OH-Immigration officials raid eight Ohio restaurants
Immigration officials raid eight Ohio restaurants
Posted by Robert L. Smith July 23, 2008 14:25PM
Federal immigration agents descended on eight Mexican restaurants in northern Ohio today, executing search warrants at businesses suspected of recruiting and hiring undocumented workers.
Customers arriving for lunch at Casa Fiesta restaurants in Oberlin, Ashland, Youngstown, Fremont, Sandusky and suburban Toledo found them closed and likely facing a sudden staff shortage.
Agents with the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, conducted simultaneous raids at 11 a.m. as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, said ICE spokesman Greg Palmore. Agents also executed a search warrant at a home in Norwalk.
The Norwalk-based chain of restaurants is under investigation for staffing its businesses with workers who entered the country illegally recruited from Mexico, Palmore said. Agents expect to take about 50 workers into custody on suspicion of being in the country illegally, he said. Meanwhile, owners and mangers may face federal criminal charges.
Palmore said the case bears similarities to a suspected illegal staffing operation that the ICE shut down in April.
In a coordinated action April 16, ICE agents raided Jalapeno Loco in Mentor and six other Mexican restaurants in five states. They detained 45 people believed to be in the country illegally and deported most of them. Agents also filed criminal charges against the owners and managers of the chain of restaurants, accusing them of recruiting illegal workers from Mexico and forcing them to work off their smuggling fees.
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http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/07 ... d_eig.html
Feds: The party's over (for illegal immigrants) at Casa Fies
Feds: The party's over (for illegal immigrants) at Casa Fiesta
Last Edited: Thursday, 24 Jul 2008, 5:26 PM EDT
Created: Thursday, 24 Jul 2008, 5:26 PM EDT
From our media partner, the Sandusky Register. SideBar
NORWALK -- A salmonella scare didn’t close Casa Fiesta on Wednesday, but federal agents did.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 58 Casa Fiesta restaurant employees from the Ohio chain, which has restaurants in Norwalk, Sandusky, Vermilion, Oberlin, Oregon and Youngstown.
“I wasn’t on site, but we were there at the start of business and at every site numerous individuals were brought into custody,â€
