American Apparel to lay off quarter of workforce, presumed illegal aliens

Miriam Jordan of the Wall Street Journal informs us that American Apparel will be laying off about a quarter of their workforce due to a "crackdown" by the Department of Homeland Security (link).

In a letter to employees in English and Spanish, Chief Executive Dov Charney said he was "deeply saddened" that the company has to shed workers who have been at the company for several years.

Mr. Charney, a champion of immigration reform, promised to give the workers priority for jobs when "you are able to get your immigration papers in order."

...American Apparel is likely to face thousands of dollars in penalties for hiring workers who weren't eligible to be employed. The government has said fines may exceed $800 per employee.

While it's good that the DHS is taking some steps, most of the newly-unemployed illegal aliens probably won't return to their home countries. Most will probably remain in the U.S. and seek employment with the sweatshop down the street. See the enforce labor but not immigration laws posts; Janet Napolitano wants those workers to remain the U.S. in order to give them amnesty rather than doing her job and deporting them.

It's also worth noting that AA's lawyer is/was the Mexican government-linked Peter Schey, and that actions like this by the DHS - even if they could be stronger - run counter to the wishes of Antonio Villaraigosa and Fabian Nunez. They and others wanted to make AA a "protected" company.

UPDATE: A copy of Charney's letter is at gawker.com/5352731/dov-charneys-tear+stained-letter-to-his-1500-laid+off-employees
For once the snark exhibited at sites like that is welcome.

Fri, 09/04/2009 - 05:26 · · Importance: 4