Firm's owner gets 10 months for hiring illegal immigrants

[pampango]

Source: Los Angeles Times

A Rancho Cucamonga furniture company owner was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, federal officials said Tuesday. Rick M. Vartanian, 57, of Ladera Ranch had been convicted of obstruction of justice and employing illegal immigrants at his company, Brownwood Furniture.

A federal audit of the company's personnel in 2009 found that 61 of the firm's 73 employees had submitted invalid documents to obtain their jobs, officials said.

"As these sentences make clear, employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers face serious consequences," Claude Arnold, special agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security investigations in Los Angeles, said in a statement.

In 2009, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano directed immigration officials to focus their worksite enforcement resources on the criminal prosecution of employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. In fiscal year 2010, a record 180 business owners, employers and managers were charged with illegal hiring, up from 114 in fiscal 2009 and 135 the previous year.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0309-illegal-hiring-20110309,0,4658772.story

[forty6]

1. We should see 100 of these headlines every week until

the amoral business owners get the message.

[smaug]

3. Absolutely

Want to end illegal immigration? Then go after the business owners hiring them. Same with drug trafficking; George Carlin once (actually, multiple times) pointed out that if you want to end the drug trade, ignore pushers and addicts: go after the bankers laundering the money. Put a bunch of those ReTHUGLIKKLAN bankers on hard time in say, Angola in Louisiana or Starke in Florida, not a Federal minimum security clink, and watch the cocaine profits evaporate.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

6. Agreed. Get to the root of the problem....

...that's how it's done.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Now that's what I call shared sacrifice.

[Aerows]

4. This is how you stop illegal immigration

and prevent people from hiring illegal immigrants. Not the illegal immigrants, you go after the people hiring them KNOWING they are illegal immigrants.

I read a story the other day about a bunch of employees quitting from Chipotle restaurants, because they were possibly illegal.

If an employer can't find documented workers to fulfill a role, that employer isn't paying enough, period. Pay enough so that someone will do it - don't break the law.

[CrispyQ]

5. Bravo!

We don't need no stinkin' fence. We already have laws in place to fix the illegal immigration problem. Let's use them!!

[WatsonT]

7. *golf clap*

A good start.

[jwirr]

8. This is the only way to deal with illegal immigration. Go after those

who are hiring. If there are jobs that lack workers then they should sign up workers at the border like they have sometimes in the past.

[pampango]

9. I don't think there's just one way to deal with illegal immigration, but this is one

part of a comprehensive solution.

As the Progressive Caucus, AFL-CIO, and Change to Win state, we need action against illegal employers, border enforcement and a path to citizenship for those who are already here.

http://www.seiu.org/2010/03/afl-cio-seiu-ufcw-urge-senate-leaders-to-move-comprehensive-immigration-reform-forward.php

Going after illegal employers ONLY is the classic "attrition through enforcement" strategy.

"Those three words, “attrition through enforcement,” make up a catchphrase of the the right-wing Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Lemons points out. It essentially means, "make life so uncomfortable to immigrant population here that they'll leave.""

http://alibi.com/index.php?story=32226&scn=feature

It's the tactic promoted by practically every teabagger and repub politician as the preferred way to deal with illegal immigration. Unions, the Progressive Caucus and many Democrats don't agree with that strategy.

[WatsonT]

12. I think the employers should be the main target

however only going after one side of the equation is going to be less effective than going after both.

Shut down the border *and* hit employers with harsh fines/penalties that go up with each new occurrence.

[hootinholler]

10. WOW, now how about the Tyson's bust a few years ago.

What convictions came out of that one?

-Hoot

[Courtesy Flush]

11. You can bet they brag about their furniture being made in America.

Pet peeve: "Made in America", but not by Americans.

[sarcasmo]

13. About time, this needs to happen every day.

[devils chaplain]

14. Nice to see them approaching the problem the right way

Building thousands of miles of fences and "document checks" on the street do not address the root cause of the problem. These employers are the root cause. Throw the book at every one!

[SlipperySlope]

15. Interesting and effective!

Interesting responses here so far. Yes, this could very well be effective.