Posted on 04/20/2006 7:31:59 PM PDT by andie74
WASHINGTON, April 20 - The apprehension on Wednesday of more than 1,100 illegal immigrants employed by a Houston-based pallet supply company, as well as the arrest of seven of its managers, represents the kickoff of a more aggressive federal immigration enforcement campaign intended to hold employers accountable for breaking the law, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today.
Saying the hiring by companies nationwide of millions of undocumented workers is often a form of organized crime, Mr. Chertoff, a former federal prosecutor, said the government will now attempt to combat the practice with techniques similar to those used to try to shut down the mob.
The news conference came the day after immigration officials apprehended 1,187 illegal immigrants who worked in 26 states for IFCO Systems North America, a company that supplies plastic and wood pallets used to ship everything from produce to pet food.
Company supervisors knowingly hired illegal immigrants, provided them with housing and transportation to and from work, and even reimbursed one undercover agent for the cost of obtaining fraudulent identity documents, Homeland Security Department officials said.
An examination of the company's payroll of 5,800 employees found that just over half of them had Social Security numbers that were either invalid, belong to a dead person or did not match up with names on file, investigators said.
The investigation started in February 2005, when agents received a tip that IFCO workers in Guilderland, N.Y., were seen ripping up federal tax-related employment verification forms, and that an assistant manager present explained that the workers were illegal immigrants who did not intend to file tax returns.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Where's the deportation column?
No kidding. Where are the conviction and the fines levied columns?
You've got that right.
I certainly wouldn't say that. The numbers during the Clinton years were absolutely pathetic. And then they dropped off steeply when Bush took office.
Also note; there are no deportation, fines levied or conviction columns. IOWs no indication that anything of substance ever came of any of it.
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