U.S. Immigrations and Customs Crack Down on American Apparel

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• July 02 2009
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The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a department of Homeland Security, has begun an audit on on 652 U.S. companies to determine whether employees qualify to work in the country, and LA-based American Apparel is one of them, according to a story published today on the Wall Street Journal’s web site.

American Apparel reported that it was given notice by the ICE that 1,600 of its 5,600 factory employees might be working illegally, and that ICE couldn’t verify the status of 200 others.  Here’s an excerpt from the WSJ article:

“The government’s audit of the apparel company dates back to January 2008, and it’s unclear how many of the workers under suspicion were still employed.

American Apparel — founded and run by a Canadian emigrant to the U.S., Dov Charney — has been one of the most outspoken proponents of changing U.S. immigration laws. Many of its stores post signs and sell T-shirts that read ‘Legalize L.A.,’ a reference to the city’s many undocumented workers.

Mr. Charney said in a statement Wednesday that the company hoped the employees ‘are able to confirm their work authorization so that they may continue to work at American Apparel.’ It remains to be seen how much pressure the new policy could put on employers.

The government now plans to comb through the records at the companies it has notified. ‘Inspections are one of the most powerful tools the federal government has to enforce employment and immigration laws,’ ICE said in a statement.”

Read the entire article HERE.