Chipotle Fires Hundreds After Immigration Raid

An immigration probe has forced Mexican chain Chipotle to fire hundreds of employees in Minnesota, over recent weeks, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., which owns and operates nearly 1,100 restaurants around the country and employs 25,000 people, was told several months ago that it would face an audit of its I-9 forms, which verify workers can work in the U.S. legally, a Chipotle spokesman told the WSJ.

As part of an audit of around 50 restaurants in Minnesota, Immigration and Customs Enforcement found "suspect documents," forcing Chipotle to dismiss employees in 50 Minnesota restaurants. ICE will also audit 60 restaurants in Virginia and Washington, D.C., according to the WSJ.

A Chipotle spokesman told the WSJ that the chain required two different documents to verify the identity of every worker at the chain, but illegal immigrants commonly use false documents, Reuters explains.

"I believe that when you go to apply there, they know beforehand that you don't have papers," Tanya, a 35-year-old mother of four who was working at the chain illegally told Reuters.

"And after the six years I worked there, or the 10 years of some of my colleagues, they get rid of us without warning."

The action puts a dent in Chipotle's plans for rapid expansion: "This creates significant disruption to companies and in the lives of employees," Chipotle spokesperson Chris Arnold told the Wall Street Journal. Reuters reported the publicly-traded company planned to open 145 restaurants this year, and has seen stock gain more than 500 percent in the past two years.

The Obama Administration is targeting employers with raids of company documents, the WSJ reports, with 2,740 companies audited in the fiscal year that ended September 30th, resulting in a record $7 million in fines for businesses who employed illegal workers.

Legal and illegal workers make up a quarter of all workers in the food services and restaurant industries according to Current Population Survey figures reported by Reuters. Numbers revealed immigrants represented around 24 percent of workers in the sector between March 2009 and March 2010.

Comments

[spytheweb]

11:54 PM on 03/25/2011

ICE busts yet another company employing illegals.

March 23, 2011

"His company is one of at least nine businesses across the Twin Cities undergoing a so-called immigration audit, part of the Obama administration's national crackdown on employers using undocumented workers. At least 2,000 people in the Twin Cities have lost their jobs in the last 18 months as a result of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) finding that they couldn't prove their eligibility to work in the United States.
The results of ICE's audits offer a warning to businesses, especially those using low-skill workers:
•The number of audits jumped more than 50 percent last year to about 2,200 from 1,444 in 2009."

http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/118301014.html

[ugly american]

09:05 PM on 03/24/2011

Trying to understand the article;
"Legal and illegal workers make up a quarter of all workers in the food services and restaurant industries"
Excuse me? Legal and illegal workers make up 100% of all food service employees and every other industry don't they? Or is the food service industry now recruiting animals and beings from other planets?

[GWL666]

02:14 PM on 02/13/2011

Chipotle is the tip of the iceberg. Millions of illegal Mexican Aliens are accepting hourly wages far below minimum wage, especially in the hotel and restaurant industries. These companies that hire illegal Mexican Aliens should be closed down and the owners thrown in jail. And, those companies then given to Americans that will only hire workers who are in America legally, which just in case you don’t get it, is the law in America. I am tired of you illegal Mexican aliens breaking the law; go home to that dirt bag country Mexico and leave decent Americans alone.

Only those legally in American should get jobs. There are millions of American Citizens and those with Green Cards and work visas who are in America legally that should be getting these jobs and paid minimum wage.

If you are here illegally, please go back to your third world toilet. My wife and kids are in America legally from Canada; everyone else who is here illegally should be sent back to their respective countries and wait in line like everyone else. Mexico lost the Mexican-American War; Mexicans do not have the right to sneak into America illegally. We need the double fence and 50,000 more troops on the border. The Berlin Wall worked great, a double fence would work great along the US Mexican border.

[Jan Hoadley]

10:49 AM on 02/11/2011

Remember all those places going "cage free" and using more expensive products for 2-4% of their food...wonder how they're using more expensive foods and keeping prices the same? This answers that - but hey the chickens are more important than people working anyway. :-(

[roydoe]

08:15 PM on 02/10/2011

I hear that thousands of norway rats were deported as well and that Chipotle has hired raccoons and possums to fill-in in the alley.

[kaydeechio]

02:55 PM on 02/10/2011

Sorry. I don't feel bad for the undocumented workers losing their jobs. Too many of us out there can't find anything and shouldn't have to compete with those who have no right to work here. If they want to be here, they need to do things correctly! My cousin married a man who, along with his entire family, immigrated from Thailand. If his entire family can become legal, so can these people!

