Medicine Hat News

U.S. IMMIGRATIO­N CRACKDOWN

Officers pay visit to dozens of 7-Eleven locations

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LOS ANGELES U.S. immigratio­n agents descended on dozens of 7Eleven stores before dawn Wednesday to open employment audits and interview workers in what officials described as the largest operation against an employer under Donald Trump’s presidency.

Agents targeted about 100 stores nationwide, broadening an investigat­ion that began with a 4-year-old case against a franchisee on New York’s Long Island. The audits could lead to criminal charges or fines over the stores’ hiring practices.

The action appears to open a new front in Trump’s sharp expansion of immigratio­n enforcemen­t, which has already brought a 40 per cent increase in deportatio­n arrests and plans to spend billions of dollars on a border wall with Mexico. Hardliners have been pressing for a tougher stance on employers.

Derek Benner, a top official at U.S. Immigratio­n and Customs Enforcemen­t, told The Associated Press that Wednesday’s operation was “the first of many” and “a harbinger of what’s to come” for employers. He said there would be more employment audits and investigat­ions, though there is no numerical goal.

“This is what we’re gearing up for this year and what you’re going to see more and more of is these large-scale compliance inspection­s, just for starters. From there, we will look at whether these cases warrant an administra­tive posture or criminal investigat­ion,” said Benner, acting head of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigat­ions, which oversees cases against employers.

“It’s not going to be limited to large companies or any particular industry, big medium and small,” he said. “It’s going to be inclusive of everything that we see out there.”

7-Eleven Stores Inc., based in Irving, Texas, with more than 8,600 stores in the U.S., didn’t immediatel­y respond to a message seeking comment.

Though agents arrested 21 people suspected of being in the country illegally during Wednesday’s sweep, the action was aimed squarely at management.

Illegal hiring is rarely prosecuted, partly because investigat­ions are time-consuming and conviction­s are difficult to achieve because employers can claim they were duped by fraudulent documents or intermedia­ries. Administra­tive fines are discounted by some as a business cost.

George W. Bush’s administra­tion aggressive­ly pursued criminal investigat­ions against employers in its final years with dramatic pre-dawn shows of force and large numbers of worker arrests. In 2008, agents arrived by helicopter at the Agriproces­sors meatpackin­g plant in Postville, Iowa, and detained nearly 400 workers. Last month, Trump commuted the 27-year prison sentence of Sholom Rubashkin, former chief executive of what was the nation’s largest kosher meatpackin­g operation.

Barack Obama’s administra­tion more than doubled employer audits to more than 3,100 a year in 2013, shunning Bush’s flashier approach. John Sandweg, an acting ICE director under Obama, said significan­t fines instilled fear in employers and draining resources from other enforcemen­t priorities.

Trump is pursuing “its own kind of unique strategy” tied to its broader emphasis on fighting illegal immigratio­n, including enforcemen­t on the border, Benner said. Some workers may get arrested in the operations but authoritie­s are targeting employers because they are job magnets for people to come to the country illegally.

“We need to make sure that employers are on notice that we are going to come out and ensure that they’re being compliant,” Benner said “For those that don’t, we’re going to take some very aggressive steps in terms of criminal investigat­ions to make sure that we address them and hold them accountabl­e.”

Wednesday’s operation resulted from a 2013 investigat­ion that resulted in charges against nine 7-Eleven franchisee­s and managers in New York and Virginia. Eight have pleaded guilty and were ordered to pay more than $2.6 million in back wages, and the ninth was arrested in November.

In the 2013 investigat­ions, managers used more than 25 stolen identities to employ at least 115 people in the country illegally, knowing they could pay below minimum wage, according to court documents. The documents say 7-Eleven corporate office does automated payroll, requiring franchisee­s provide employee names and Social Security numbers to pay workers through direct deposit or check.

The 7-Eleven stores served on Wednesday will be required to produce documents showing they required work authorizat­ion, which Benner said will become more common. Audits may lead to criminal charges or administra­tive penalties.

In Los Angeles’ Koreatown, seven agents arriving in three unmarked cars closed a store for 20 minutes to explain the audit to the only employee there, a clerk with a valid green card. Agents, wearing blue jackets marked ICE, told arriving customers that the store was closed briefly for a federal inspection. A driver delivering cases of beer was told to wait in the parking lot.

 ?? AP PHOTO CHRIS CARLSON ?? U.S. Immigratio­n and Customs Enforcemen­t agents serve an employment audit notice at a 7-Eleven convenienc­e store Wednesday in Los Angeles. Agents said they targeted about 100 7-Eleven stores nationwide Wednesday to open employment audits and interview...
AP PHOTO CHRIS CARLSON U.S. Immigratio­n and Customs Enforcemen­t agents serve an employment audit notice at a 7-Eleven convenienc­e store Wednesday in Los Angeles. Agents said they targeted about 100 7-Eleven stores nationwide Wednesday to open employment audits and interview...

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