Sheriff's office raids Mesa landscaping company
August 27th, 2008 @ 5:52pm
by Sandra Haros/KTAR; Associated Press

Authorities raided a Phoenix-area landscaping business Wednesday, arresting 29 illegal immigrants, some of whom are accused of using fake Social Security numbers to land a job.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office served the search warrants at Artistic Land Management in Mesa following weeks of surveillance they conducted after receiving a tip from a former employee, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said.

Arpaio said the employee told his office the business was knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and that the owner instructed her to ignore discrepancies in Social Security numbers provided by workers.

"When that person approached the owner about the Social Security, that owner said ‘I don't want to know nothing, you don't tell me, if I don't know anything, I don't have to do anything,' so we initiated our investigation." Arpaio said.

Repeated calls to Artistic Land Management and its owner, Jose Hernandez, were not returned Wednesday.

"When we did the search warrant at his administrative office, [Hernandez] refused to talk," Arpaio said.

Hernandez was not arrested.

Arpaio said the business had contracts with the cities of Phoenix, Mesa and Chandler, the Maricopa County Housing Authority and Arizona State University.

The sheriff's office is investigating whether Hernandez has broken Arizona's employer sanctions law. To be charged under the law, authorities must prove employers knew they were hiring illegal immigrants.

The law provides stiff penalties for people and companies that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

Arpaio said of 70 workers at one of the company's Mesa locations Wednesday morning, 29 turned out to be illegal immigrants; 20 of them were to be booked on state felony charges of identity theft and the other nine were still being interviewed.

If the nine cannot be charged with anything, they will be turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Arpaio said.

In June, the sheriff's office arrested nine illegal immigrants at two amusement parks in Mesa and north Phoenix and said the bust might lead to an employer sanctions case. So far, it has not.

No employer sanctions cases have been brought to court since the law took effect in January.

"Stay tuned," Arpaio said at a news conference when asked about the lack of prosecutions. "It takes time. We do it right ... I don't care if it takes two years."
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