OK we had a whole slew of Arabic students here on expired exchange visas that formed terrorist cells in the country and helped change this country forever with an act of terror but we'll sweep the Wal Marts for janitors because....300 sought at Wal-Mart
Workers nabbed on immigration charges; executives facing subpoenas, U.S. official says.
October 23, 2003: 2:13 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (CNN) - U.S. officials are sweeping Wal-Mart stores across the country in a bid to arrest about 300 illegal workers, law enforcement officials said Thursday.
The arrests came as part of investigation into subcontractors that provide cleaning crews for Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer. Many of those arrested were eastern European nationals who were coming off night cleaning shifts at various Wal-Mart locations, the officials said.
Arrests were made in 21 states, most of them in Pennsylvania and Texas, officials said.
The latest arrests stemmed from two prior investigations by federal immigration officials involving contractors and Wal-Mart stores, one in 1998 and another in 2001, the officials said.
"We're currently trying to understand the scope and the detail of the investigation," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Weber told CNN. "We are talking to the (immigration bureau) and, of course, are committed to cooperating with them."
Wal-Mart uses at least 100 outside contractors for cleaning services at about 700 stores across the country, she said. "We do require each of these contractors to use only legal workers. We do not know if the current investigation involves one or multiple outside contractors," Weber added.
But federal law enforcement officials said information from an undercover investigation revealed that some Wal-Mart executives and some store managers knew of the immigration violations.
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"If a company knowingly hires illegal workers, it can be penalized up to $10,000 per person," Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told Reuters.
Though Thursday's arrests did not involve criminal charges, officials said grand jury subpoenas have been issued that could lead to such charges.
Weber said she did not know if any Wal-Mart executives knew about hiring the illegal workers. Law enforcement officials also sought information at the company's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., Reuters reported.
Industry analysts said the probe might hurt Wal-Mart's image but wouldn't necessarily hurt its financial results.
"It looks like these illegal workers were hired by contractors and not directly by Wal-Mart. Is this really bad press or slightly bad press? I think it's the latter," said Mark Mandel, analyst with Blaylock & Partners. "If Wal-Mart was hiring from sweatshops, that would be much worse."
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"Where this could hurt the company is in its reputation of not being a great place to work. If left unchecked, it could have an impact on Wal-Mart's image," said John Allen, senior partner with corporate brand consultant Lippincott & Margulies.
The other states were arrests occurred are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Wal-Mart (WMT: Research, Estimates) shares were little changed in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
