AP: Feds: Wal-Mart Execs Knew Workers Illegal

Feds: Wal-Mart Execs Knew Workers Illegal


Monday November 7, 2005 11:01 PM

By MARCUS KABEL

Associated Press Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - Senior Wal-Mart executives knew cleaning
contractors were hiring illegal immigrants, many of whom were housed
in crowded conditions and sometimes slept in the backs of stores,
according to a federal agency's affidavit.

The affidavit, unsealed last week, was part of an investigation of
Wal-Mart by federal immigration officials that led to the 2003 raid
on 60 Wal-Mart stores in 21 states, and the arrests of 245 illegal
workers. The retailer agreed to pay $11 million in March to settle
the case, but says top executives neither encouraged nor knew of the
practice.

The affidavit was filed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service
to secure search warrants for a 2003 raid on Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. The INS has since been folded into
the bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In the affidavit, investigators said testimony and taped conversations
from 2003 showed two executives at Wal-Mart headquarters knew that
contractors and subcontractors cleaning its stores in several states
employed illegal immigrants from eastern Europe and elsewhere.