[kaydeechio]

02:56 PM on 02/10/2011

I should also mention that the people who knowingly went along with this should be fired immediately.

[spytheweb]

12:17 AM on 02/11/2011

I read a story about Mexicans collecting SS. Coming over the border and picking up checks from a post office. The person telling the story said these people get hold of a number maybe from a child that died. SS should be on top of this, if a number has not been used for 25 years (work or as a dependent on tax forms) then suddenly is in play should raise a red flag.

They should also end the use of ITIN numbers.

[Chety168]

05:16 PM on 03/23/2011

Well, now is our chance--go apply at Chipotle.

[frixx]

01:18 AM on 02/11/2011

And as many members of that family that can, will try to collect benefits they have not paid into.

No wonder we are broke. Multiply that by tens of millions.

If you come to the United States, come to contribute, legally.

In the past, you had to be sponsored, and that individual was responsible for making sure you were never a burden on society. That was changed, and is no longer true. Now its a scam, get as much as you can while you can.

It's not sustainable.

[Chety168]

05:18 PM on 03/23/2011

No one can collect any Federal benefits unless they have a valid Social Security. All that will be verified thoroughly before receiving anything.Stop making up nonsense to support your racist view.

[ruburnt]

02:00 PM on 02/10/2011

While I kind of feel bad for the people who have lost their jobs, I think this is a step in the right direction. So many teens out there are lacking work ethics because the corporations, intentional or not, filled them with illegal workers. Maybe my teenage son will finally get the opportunity to learn responsibility and a good work ethic before he starts college......

[snorrk]

01:09 PM on 02/10/2011

So...2,740 companies were audited in the fiscal year that ended Sept 30th, resulting in a record $7 mil in fines.

Therein lies the problem. The $7 mil doesn't even cover the salaries of the auditors. Further, as long as the fines are structured merely as a "cost of doing business" and not a real penalty that would make any employer sit up and say "OUCH!" there is no real incentive for them to follow the law beyond a wink and a nod.

[dididangerlove]

12:16 PM on 02/10/2011

Personally, I think it will probably compromise the quality of the food when they fire undocumented workers from Latin America. However, I think they need to prosecute the owners of the company. Too many business people support Republicans for financial reasons while ignoring their reprehensible social agenda. (I'm not sure the Chipotle owners do this.) So, business owners who like low-wage workers and no taxes - make up your minds. It's really ugly here in Arizona because the chickens in the house and senate have refused to deal with this issue for years.

[jmad]

11:54 AM on 02/10/2011

Will the chairman of the board and other top management be charged with crimes and go to jail?

[frixx]

01:20 AM on 02/11/2011

They should, that is the only way this invasion will stop.

[oilfield]

10:28 AM on 02/10/2011

e verify should help stop some of this in the future....it sounds like many of these folks were there before 2007....some states still dont require everify as they all should....if you want to help call your state representatives to get everify to be mandated.....

[Kurfco]

11:22 AM on 02/10/2011

Absolutely!

And to all those who say that eVerify has some problems, there is a simple reply: "If you are a legal, law abiding employee and you're told there is something amiss in the records accessed in the eVerify system, wouldn't you want to see corrections made?"

The fact that eVerify isn't perfect must not be used as a refuge for the illegal alien lobby.

[FreeProgressLiberal]

09:57 PM on 02/16/2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Verify

""Virginia’s E-Verify law requires only state agencies to enroll in the E-Verify Program by December 1, 2012""

""California currently has no statewide E-Verify law""

[oilfield]

10:55 PM on 02/16/2011

i know it is mandated but as an employer, it is silly not to use the free service...i have hired hundreds of folks through the years and this service would be nice to include all americans...if someone is wanted or anything else that an employer should know about.....we have hired folks that it turned out that were wanted in another state and they quit after a few months...

[greyK]

05:57 AM on 02/10/2011

I hope it doesn't change the quality. that chicken salad is AMAZING.

[dididangerlove]

12:10 PM on 02/10/2011

Right on.

[Stickersz]

03:07 AM on 02/10/2011

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[olddognewtrick]

11:31 PM on 02/09/2011

Sounds like Target in Walnut Creek, CA a few years back...

[StCyrlyMe2]

10:02 PM on 02/09/2011

Oh no wonder I been seeing so many new faces in the Chipotle restaurants in Las Vegas I saw an artical about this which made me jump to the defense of the employee's, not knowing they were undocumented
I feel really bad for the way they were treated anyhow because I believe the management like all the other companies that hire these people, know it right off and should have never hired them in the first place
To make matters worse they fired them and refused to pay them a final pay check because they can get away with it. That is wrong and that should be forced to pay those people