Illegal immigrant crackdown nets 100+ criminal arrests

Illegal immigrant crackdown nets 100+ criminal arrests

June 5, 2018

sHARE

U.S. immigration agents made more than 100 arrests Tuesday at a gardening and landscaping company in Ohio. They were aided by about 200 law enforcement workers in one of the largest employer stings in recent years.
The 114 arrests occurred at two locations of Corso’s Flower & Garden Center, one in Sandusky, a resort city on Lake Erie, and another in nearby Castalia. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it expected criminal charges including identity theft and tax evasion.
No criminal charges have been filed against Corso’s, but the employer is under investigation, authorities said. Two locations were searched, and Khaalid Walls, an agency spokesman, said “a large volume of business documents” were seized.
You won’t believe WHAT this Christian doctor just did [sponsored]
The large-scale operation, assisted by aerial surveillance, is part of the Trump administration’s increasing focus on employers that hire people in the country illegally, one that took hold about a year after the president took office, and came months after a surge in deportation arrests began.
In April, agents made about 100 worker arrests at a meatpacking plant in rural Tennessee, another high-profile show of force reminiscent of former President George W. Bush’s administration. No criminal charges have been filed against the employer.

Tuesday’s operation was carried out with quiet efficiency. At the Castalia facility — covered with trees, flowers and greenhouse tarps — no workers were seen running as about 100 law enforcement officials established a perimeter. A voice on a radio called attention to specific employees who might try to flee, but none did.
3 foods that help your blood pressure [sponsored]
Corso’s describes itself as a family-owned company that serves seven states with a 160,000-square-foot greenhouse and additional 200,000 square feet to grow perennials. Its Sandusky facility is on the city’s busiest road amid hotels and fast-food joints that cater to tourists who drive by in the summer on their way to Lake Erie and Cedar Point amusement park.
It does not advertise itself as a company that employs hundreds of illegal immigrants.
Securing such sprawling facilities typically involves an enormous law enforcement presence to secure the perimeters.
Critics have tried to suggest that the government used extreme force in making the arrests only to score publicity. The Trump administration does not need the publicity, supporters argue, because their immigration crackdown is to better our country, not to catch the eye of spectators.
Sponsored: Ronald Reagan’s cancer cure finally revealed?
The investigation into Corso’s began in October 2017 when the U.S. Border Patrol arrested a woman who gave stolen identity documents to job applicants in the country illegally, said Steve Francis, head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit in Detroit.
The document vendor led investigators to the landscaping company, where they examined documents in its files for irregularities, Francis said. Some Social Security numbers belonged to dead people.
Yes, you read that correctly — some of these individuals allegedly stole the identity of dead people.
Of the 313 employees whose records were examined, 123 were found suspicious and targeted for arrest and criminal charges of identity theft and, in nearly all cases, tax evasion.
“We verified that a lot of U.S. persons were obviously unaware of this. It’s caused them a lot of hardship,” Francis said. “It’s not one that we’re looking for strictly as a worksite immigration raid.”
Sponsored: 3 quick questions that could change your life (personal)
Immigration officials have sharply increased audits of companies to verify their employees are authorized to work in the country. There were 2,282 employer audits opened between Oct. 1 and May 4, nearly a 60 percent jump from the 1,360 audits opened between October 2016 and September 2017. Many of those reviews were launched after audits began at 100 7-Eleven franchises in 17 states in January.
The crackdown is serves as proof that the Trump administration means business — and companies employing illegal immigrants should be wary.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.