Phoenix business first to close for hiring illegal worker
Posted on Wednesday, March 10 @ 00:11:52 EST
Topic: State Laws Immigration illegal legal
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 For the first time in Arizona, an operating business will have to close its doors for violating the state's employer-sanctions law.
Danny's Subway, a sandwich shop in the 1900 block of West Indian School Road, will shut down for two days for knowingly hiring an employee with a forged identity in September 2008.
Subjects: Illegal immigration, Danny's Subway, Legal Arizona Workers Act, raids, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, E-Verify
March 9, 2010
JJ Hensley
azcentral.com
The Arizona Republic
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas announced the settlement agreement Tuesday. The agreement suspended the shop's business license for two days, and requires the company to serve three years probation and submit quarterly compliance reports to the County Attorney's Office for violating the Legal Arizona Workers Act.
Last year, operators of Waterworld, were found to have violated the law, but the Phoenix water park was already out of business and the 10-day suspension of its business license will never take effect unless the company reopens.
A similar complaint against Scottsdale Art Factory, a custom cabinet-and-furniture business, was filed in November and continues to make its way through court.
While the cases against Waterworld and Scottsdale Art Factory came after Maricopa County Sheriff's Office work-site raids, it was federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement that launched the investigation leading to Tuesday's settlement with Danny's Subway.
ICE agents identified an unauthorized employee at Danny's Subway in July 2008 and told managers, who then fired the worker, according to a statement from the County Attorney's Office.
ICE agents learned the employee was rehired using a forged identity in September 2008. Investigators arrested the employee and launched administrative proceedings against Danny's Subway, which resulted in a $435 fine, according to the statement.
In 2008, Arizona became the first state in the nation to require all employers to use E-Verify. Since then, more than 33,000 Arizona businesses have signed up for the program, the highest number of any state, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which oversees E-Verify.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has raided 30 businesses under the employer-sanctions law and has arrested hundreds of workers accused of using forgery, fraud and identity theft to gain employment illegally.
Carlos Pinzon, a district manager for Danny's Subway, said another person was in charge of hiring in 2008. He said the restaurant has since taken steps to ensure its employees are authorized to work in the U.S.
"We have some people trying to put some fake papers or forged documents," Pinzon said. "We say we cannot hire them and we suggest to them they take care of it with the United States government legally."
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