Thread: Sheriff conducting immigration sweep in El Mirage-Updated!!!

Sheriff conducting immigration sweep in El Mirage
Nov. 15, 2010 06:44 AM
Associated Press
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The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is conducting an illegal immigrant sweep at an El Mirage business.

The Sheriff's Office says its Criminal Employment Squad has responded to a landscaping business in the 12,000 block of West Peoria Avenue.

The Sheriff's Office says its Illegal Immigration hot line received information that at least half of the people working in the business may be in the country illegally and using stolen identities to secure employment there.

Sheriff's deputies have identified 26 people out of 52 employees who may be using falsified identification documents.

Updated Info this afternoon:


Sheriff's Office conducting immigration sweep in El Mirage
by Clare Hane and Molly Smith - Nov. 15, 2010 01:15 PM
The Arizona Republic
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The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office conducted a sweep Monday morning at a landscaping business in El Mirage after a hotline tip accused the business of employing several workers believed to be in the country illegally.

Authorities said 26 people showed up to work in the morning at Nunez Creative Landscaping in the 12000 block of West Peoria Ave. Seventeen were arrested on suspicion for being in the country illegally. Authorities said of those 17 people, 11 were carrying false Social Security numbers.

Sgt. Manny Madrid said the sheriff's office received the tip about six months ago, and the sheriff's office began investigating the company. Madrid said the sheriff's office executed a search warrant at around 6 a.m.

Authorities were told that at least 26 out of 52 employees at Nunez Creative Landscaping could be using stolen identities to work there, according to Jeff Sprong of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities said the 11 believed to be carrying false Social Security numbers were booked into the 4th Ave. Jail and the other six were turned over to immigration to investigate their status.

"I like to think I am doing something about the economy," Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. "Give these jobs to U.S. citizens."

Nunez Creative Landscaping released a statement Monday stating that the company takes immigration compliance seriously and has taken measures to make sure workers are legal.

According to the statement, the business uses federal government program and tax forms to ensure eligibility to work.

"The company does not engage in illegal employment practices," the statement says.

"Employers who follow all steps under the law could have an undocumented person on payroll because some workers present documents that are counterfeit," according to the statement.



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The Sheriff's Office says its Criminal Employment Squad has responded to a landscaping business in the 12,000 block of West Peoria Avenue.

A landscaping business in El Mirage! I wonder what on earth they could possibly find there!

Sheriff's office conducting immigration sweep
Associated Press
November 15, 2010 7:31 am

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has raided an El Mirage business in its latest operation aimed at suspected illegal immigrants.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says his Criminal Employment Squad responded to a landscaping business Monday morning in the 12,000 block of West Peoria Avenue.

The Sheriff tells KTVK-TV his deputies arrested 17 people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. Of those, Arpaio says 11 were arrested for false identification.

The Sheriff's Office says its Illegal Immigration hot line received a tip that at least half of the people working in the business may be in the country illegally and using stolen identities to secure employment there.

The Associated Press left messages with the business seeking comment.

http://azstarnet.com/news/state-and-reg ... 3a91d.html

The following is a release from a law firm representing Nunez Creative Landscape, Inc.:

Nunez Creative Landscaping, Inc. is a Company who takes immigration compliance seriously. The Company has taken several steps to ensure immigration compliance and goes above and beyond the requirements of the law.

The Company has been using E-Verify. E-Verify is a federal government computerized program that allows the company to check the eligibility of employees for authorization to work. In addition the Company has employees complete a W-9 to verify their social security number.

The Company does not engage in illegal employment practices. The Company and its employees pay payroll taxes and have wage withholdings for all of its workers. The Company reports new hires to the government, as required by law. The Company pays unemployment compensation and workers compensation for all employees. The Company is a 100% lawful employer, and the Company does not participate in or condone any violations of the law.

All newly hired employees of the Company must complete a Form 1-9. The Company checks the documents presented by new employees to confirm and complete the 1-9 form. Employees of the Company have presented documents that by law the Company must accept as valid. State and federal laws prohibit the Company from conducting further background checks regarding citizenship or visa status. The Company does not and cannot by law subject some employees to a more rigorous application process because of their national origin, physical appearance, accent, or ability to speak English.

The reality of our immigration system, however, is that even employers who follow all the steps under the law could have an undocumented person on payroll because some workers present documents that are counterfeit, but employers do not know they are counterfeit and are required to accept the documents because they appear genuine and reasonable. Unfortunately, even E-Verify does not fully solve the counterfeit document problem.

The Company has trained its managers and hiring personnel regarding proper immigration hiring procedures. The Company does not allow personnel to hire employees without completing the proper procedures and without checking and filling out all of the proper forms, including 1-9s and running the employees through E-verify.

Thank you for your cooperation.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_we ... e-business