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WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 — Federal officials arrested more than 300 illegal workers at 61 Wal-Mart stores across the country early Thursday morning and searched the Arkansas office of one of the retail chain’s corporate executives, a federal official said.
THE WORKERS ARRESTED were members of cleaning crews which the company hired through a contractor. All were in the country illegally, said a federal official on condition of anonymity. The arrests occurred as the workers were finishing their night shift at stores in 21 states. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams confirmed the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office is investigating and that a number of stores were raided Thursday morning. “They arrested a number of members of the floor cleaning crews. They are (employed by) outside contractors; they’re not Wal-Mart associates,” Williams said. She said the company would give more information later.The arrests stem from a November 1998 investigation done in conjunction with the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office. That investigation also targeted contractors and subcontractors used by Wal-Mart to clean stores.
Employers are required to check forms known as I-9’s, filled out by every new employee, and keep the forms for a specified period of time. An employer can face civil and criminal penalties for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants or failing to comply with the I-9 regulations. The workers arrested were detained at local immigration offices, the official said. If they had no previous criminal record, they were released with notices to appear before immigration judges. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., is the world’s largest retailer. The states where arrests were made are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
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1908 - 2008
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