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Editor's
note: NOW has been conducting a campaign for over a year to bring
attention to the way Wal-Mart treats and discriminates against its
employees, naming Wal-Mart a "Merchant of
Shame." These two recent,
New Jersey articles are available on this web site:
Women's group protests
Wal-Mart hire practice and NOW
frowns on Wal-Mart.
Courier News
story addendum below
300 sought at Wal-Mart
Workers nabbed on immigration charges;
executives facing subpoenas, U.S. official says.
CNN, October 23, 2003: 1:52 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (CNN) - U.S. officials are sweeping Wal-Mart stores across the country in a bid to arrest about 300 illegal workers, law enforcement officials said Thursday.
They said the investigation involved allegations that subcontractors for the world's largest retailer had recruited illegal immigrants, mainly eastern European nationals, to work on cleaning crews at Wal-Mart stores. Many of those arrested were coming off night cleaning shifts at various Wal-Mart locations.
Arrests have been made in 21 states, with most of those coming in Pennsylvania and Texas, officials said.
The other states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
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, a law enforcement official told Reuters.
"Wal-Mart uses many third-party contractors for cleaning services, and we do require all workers to be legal. We are talking to the INS and we are cooperating with them," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Weber told CNN/Money.
"If a company knowingly hires illegal workers, it can be penalized up to $10,000 per person," Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told Reuters.
Federal law enforcement officials told CNN that information from an undercover investigation revealed that some Wal-Mart executives and store managers allegedly knew about the immigration violations.
Though the arrests made Thursday did not involve criminal charges, officials said grand jury subpoenas have been issued that could lead to criminal charges.
Weber said she did not know if any executives knew about hiring the illegal workers.
Some of the information in the investigation was gathered through the recording of conversations between store managers and contractor executives, the officials said.
Industry analysts said the probe might hurt Wal-Mart's image but wouldn't necessarily hurt its financial results.
"It looks like these illegal workers were hired by contractors and not directly by Wal-Mart. Is this really bad press or slightly bad press? I think it's the latter," said Mark Mandel, analyst with Blaylock & Partners. "If Wal-Mart was hiring from sweatshops, that would be much worse."
"Where this could hurt the company is in its reputation of not being a great place to work. If left unchecked, it could have an impact on Wal-Mart's image," said John Allen, senior partner with corporate brand consultant Lippincott & Margulies.
Wal-Mart shares were little changed in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Courier News ran the AP
Newswire story with this New Jersey-related addition:
Thirteen people were arrested in New Jersey. The arrests took place at stores in Old Bridge and Union, immigration officials said.
Kerry Gill, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement`s Newark office, said the 13 aliens arrested in New Jersey will face deportation proceedings before an immigration judge at an unspecified date.
"I can confirm that (immigration) officers arrested 13 illegal aliens at Wal-Mart locations in New Jersey as part of an ongoing worksite investigation," he said Thursday. "Individuals who have violated U.S. immigration laws by entering and working here illegally are subject to arrest and deportation." |
