Thread: AZ-Sheriff's deputies raid Chandler business

Sheriff's deputies raid Chandler business
September 24th, 2008 @ 9:55am
by Jim Cross/KTAR

Sheriff's deputies went to an east Valley business this morning in apparently another one of their crime suppression sweeps which critics claim target illegal immigrants.

No one from the Sheriff's Office was available immediately to comment on the operation at Legacy Custom Doors, near Arizona Boulevard and Elliot Road in Chandler.

Deputies stood outside, employees remained inside.

Immigrants' activist Elias Bermudez arrived at the scene shortly after the operation began and denounced it as another in an "unfortunate" string of events which he said are creating havoc in the community.

"This company is going to lose thousands of dollars," Bermudez said.

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http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=963707

September 24, 2008 - 9:04AM
Sheriff's office raids Chandler company
Comments 8| Recommend 2
John Leptich, Tribune
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office raided a Chandler company Wednesday.

Eleven people were escorted out of Legacy Custom Doors & Western Lock, 325 E. Comstock Drive, near Arizona Avenue and Elliot Road, after the 6:30 a.m. raid.

“They just came in, they didn’t say anything,â€

"This company is going to lose thousands of dollars," Bermudez said.

Here's a dime:



Call someone who cares.

Originally Posted by dep0rt

"This company is going to lose thousands of dollars," Bermudez said.

Here's a dime:



Call someone who cares.

Thanks dep0rt ROFL

Chandler business raided for undocumented workers
542 commentsby Megan Boehnke and Nathan Gonzalez - Sept. 24, 2008 12:48 PM
The Arizona Republic
For the second time in two weeks, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has raided a Chandler business, using the state's employer sanctions law to search for undocumented employees and investigate whether the company knowingly hired them.

Deputies on Wednesday morning descended on Legacy Custom Doors and Western Lock, near Arizona Avenue and Elliot Road, arresting 10 people. Seven of the arrested are facing identity theft charges; the other three face illegal immigration charges.

Capt. Paul Chagolla, a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spokesman, said in a release that the agency has been working the investigation since it received an anonymous tip in April. Deputies seized computers and employment records to see if the company knew the workers were undocumented.
A man who answered the phone at the company headquarters declined to comment.

Marked and unmarked squad cars as well as an empty Sheriff's Office holding van blocked the business at 325 E. Comstock Drive as deputies stood outside Wednesday morning.

Elias Bermudez, founder of Phoenix-based Immigrants Without Boarders, said he spoke to the wife of a man detained by investigators.

"Now this family is without a father," he said. "All this only brings is hurt. It is an unfortunate thing."

Bermudez agreed that Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deputies are doing their job of enforcing a misdemeanor crime, but he added that they're disrupting families and businesses throughout the Valley. He also accused Arpaio of continuing to violate peoples' civil rights.

"There are all kinds of ways he can do it," instead of raiding businesses, Bermudez said of the sheriff. "The crime he is pursuing isn't a crime of violence. These are only people that are working. That's what really hurts us."

The morning raid came as a surprise to some neighboring business owners, who declined to be identified. Many said the business park, and its two dozen free-standing buildings, is relatively quiet.

Legacy Custom Doors employs about 30 workers, according the sheriff's office.

Deputies conducted a similar raid at the Gold Canyon Candle Company on Sept. 10, which netted 23 arrests on identity theft accusations and 42 on illegal immigration accusations. The agency locked down the business for hours, keeping all employees inside for six hours.

The raid Wednesday is the fourth in the Valley - one involved a water park chain and another at landscaping company in Mesa - since the law aimed at punishing employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers went into effect at the beginning of the year.

The raids, all of which have taken place in the past four months, have continued to net employee arrests but have not resulted in any charges against the businesses or their executives.

County Attorney Andrew Thomas said in a news conference following the Gold Canyon raid that the earlier cases are continuing to move forward, even if there is no visible progress in prosecuting employers.


http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 24-ON.html