Utah hotel settles case with immigration officials
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An upscale hotel chain has agreed to pay about $2 million to settle allegations that 43 Utah employees working in the country illegally had returned to work after they were flagged by an immigration audit and fired, according to federal authorities...
...43 workers returned to their jobs within days using false names and documents...
The employees were hired before the hotel used the federal E-Verify system to check the eligibility of its workers, authorities said.
The U.S. attorney's office said that while the hotel and its executives helped investigators, the hotel is paying a fine because the employees involved in the scheme were acting on the hotel's behalf.
The hotel chain will pay nearly $2 million to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and spend another $500,000 to adopt new hiring policies, such as retraining corporate lawyers on immigration practices and retooling labor contracts.
"All industries, regardless of size, location and type are expected to comply with the law," said Kumar Kibble, a Denver-based Homeland Security agent overseeing Utah investigations. "As this significant settlement demonstrates, there are real consequences for businesses that employ an illegal workforce."
