Posted on 12/15/2006 6:21:49 AM PST by Sharks
SAN DIEGO - A Southern California fence-building company and two executives pleaded guilty Thursday to knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and agreed to pay a combined penalty of $5 million. The executives could also go to prison.
The penalty is one of the biggest fines ever imposed in an immigration case, and the case represents a rare instance in which prosecutors brought criminal charges over the hiring of illegal immigrants.
Golden State Fence Co. will pay $4.7 million. Mel Kay, 64, the company’s founder, chairman and president, will forfeit $200,000, and Michael McLaughlin, 42, a manager in the company’s Oceanside office, will pay $100,000.
The two men admitted hiring at least 10 illegal immigrants.
“People slip through the cracks and that’s what happens. Mistakes were made,” Richard Hirsch, an attorney for Golden State and Kay.
Prosecutors allege the company hired more than 100 illegal immigrants from 1999 to 2005, and continued to employ dozens of undocumented workers even after two government audits.
Hirsch said prosecutors plan to ask for six months behind bars for the two men at sentencing March 28. The maximum sentence is five years. Prison time is unusual in such cases.
The company said in a statement that it pleaded guilty “to bring this matter to a conclusion and restore normalcy to the business.”
The government has stepped up efforts to combat the hiring of illegal immigrants as the issue has grown in importance around the country. The plea bargain comes just days after federal authorities raided meat processing plants in six states as part of an investigation into the stealing and selling of identity documents so illegal immigrants could get jobs.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Now, maybe, employers will be more diligent in their hiring. Then, "civil rights" groups will protest and they may lose business. They’ll be sued for civil rights violations and be fined even more.
Next up: Swift and Company. News out of Denver is that Swift knew about the ICE raid two week before it happened and 400 employees disappeared. Amazing.
This illegal immigration mess will be no more at this rate. If the gumment is not doing it for show..
I hope you're right, but I don't think this will have much of an effect. The number of companies being busted over the number guilty is a tiny, tiny fraction.
... and THAT is the essence of the illegal alien problem.
Huge fines are written off as a cost of doing business or passed on the the customers, but jail-time for the execs would end the job-magnet that draws the illegals.
But if prison time is given for this small fraction, you can be sure a LOT of companies won't risk it. Fines they can pay. But the risk of prison time won't be tolerated.
NAFBPA NEWS RELEASE
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 17:03:57 EST
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL AGENTS
Press Release “for immediate release
December 13, 2006
The National Association of Former Border Patrol Agents strongly
Endorses the enforcement action taken by the office of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement against illegal aliens who have obtained employment at
Swift Packing Company locations across the Midwest.
This is not a new problem for Swift, or for the meatpacking
Industry generally. For decades, illegal aliens have obtained employment in the
industry, thereby displacing U.S. workers. Several of our members recall
conducting operations with similar outcomes at Swift and other plants
twenty-five years ago, and we know that they have taken place regularly with similar
results since then.
This action by ICE once more reveals clearly that the bad effects of illegal
workers extend beyond cheap labor and the displacement of legal
workers.
The American public and American institutions have been victimized by
Illegal alien’s use of fraudulent identification, particularly Social Security
Account numbers. This felony is not a victimless crime; it calls into
Question the integrity of the Social Security accounts involved, and it affects
integrity of the entire system.
This case offers a strong argument for continuous, extensive
Enforcement operations against illegal aliens who have managed to obtain
employment in the United States. In nearly every case they have used fraudulent
documents to obtain their jobs, and in all too many cases, it was done through
identity theft.
The operation also reflects the need to develop a secure Social
Security card and a straightforward system for verification of
eligibility for employment in this country.
We are disappointed that the United Food and Commercial Workers
Opposes this operation. Mark Lauritsen, a spokesman for the union, is quoted
As saying the operations were an affront to decency, and were carried
Out "in an effort designed to terrorize" the workers. Those are emotional
Characterizations calculated to inflame.
We do not presume to speak for the office of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, but we are certain there was no intent to terrorize.
The operation was an attempt to bring to justice aliens committing felonies. It
Also puts would-be felons on notice that they are not immune to the reach
of the law despite their sheer numbers. We would have thought that the
UFCW union
Would have welcomed the opportunity to fill the jobs created with legal
workers, but apparently they do not.
We note from our historical point of view that sometimes in the past
When operations of this nature were executed, state employment
Agencies were notified in advance so that they could line up replacement legal
Workers for the affected company. We suggest that whenever possible, that
coordination be undertaken.
Swift actually kept the government in court trying to keep the raids from happening because they were complying with the government from previous raids.
GunnyBob said all of this will be moot next year; his sources have convinced him that we will see amnesty, probably named as a guest worker program.
Did anyone else see the irony from the first sentence???
"A Southern California FENCE-BUILDING COMPANY and two executives pleaded guilty Thursday to knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and agreed to pay a combined penalty of $5 million."
Swift gave warnings in English...
I predicted this would happen about 6-8 months ago in a tongue-in-cheek post regarding a border fence and hiring illegals to do it. I must be psychic(or something).
they were SWIFT to make a run for the border.
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