When you check into a hotel and provide a photo ID, your expectation is that the hotel will be holding this info for its records in case you mess up the room or try to skip out on your bill. What you don’t expect is that the hotel management is taking its daily guest logs and turning them over to federal immigration officials. [More]
immigration
Motel 6 Admits Some Locations Were Sharing Lists Of Guests With Immigration Officers On Daily Basis
By 9.15.17
This Startup Wants To Put Giant Minibars In Apartment Lobbies
By 9.13.17
You might call them bodegas, corner stores or convenience stores, but you’re probably familiar with that one locally owned store that has exactly what you need at the odd hour when you needed it. They’re more common in cities than elsewhere, but there’s a startup out to replace them entirely — with giant minibars. [More]
Starbucks CEO Says Company Will Hire 10,000 Refugees At Stores Around World
By 1.30.17
Amid efforts by the Trump administration to curb immigration, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced over the weekend that his company “will neither stand by, nor stand silent, as the uncertainty around the new Administration’s actions grows with each passing day.” [More]
For-Profit Prisons Could See Boost With Trump’s Executive Order To Open New Detention Centers
By 1.25.17
While much of today’s news about President Trump’s latest executive order is the directive to build his often-promised wall along the border between Mexico and the U.S., the order also directs the federal government to get to work immediately on building — or contracting out — detention centers along that border, providing a potential boon to the for-profit prison industry. [More]
CA Man Who Posed As Immigration Lawyer Charged With Defrauding Consumers
By 12.8.16
Two weeks after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, along with a number of immigration advocates, warned all consumers about the possible increased risk of immigration fraud following the recent presidential election, his counterpart in California charged the owner of one such operation that allegedly defrauded countless immigrants. [More]
Immigrants Face Uptick Of Attempted Fraud
By 11.22.16
Just as when the U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked four months ago on the White House’s hopes to enact large-scale immigration reforms, the recent presidential election has left millions of immigrants uncertain about their status making them potential targets for fraudsters. [More]
Supreme Court Deadlock On Immigration Puts Immigrants At Increased Risk For Fraud, Deportation
By 6.24.16
Yesterday, a deadlocked U.S. Supreme Court stymied the White House’s hopes to enact large-scale immigration reforms that would have allowed millions of immigrants to remain in the country. While this lack of a decision doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the program, it will inevitably create confusion for those directly affected by the case, while fostering a breeding ground for fraudsters seeking to take advantage of immigrants uncertain of their status. [More]
10 Things We Learned About Who Really Made Your Subaru
By 7.28.15
The carmaker Subaru is having a great decade so far: their sales have doubled in the United States and they’re having trouble keeping up with the demand. While that’s great news for Subaru, an in-depth investigation from Reuters shows that Subaru and its suppliers have turned to some questionable but legal labor practices to keep the Foresters coming down the line. [More]
Pizza Worker May Be Deported After 20 Years On The Job Because He Doesn’t Actually Toss Dough
By 8.12.14
What sets one pizza worker apart from all the rest, making that employee worthy of earning a visa to stay in the United States? Apparently, the ability to exhibit “showmanship,” by tossing pizza dough in the air. So after one restaurant admitted its employee couldn’t actually perform that skill, despite making that claim on a visa application, the worker in question might be deported. [More]
Alabama Illegal Immigrant Law Could Leave State With Job Surplus
By 10.6.11
An Alabama law meant to crack down on illegal immigration may be so effective that the state won’t have enough immigrant labor to fill its labor requirements. Immigrant farm and construction workers, as well as their legal citizen relatives, are reportedly said to be leaving the state in such high numbers that some employers may have trouble filling openings if the economy picks up. [More]
Lime Mexican Grill Turns Arizona Immigration Controversy Into Marketing
By 9.28.11
Among the many hot-button debates of the last few years has been the state of Arizona’s controversial proposals to deal with the issue of illegal immigration. But while both sides of the debate take the topic very seriously, the folks at Southeastern restaurant chain Lime Mexican Grill have decided to have some fun with it. [More]
Ally Bank Thinks My Fiancee Is A Scammer, Bans Me For Life
By 3.17.11
Is it a crime to get engaged to someone from another country? No, but it does raise red flags for wire fraud when you’re trying to transfer money. That’s what Robert learned when his Egyptian-born fiancée tried to deposit money into their wedding savings account that they share, but is in her name because she doesn’t yet have a Social Security number. [More]
Private Prisons Worked To Pass AZ Immigration Law
By 11.4.10
A new NPR investigation uncovers evidence that the controversial Arizona immigration law came to pass thanks in large part to an intense lobbying campaign by a group that stood to profit from its enactment: private prisons. [More]
Restaurant Owner Admits To Hiring Undocumented Workers, Pleads 'Not Guilty' To Doing So
By 9.8.10
Along with hotels, the food preparation industry may be the sector that relies the most on undocumented workers. A White House crackdown on employers of such workers has been in effect since April of last year is putting increased pressure and heightened consequences — including tighter scrutiny increased fines — for business owners who take the risk of hiring such workers. A San Diego restaurant owner is going all in to fight the regulation. He has been indicted by a federal grand jury for hiring illegal immigrants, but has entered a not guilty plea and kept the workers in question on the staff. [More]
Immigration Raid Reveals Meth Lab At Nation's Largest Kosher Meat Plant
By 5.19.08
According to KCRG, officials discovered a methamphetamine lab within the AgriProcessors meat processing facility in Postville, Iowa during a large-scale immigration raid. 389 arrests were made by federal agencies from what is thought to be one of the largest immigration enforcement actions ever taken in the United States. Details, inside…
Store Owner Demands Spanish-Speaking Customers Show Social Security Cards
By 3.13.08
David C. Richardson, the owner of Rhode Island Refrigeration in Providence, Rhode Island, overheard two customers speaking Spanish to each other, so he asked them to produce proof of citizenship. According to them, he then threatened to call Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and make a citizen’s arrest, although Richardson denies he picked up the phone, but not that he made the threats. In fact, he says he’s done this “fifteen or twenty times” in the past and refuses to do business with those who won’t show their Social Security cards.
