News Releases and Statements

National Life Insurance, Industria Lechera de Puerto Rico (INDULAC), and Fondo para el Fomento de la Industria Lechera are the most recent businesses in Puerto Rico to become members of the IMAGE program with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Samira Zuniga, the owner of an eastern Iowa roofing company pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday to harboring and conspiring to harbor illegal aliens. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led the investigation.

A large tomato producer in southern Arizona pleaded guilty Friday and was sentenced for knowingly hiring and engaging in a pattern and practice of employing unauthorized aliens following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

George Valvanis, a New Hampshire man who managed several Dunkin' Donuts stores in Portland, Maine was sentenced in federal court for hiring illegal aliens in a case investigated by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). According to court records, Valvanis knowingly employed illegal aliens to work in his stores between 2001 and 2009.

Chan Gia Duong and Phung Ca Long, a Vinton, Iowa couple who continued to defy the law even after they had already pleaded guilty to federal charges, was sentenced for multiple federal crimes including health care fraud, tax evasion and harboring illegal aliens. This investigation was led by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)...

One of the nation's largest retailers is partnering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to strengthen its hiring practices and help ensure it is employing a legal workforce.

Following an investigation and audit of Form I-9 documents by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), 14 New England employers have been fined this fiscal year for various violations that enabled companies to hire illegal aliens.

A Mexican national, who was convicted of harboring illegal aliens for commercial advantage, was sentenced to 46 months in prison.

Swedish Medical Center, the largest non-profit medical provider in the Seattle area, is partnering with U.S. ICE to strengthen its hiring practices and help ensure it is employing a legal workforce. The firm became the first medical company in Washington state to join ICE's Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE) on Thursday.

Five individuals previously employed at the local La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant made initial federal court appearances on Friday. The workers were each charged by criminal complaint following execution of a search warrant as part of an ongoing worksite enforcement operation conducted by agents with U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Court records revealed that from about 2000 through 2007, the dairy employed 78 different illegal aliens, which constituted almost 75 percent of its workforce over that time period. Aquila Farms failed to conduct the necessary inquiries to determine the employment eligibility of its work force, as required by federal immigration laws.

Randall J. Weitzel, Edwood Brodtmann, Jr., and Agustin Arcadia pled guilty in federal court Friday to charges related to employing illegal aliens at federal and private projects on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. One of the locations where Illegal alien laborers associated with Weitzel worked included the courthouse where the guilty pleas were entered.

Two current managers and three former managers or supervisors of Mambo Seafood were indicted on Wednesday on various charges related to harboring illegal aliens.

An Eastern Iowa business on Tuesday became the first in the state to be member of the nationwide "ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers" program partnership by U.S. ICE to ensure a legal and more secure work force.

The father and son owners of the Chuy's Mesquite Broiler regional Mexican restaurant chain, along with the company's accountant, will be arraigned in federal court in Tucson Thursday on tax and immigration violations contained in a 19-count indictment stemming from a lengthy probe by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the IRS.

The owner and the madame of a Korean room salon in Falls Church, Va., were sentenced today for conspiracy to both harbor illegal aliens and to induce illegal aliens to reside in the United States for commercial advantage and private financial gain following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A federal indictment, unsealed today in federal court, charged Oscar Lazo, 51, a citizen of Peru; Eva Ramos, 35, a citizen of the United States; Mauricio Cruz, a citizen of Mexico; Manuel Cruz, a citizen of Mexico; and an unnamed defendant with conspiring to sell the stolen identities of U.S. citizens.

"Portnoy Messinger Pearl & Associates based in Syosset, N.Y., has signed an IMAGE agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Short for ""ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers,"" IMAGE provides businesses an opportunity to strengthen hiring practices and ensure a legal workforce."

"Chun Yan Lin, 44, of Doraville, Ga., was sentenced Thursday in federal court for conspiring to transport and harbor illegal aliens, following a joint investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Lin owned an employment agency called ""Lucky,""..."

An Adams, N.Y., farmer was arrested Wednesday and charged with harboring illegal aliens, following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.

Mexican national admits harboring illegal aliens for commercial advantage

A precast concrete manufacturer and a precast concrete storm-water management system provider are the latest Illinois companies to sign an IMAGE agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

A local woman was sentenced Tuesday to a year in prison for transporting, harboring and hiring illegal aliens to work at the Chinese restaurant she managed. Between January 2009 and August 2010, Hua Huang was manager of the China Buffet/Mongolian Grill in Poplar Bluff. During that time she regularly employed several illegal aliens from Mexico...

A Delaware, Ohio, business owner pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of evading federal employment taxes with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and to one count of encouraging illegal aliens to reside in the United States.

The president of a Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., furniture manufacturing business was sentenced Monday to 10 months in federal prison on two criminal counts after a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) revealed the company hired unauthorized alien workers.