November 18, 2005

Illegal aliens arrested at WalMart construction site in Allentown PA

This one has an interesting union angle:

...Wal-Mart spokesman Marty Heires said the company would cooperate fully with federal authorities.

"We have written contracts with these subcontractors requiring that they follow all applicable local, state and federal employment laws," he said in a statement.

At least 120 illegal immigrants, most of them from Mexico, were detained, Schuylkill County Sheriff Frank McAndrew said. He said he began investigating the site and contacted federal officials after getting complaints from local tradespeople.

"You've got a situation here where illegal immigrants are coming into Schuylkill County and taking (local union workers') jobs for eight bucks an hour. They are working for poverty wages, and creating unemployment because our skilled tradesmen are out of work," McAndrew said...

Last we looked, unions like the far-left SEIU and the AFL-CIO are strong supporters of illegal immigration. Perhaps this is just a local exception. Needless to say, if unions got on the right side of this issue they might be able to bring all but the most racist Dems around.

Previously: A 2003 affidavit said WalMart knew subcontractors were hiring illegal aliens in the case for which they were fined. And, WM says they won't hire illegal aliens.

Posted to Immigration2005b at November 18, 2005 03:24 PM

Comments

I know of 100 places like that, nothing new in san diego\mexico.

Posted by: Fred Dawes at November 18, 2005 05:47 PM

From The New York Times:
"A Wal-Mart spokesman has said the detained workers were not employed by Wal-Mart but by the subcontractors. Wal-Mart's contracts with the companies require that they follow local, state and federal employment laws, the company said.

Last month, Wal-Mart shut down work on seven stores under construction in North Dakota to check for illegal aliens after two illegal immigrants working on Wal-Mart projects in Bismarck were charged with molesting two 13-year-old girls. Charges against one of the suspects were dropped after authorities found out he was a juvenile.

In 2003, a raid of 60 Wal-Mart stores in 21 states led to the arrests of 245 illegal workers. An affidavit claimed a pair of senior Wal-Mart executives knew cleaning contractors were hiring illegal immigrants. The retailer agreed to pay $11 million in March to settle the case but denied senior executives knew of the hirings."

As Snoopy says, "A pattern emerges".

Posted by: D Flinchum at November 20, 2005 09:58 AM