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  1. #1
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
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    MD: Rumored Immigration Arrests Spark Anger In Wheaton

    Rumored Immigration Arrests Spark Anger In Wheaton
    Several Arrested In Restaurant Raid

    POSTED: 3:50 pm EDT July 12, 2007
    UPDATED: 4:47 pm EDT July 12, 2007

    WHEATON, Md. -- Law enforcement officials raided a popular restaurant late Thursday morning in Wheaton.

    Police said that owners of the El Pollo Rico restaurant were employing and harboring illegal aliens, money laundering and fraud in connection with the operation of restaurant.

    Police have charged Francisco Carlos Solano, 55, his wife Ines Solano, 59, both of Germantown, Md.; Francisco's sister Consuelo Solano, 69, of Arlington, Va. and brother Juan Faustino Solano, 57, of Kensington, Md. in connection with the case.

    According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Francisco, Consuelo and Juan Solano are natives of Peru, and Ines Solano is a native of Columbia, who became naturalized U.S. citizens. Francisco and Consuelo own the El Pollo Rico restaurant.

    Authorities said the group employed numerous illegal aliens at the restaurant, paying employees in cash until the employee obtained temporary status, at which time they were paid by check.

    Employees were also allegedly housed in residences owned by Francisco Solano in Wheaton and Kensington.

    Court documents charge that from June 5, 2002 until Sept. 29, 2006, over 800 deposits in amounts ranging from about $7,000 to $9,000 each, totaling nearly $7 million, were made into an El Pollo Rico business account. The deposits were allegedly made in order to avoid triggering the filing of a currency transaction report required for amounts in excess of $10,000. Authorities said that on 15 occasions more than one deposit of less than $10,000 was made on the same day, at the same branch bank, often within hours of each other.

    According to authorities, most of the deposits from the restaurant proceeds were allegedly made by Francisco or Ines Solano.

    Agents seized over $2 million in cash and jewelry from residences of the defendants, and several vehicles. More than six illegal aliens employed or harbored by the defendants have also been arrested, authorities said.

    As police raided the restaurant Thursday, several people were arrested during the incident that spilled out into the parking lot outside Pollo Rico, officials said.

    Shortly after the raid, rumors of immigration arrests spread throughout the community, which is heavily populated by Latinos, causing several witnesses to become angry, News4's Jackie Bensen said.

    According to Bensen, that anger appeared to boil over when a crowd in the shopping center where Pollo Rico is located witnessed a tow truck towing an SUV that belonged to a restaurant employee.

    The tow truck was taking the vehicle away because it violated the parking time limit, Bensen said. The move caused an angry exchange between witnesses and the tow truck driver.

    Friends of the SUV owner teamed up to pull the vehicle off of the tow truck, Bensen said. The owner then left the scene in the vehicle.

    Montgomery County police then arrived to defuse the scene, Bensen said.

    The defendants each face a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.

    http://www.nbc4.com/news/13671689/detail.html
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  2. #2
    MW
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    Authorities said the group employed numerous illegal aliens at the restaurant, paying employees in cash until the employee obtained temporary status, at which time they were paid by check.
    How does an illegal obtain temporary status? The only way I know for them to legally do that is to file for asylum. Individuals requesting asylum are allowed to stay until their case is resolved. I guess they could also become temporary if they're awaiting a deportation hearing.

    Anyone know of other situations where an illegal can obtain temporary legal status? Just curious.

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" ** Edmund Burke**

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  3. #3
    Senior Member Dixie's Avatar
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    Lawlessness. Obstruction of justice.

    They became guestworkers with the help of lawyers and the employeer agreeing to put them to work. It's a racket that exploits illegal aliens. It's a loophole that some squeeze through.

    If they come here illegally they should get nothing but I'm sure there was a lot of lies in those applications anyway.

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  4. #4
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    Wheaton, Hyettsville and Cockeysville Maryland is full of illegals..
    That is where the National Guard should be deployed..... Round them up and ship them out all in one night...

    I am sure the amount of anger has been greatly exaggerated , if not fed... This is Maryland, the news media wrote the book on left-wing sensational journalism...........

