it's about time that the feds are cracking down on the illegals.
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Authorities arrested about 300 workers at 60 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. locations across the country on immigration charges in an investigation into contractor cleaning crews, and some company executives knew about the scheme, U.S. officials said Thursday.
They said the investigation, known as "Operation Rollback," involved allegations the contractor had recruited illegal immigrants, mainly Eastern European nationals, to work on cleaning crews at the stores for the world's largest retailer.
Federal law enforcement officials said some Wal-Mart executives had direct knowledge of the scheme, based on recorded conversations, surveillance and monitoring.
One official said federal agents conducted searches at the Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters of Wal-Mart, the largest U.S. private sector employer, with about 1.1 million workers in the United States and 1.4 million worldwide.
Another official said federal grand jury subpoenas have been issued for the Wal-Mart executives to testify. The executives were not identified.
An official said the U.S. believes Wal-Mart has shown a "reckless disregard" for U.S. immigration laws, exploiting workers, and has continued to hire some contractors who were already convicted of felony violations.
A Wal-Mart spokesman said the company was "committed to cooperating" with federal officials, who he said came to company headquarters with specific requests for information.
"These are third-party contractors," spokesman Tom Williams said. "We require that the contractors use legal workers."
"We don't know at this point if the current investigation includes one or more outside contractors. We use hundreds of them," he said, adding that about 1,000 of Wal-Mart's U.S. stores have outside cleaning services.
Wal-Mart already faces dozens of lawsuits alleging discrimination and violations of wage-and-hour rules. The company has drawn fire from labor groups, who say the company has an anti-union stance.
WORKSITE ENFORCEMENT EFFORT
Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the arrests in 21 states were part of a "worksite enforcement" effort.
"If a company knowingly hires illegal workers it can be penalized up to $10,000 per person," he said.
The latest arrests stemmed from two prior investigations by federal immigration officials involving contractors and Wal-Mart stores, one in 1998 and the other in 2001, the officials said.
One official said the cleaning contractor at issue in the latest investigation was owned by two Illinois men and a Missouri man.
The company, which was not identified, allegedly hired illegal aliens, who had been recruited in the United States and in Europe, the official said.
Kurt Barnard, head of the consulting firm Retail Forecasting Group, said, "This is going to be a major public relations problem, with lots of tongues wagging about it."
Still, he said the news would probably have little effect on Wal-Mart's sales or profits because the company's low prices will continue to attract shoppers by the millions. Wal-Mart estimates more than 100 million Americans visit their stores every week.
On Wall Street, the stock was up 38 cents to $58.62 in mid-afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
In March, a federal court jury acquitted leading poultry processor Tyson Foods and three of its executives of conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants to work at its U.S. plants.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Authorities arrested about 300 workers at 60 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. locations across the country on immigration charges in an investigation into contractor cleaning crews, and some company executives knew about the scheme, U.S. officials said Thursday.
They said the investigation, known as "Operation Rollback," involved allegations the contractor had recruited illegal immigrants, mainly Eastern European nationals, to work on cleaning crews at the stores for the world's largest retailer.
Federal law enforcement officials said some Wal-Mart executives had direct knowledge of the scheme, based on recorded conversations, surveillance and monitoring.
One official said federal agents conducted searches at the Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters of Wal-Mart, the largest U.S. private sector employer, with about 1.1 million workers in the United States and 1.4 million worldwide.
Another official said federal grand jury subpoenas have been issued for the Wal-Mart executives to testify. The executives were not identified.
An official said the U.S. believes Wal-Mart has shown a "reckless disregard" for U.S. immigration laws, exploiting workers, and has continued to hire some contractors who were already convicted of felony violations.
A Wal-Mart spokesman said the company was "committed to cooperating" with federal officials, who he said came to company headquarters with specific requests for information.
"These are third-party contractors," spokesman Tom Williams said. "We require that the contractors use legal workers."
"We don't know at this point if the current investigation includes one or more outside contractors. We use hundreds of them," he said, adding that about 1,000 of Wal-Mart's U.S. stores have outside cleaning services.
Wal-Mart already faces dozens of lawsuits alleging discrimination and violations of wage-and-hour rules. The company has drawn fire from labor groups, who say the company has an anti-union stance.
WORKSITE ENFORCEMENT EFFORT
Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the arrests in 21 states were part of a "worksite enforcement" effort.
"If a company knowingly hires illegal workers it can be penalized up to $10,000 per person," he said.
The latest arrests stemmed from two prior investigations by federal immigration officials involving contractors and Wal-Mart stores, one in 1998 and the other in 2001, the officials said.
One official said the cleaning contractor at issue in the latest investigation was owned by two Illinois men and a Missouri man.
The company, which was not identified, allegedly hired illegal aliens, who had been recruited in the United States and in Europe, the official said.
Kurt Barnard, head of the consulting firm Retail Forecasting Group, said, "This is going to be a major public relations problem, with lots of tongues wagging about it."
Still, he said the news would probably have little effect on Wal-Mart's sales or profits because the company's low prices will continue to attract shoppers by the millions. Wal-Mart estimates more than 100 million Americans visit their stores every week.
On Wall Street, the stock was up 38 cents to $58.62 in mid-afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
In March, a federal court jury acquitted leading poultry processor Tyson Foods and three of its executives of conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants to work at its U.S. plants.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service
