Thread: Deputies arrest 6 in employer-sanctions raid on Phx company

Deputies arrest 6 in employer-sanctions raid on Phx company

azfamily.com
by Catherine Holland
Video report by Ryan O'Donnell
Posted on November 1, 2011 at 8:40 AM
Updated today at 9:28 AM

PHOENIX -- Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies arrested six people during an employer-sanctions raid at Prisma Graphic in South Phoenix Tuesday morning.

Deputies converged on the business at 29th Street and Broadway Road at about 7 a.m.

Prisma Graphic employs more than 130 people, according to information on its website. Deputies were looking for 17 people. Six have been arrested. According to the company president , the remaining 11 have not worked there for about a year.

MCSO reportedly received two tips that some of those employees are undocumented immigrants who used false or stolen identification to get their jobs.

According to MCSO, some employees were seen printing out Wells Fargo credit-card information, government hunting tags and Health Net information.

"We don't racial profile," Arpaio said. "We already know when we come in here who we're going to arrest."

Arpaio said investigators will keep looking for those other 11 suspects.

Arpaio and his deputies have conducted 54 similar raids in the past few years, the most recent being at C&M Homes, a Mesa construction company, in early October.

"They don't seem to care, these businesses that keep hiring illegal aliens with false ID," Arpaio said at the time. I'm going to keep cracking down. ... I think they should do more, be more vigilant."

Identity theft is a Class 4 felony.

Prisma Graphic opened as a boutique printing shop in Phoenix more than 30 years ago. According to the company's website, the privately-held business had just 30 employees and $1 million in sales in 2000. It has since grown and is now headquartered in an 82,000-square-foot facility, has more than quadrupled its staff and posts $24 million in annual sales.

http://www.azfamily.com/home/Deputies-r ... 02043.html

MCSO serves search warrant at Phoenix company hiring illegally

Posted: 11/01/2011
Last Updated: 37 minutes ago
By: Tim Vetscher
By: Associated Press

PHOENIX - The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says 10 suspected illegal immigrants have been arrested after search warrants were served on a south Phoenix printing business.

The Sheriff's Employer Sanction/Illegal Immigration unit alleges that some employees of PrismaGraphic Corporation may be illegal immigrants using false identification to secure and retain employment.

They say a tip that an employee was fraudulently using a 14-year-old girl's Social Security number led to the investigation.

"We're the only law enforcement agency in the state that does this operation," said Sheriff Joe Arpaio. "We don't racial profile. We already know when we come in here who we're going to arrest."

Employees of the printing business also allegedly were seen printing out credit card information and government hunting tags along with access and health-net information. And some employees reportedly were seen making political campaign signs for an unknown candidate.

PrismaGraphic President Simon Beltran says the company uses E-Verify to conduct background checks when hiring employees and claims the six people arrested all produced the proper identification to gain employment.

"It's frustrating," said Beltran. "We are very proud of our hiring practices. "We go through great due diligence to make sure our employees are legal."

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_ph ... z1cW9IF6Jg

Joe Arpaio's Latest Illegal Immigrant Roundup/"Employer Sanctions Operation" Nets 10 Arrests


By James KingTue., Nov. 1 2011 at 3:42 PM


​Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio launched his 55th illegal-immigrant roundup under the guise of an "employer sanctions operation" this morning. It netted 10 arrests -- and, per usual, none of those arrested were employers, just employees, MCSO spokesman Jeff Sprong tells New Times.

According to the Sheriff's Office, after several weeks of investigation, deputies raided the Prisma Graphic Corporation at 2937 East Broadway Road in Phoenix in search of 17 suspected illegal immigrants.

Only 10 of the suspected illegal immigrants were taken into custody this morning.

The MCSO says it received a tip that an employee was fraudulently using the Social Security number of a 14-year-old girl to gain employment at the Phoenix printing company.

Illegal immigration aside, the investigation into the company also revealed that employees were using the company's printing equipment to print Wells Fargo credit-card information, government hunting tags, and fraudulent health-insurance documents.

The MCSO says it also "found indications" that undocumented employees were using the printers to make campaign signs for "an unnamed candidate."

"Last month, President Obama mentioned me to a small group of journalists insinuating that he was not happy with my illegal-immigration crackdowns and refused to answer why his administration is still investigating me," the sheriff claimed. "This office will continue to enforce all aspects of federal and state immigration laws throughout the Valley, including Phoenix."

The Sheriff's Office declined to say whether it would consider changing the name of these "employer sanctions operations" -- ya know, considering not a single employer has ever been arrested during any of Arpaio's raids.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com