Replies

That was my take, too.

Actually Cain may need to revise his suggestion of having the states handle the illegals instead of the feds, because if the states do it, there will be too much incentive for corruption, ala Perry.

Big names on list of companies ICE fined

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have decided that they are no longer releasing information to the public on companies fined for hiring illegal immigrants.

Despite talking tough about cracking down on employers who break federal immigration laws, ICE is withholding the names and other identifying information about the companies it penalizes, essentially protecting them from public scrutiny.

Richard Rocha, an ICE spokesman, said ICE attorneys have advised them not to disclose information about the fines because of a pending case before the Supreme Court that looks at whether corporations have a right to “personal privacy.”

We’d make the argument, however, that there is a public interest in learning which companies were fined. We have a copy of the list of companies hit with civil fines from 2007 through mid-July and, which was converted into a database and published here on the blog. (To view this database, click on the “continue reading” this post link at the bottom.)

For example, Westex Well Services, a company headed up by Texas Tech University Regent Mickey Long, paid $60,984 to immigration officials earlier this summer. (That’s the 16th largest fine nationally and the third-largest in Texas since 2007.)

Long was appointed to his regent position by Gov. Rick Perry in February 2009. He has contributed $135,000 to Perry’s campaign over the years and is listed as his co-chair for fundraising based out of Midland. (Long did not return phone calls to his home or business seeking comment.)

There are some big names on this list of 220 companies: Koch Food of Cincinnati, LLC ($536,046), Johnson Dairy LLC out of Colorado ($100,800), and American Rice Inc. of Texas ($5,486).