Judicial Watch Petitions Supreme Court to Hear RICO Lawsuit against Businesses that Hire Illegal Alien Criminals


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Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) lawsuit filed by Canyon County, Idaho against four large employers of illegal aliens (Canyon County v. Syngenta Seeds, Inc., et al.). Canyon County alleges that during their employment, some of these illegal aliens committed crimes, thereby costing the county millions of dollars for criminal justice services as well as health and welfare services. Judicial Watch filed the petition for Canyon County with co-counsel Howard W. Foster, a renowned RICO expert with the Chicago law firm, Johnson & Bell, LTD.

In 1996, Congress amended RICO to include certain immigration offenses. Nonetheless, the District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Canyon County’s lawsuit, prompting Judicial Watch’s Supreme Court petition. Swift Beef Company is named as one of the defendants.

There are two central questions that arise from the appellate court ruling. First, does the term “business or propertyâ€