  5. #5
    Senior Member jp_48504's Avatar
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    Did anyone see the video?

    http://video.nbc4.com/player/?id=128657
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  6. #6
    Senior Member azwreath's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jp_48504
    Did anyone see the video?

    http://video.nbc4.com/player/?id=128657



    Ah yes....more mob mentality at work, I see. I suppose we should get used to it as we will no doubt be seeing more of it and with growing intensity.
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  7. #7
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    This is a clash of cultures that was destined to happen.

  8. #8
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    Immigrants Shy From Md. Shops After Bust

    By Mariana Minaya
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Saturday, July 14, 2007; B01



    At lunchtime most Fridays, the line of customers craving the savory, spicy roasted chicken of El Pollo Rico in Wheaton winds outside the door and spills onto the sidewalk. Yesterday, there were only a few people milling about the shopping center that houses the now closed restaurant.

    After immigration officials seized nine employees at the Ennalls Avenue restaurant Thursday morning, shop employees and patrons said local immigrants were keeping a low profile. Many, they said, are reluctant to shop or show up for work at nearby businesses. Who knows when the scene might repeat itself?

    "There's much hubbub right now because of what happened," Juan Lopez, 27, of Wheaton said in Spanish. "There are many people who don't want to return to work, because they think immigration will come back."

    Lopez, who said he entered the country legally, said he quit his job at a nearby business because he feared immigration officers.

    Federal agents arrested four members of the family that owns the popular restaurant with two locations in the Washington area. Francisco Carlos Solano, 55, and his wife, Inés Solano, 59, of Germantown; Consuelo Solano, 69, of Arlington County; and Juan Faustino Solano, 57, of Kensington were charged with employing and harboring illegal immigrants, money laundering and structuring deposits to avoid financial reporting requirements. The Solanos housed some of their workers in two homes in Kensington and Wheaton, according to an affidavit.

    Nine others were taken into custody and face deportation proceedings.

    Owners of and workers at other businesses in the shopping center that cater to and employ Latinos watched as immigration officials took them away. They said potential customers were too jittery to shop yesterday.

    "This place is usually full," said Oneida Diaz, a cashier at the Mercado Latino grocery store. "People are a bit alarmed. They're afraid to come out."

    Brad Botwin, director of Help Save Maryland, a group opposed to illegal immigration, yesterday said he welcomed the arrests in an area he says has been overtaken by illegal immigration. "I'm glad the feds, in cooperation with the county police, took some action, but I think it needs to be stepped up dramatically," Botwin said.

    Maria Cristina Garcia, a hairdresser at Salon de Belleza Sarita's Unisex, adjacent to the restaurant, said she often ate at El Pollo Rico. She said it seemed like a collegial place to work, with the owners and the employees often joking.

    "They're people who've never caused trouble, who never attract attention," she said of the owners.

    But Rufus Nix Jr., 43, of Takoma Park said he often found the owners to be curt or irritated.

    "When you'd go into the store, it just seemed like he was angry," Nix said. "You would think he'd be smiling. . . . I've never seen him smile as long as I've known him."

    Still, throngs of people were known to line up for meals, sometimes enduring lengthy waits.

    Peruvian culture in the Washington region includes more than 50 restaurants, 10 traditional dance groups and an active leadership council, Peruvian Consul Fernando Quirós said. He said he does not know the Solano family personally but knew the business by reputation. "I heard a lot about El Pollo Rico. It was one of the best."

    He added: "The community is very active, and there is much solidarity. This story of Pollo Rico is really a surprise to all of us. We hope that things will get clarified. We hope that this Peruvian family will demonstrate that they are innocent."

    Luis Lora, 60, of Kensington came to the restaurant yesterday to buy 60 chickens for his neighborhood pool, where Pollo Rico chicken is always in high demand, he said. The food was "excellent, though it didn't seem like it from just looking at the place," he said in Spanish.

    Lora also worried that the arrest would negatively impact the image of the Hispanic community. "They make the community look bad," Lora said. "If he's a minority, people will say every minority does the same thing."

    Botwin said he had little sympathy for how the arrests might affect legal immigrants. "It's not like we're going out with baseball bats and going after anyone who looks Hispanic," he said. "That's ridiculous. That's [immigrants'] way of saying, 'Leave us alone.' "

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... id=topnews
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  9. #9
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    Why would the guy here legally (Juan Lopez 27 in the article) say he quit his job because he was afraid of immigration officers? That makes no sense.

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