Target workers in Walnut Creek quit after questions about immigration status

Contra Costa Times ^ | 12/8/9 | Matt O'Brien

[SmithL]

WALNUT CREEK — More than 40 employees at the downtown Target store quit their jobs after an internal probe raised suspicions about their immigration status, according to lawyers who have met with the workers.

Managers summoned the overnight crew of the North Main Street department store to meetings last month and gave workers the chance to prove their eligibility to work in the United States by bringing in the proper documents, the lawyers and Target representatives say.

Most of the questioned workers voluntarily resigned, Target spokeswoman Kate Gillen said. The Minnesota-based retailer would not say how many workers left the Walnut Creek store, but advocates for the employees say it was dozens.

"Forty-five people are without a job," said lawyer Rocio Avila of La Raza Centro Legal, a San Francisco legal group pressing Target for more information. "Many of the workers there were long-term workers. There was one gentleman who had been (at Target) for 19 years, and the average was five to six years. These weren't temporary workers, seasonal workers for the holiday season. These were loyal workers who had been there for a long time."

[goat granny]

I never shop at Target, but better late than never. Its only been recently that employers have been investigated..Its a cover our arse situation for Target....

[jiggyboy]

“Jobe saved”, anybody?

[jiggyboy]

“Jobs saved”, anybody?

[Iron Munro]

How did they get hired by Target to begin with?

EVERY person being employed is required by law to complete an I-9 form and provide ID documents. The employer is required to reveiw the documents prior to hiring the person.

And most companies have a basic background check run on the person whch validates (or invalidates) the documentation.

[AirForceBrat23]

Sorry, if you quit your job because you don’t want to show your ID, you DON’T get to whine about being unemployed!!!

[SoldierDad]

The Obozo job’s program at work?????

[paul51]

You’re right

[tubebender]

Target didn’t fire them so what is the problem for La Raza to probe...

[CdMGuy]

I agree entirely. Target has been hiring illegal aliens. That means they were not bothering to check on whether these hires had a legal right to be working in the US. It sounds more like Target got advance notice that US ICE was about to make a check. Surely, they had been letting this go on for 19 years. Time to bring charges against Target.

[gandalftb]

A janitorial company owned by Peter Weissbach, local conservative talk-radio host is targeted for hiring illegal aliens:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010333876_firedjanitors23m.html

[Cindy]

Yep.

Anyone looking for a job or career IN ANY FIELD start here please:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2306857/posts

[editor-surveyor]

That’s the old Gemco store. We used to shop there a lot back in the late ‘60s. Back then most of the employees were young adults that had grown up in the Diablo valley.

I haven’t been to the store since thay changed it to Target; I always considered Target to be a junk shop like Kmart, and the illegal alien workers seems to bear that out.

[thecodont]

“”Many of the workers there were long-term workers. There was one gentleman who had been (at Target) for 19 years, and the average was five to six years. These weren’t temporary workers, seasonal workers for the holiday season. These were loyal workers who had been there for a long time.”

That's certainly long enough to apply for U.S. citizenship.

[G-Man 1]

45 down, 29million ninehundred fifty to go. So meany illegals so little time.

[calex59]

"Forty-five people are without a job," said lawyer Rocio Avila of La Raza Centro Legal, a San Francisco legal group pressing Target for more information. "Many of the workers there were long-term workers. There was one gentleman who had been (at Target) for 19 years, and the average was five to six years. These weren't temporary workers, seasonal workers for the holiday season. These were loyal workers who had been there for a long time."

Correction, these were illegal aliens who had been duping store managers for years and were taking jobs from American citizens and legal residents. There are 45 jobs now available for the people living in Walnut Creek legally.

The sob sisters trying to make us feel sorry for these law breaking a**hats who quit their jobs get no sympathy from me.

[stephenjohnbanker]

They just want the money.

[MrB]

If all businesses did this, then there would be no need to “send” illegals home. They’d just go.

[SharpRightTurn]

And they should send “Rocio Avila of La Raza Centro Legal” packing, too.

[I Buried My Guns]

"... I always considered Target to be a junk shop like Kmart,..."

I agree. The thing that seals the deal is that when you ask an employee for assistance, they look at you like you just demanded one of their kidneys while at the same time pooping in their mouth. Their customer service SUCKS.

Then again, I am white, and colored folks around these parts do not take kindly to serving white people.

[Oatka]

EVERY person being employed is required by law to complete an I-9 form and provide ID documents. The employer is required to reveiw the documents prior to hiring the person. . . And most companies have a basic background check run on the person whch validates (or invalidates) the documentation.

A few years ago I worked as a night stocker at Wal-Mart. NOBODY was hired unless they could prove legal residence. We had a few Mexicans and one Filipino girl. She was cramming for the citizenship exam. (The girl was asking me questions about this country I couldn't answer - embarrassing.)

When we bitched to the supervisor about being understaffed, she replied that 33 people had applied, four passed drug/background/immigration checks, two showed up and one quit the first day.