen or whatever -- who sells that paperwork time and time again. They often get off scot-free. And they've made a lot of money. It's the people who they sold it to who get in trouble," said McCormick.

A public defender was assigned to those who could not afford an attorney.

During the two-minute court proceeding, the judge advised the suspects that they face charges of forgery and criminal impersonation.

The defendants have been divided into groups for their advisement hearing. Some groups appeared Thursday morning, some Thursday afternoon and others will appear in court on Friday.

Five of the defendants on Thursday received a $30,000 bond. One of them had a $10,000 bond. But the bonds are more of a legal technicality because all of the suspects are in immigration hold so they cannot be released from jail.

Some 261 workers were detained there as part of the nation's largest-ever crackdown on workplace illegal immigration. Eleven of those are facing identity-theft or other criminal charges; the rest were detained on immigration violations.

To ease fears and answer questions from the community, the Mexican consulate will hold a meeting in Greeley Thursday night where immigration attorneys will answer questions.

Swift Says It Was Punished For Being Too Aggressive

Many people have wondered why Swift didn't do more to check the legal status of its workers.

Swift said it was fined in 2002 for allegedly acting too aggressively in verifying the work authorization status of new hires.

Swift employee Jack Shandley told a House Committee in September that Swift is "significantly limited in our ability to verify the identity of new employees."

We "can't ask for specific identification documents, can't ask for additional forms of identification and we can't refuse to accept any single, eligible, identification document," he said.

Meanwhile, court documents reveal that in October, Swift conducted employee interviews with about 450 "suspect" employees without notifying ICE officials. It did not identify the plants involved.

According to the documents, the company said it found that about 90 to 95 percent of the employees interviewed were either not who their identification records indicated they were or not legally eligible for U.S. employment.

"Over 400 illegal workers were terminated, self-terminated (quit) or did not show up for scheduled interviews and were fired," the documents stated. "Swift did not notify ICE. Neither Swift nor ICE knows where those 400 workers are now."

The interviews were ended by Nov. 17, at the insistence of ICE officials, according to the documents.

Mexico: Half Detained In Immigration Raids Are Mexicans

The Mexican government said that about 600 of the 1,282 meatpacking employees detained in immigration raids in several U.S. states are Mexicans, and called on U.S. authorities to temporarily release mothers detained in the raids so they can care for their U.S.-born children.

U.S. federal agents arrested immigrants at Greeley, Colo.-based Swift & Co. meat processing plants in six states Tuesday, after a nearly yearlong investigation revealed that illegal immigrants and others may have stolen or bought the identities and Social Security numbers of U.S. citizens and residents in order to work there.

"The Mexican government is requesting the provisional release of Mexican mothers apprehended in (Tuesday's) raid in the United States, so that they can care for their children born in that country," the Foreign Relations Department said in a press statement.

In other cases -- presumably those of mothers with Mexican-born children -- the department said it was working, with the help of U.S. community groups, to ensure those children placed in the care of relatives, or "in isolated cases," in the care of child welfare authorities.

The department said Mexican consular officials had interviewed many of the detainees, and offered to relay messages to relatives worried about their whereabouts.

It was unclear how many of the detainees might face criminal charges in the United States, or be sent back to Mexico.

Other Workers Angry

Hundreds of workers are back at work at Swift but some -- including American citizens -- are angry after being questioned and released at the Greeley plant.

"What they did doesn't have a name," Veronica Rodriguez, 27, a single-mother of four. "We're not animals and there's no reason for us to be treated like criminals. It was bad."

Meat cutter Miguel Torres, 23, said the production line inside the Greeley plant was moving slowly.

"I feel sorry for the people that did it but they should have went by the rules," he said of the workers accused of using stolen identification documents.

Torres said the company on Wednesday didn't address the raids but did offer employees a Thanksgiving-style dinner during lunch time.

Rodriguez, still upset about being held on the plant's kill floor by immigration agents, rejected the offer and bought a bag of chips instead.

"I wonder what they're giving thanks for. It's not Thanksgiving," she said. "How would I be able to eat with what happened ?"

During the raid, employees were taken to the plant's cafeteria where they were met with immigration agents, some standing on tops of the table, said Joann Lopez, a union representative at the plant.

She said the agents told U.S. citizens to stand on one side of the room. Lopez, a Greeley native, stood on the citizens' side but was questioned by agents about where she was born, she believes because she is Hispanic. After she told them North Colorado Medical Center, she said she was allowed to remain with the group.