Fox News reports that Homeland Security has nabbed “twenty-six business owners” who participated in a “complex criminal scheme” wherein employment agencies smuggled illegal aliens into the States and connected them with work at Chinatown restaurants and other businesses. It’s unclear which, if any, restaurant owners are among the accused, but the charges (which include money laundering) could result in a minimum of three to five years in prison. According to CNN, some of the 70 workers (who are not among those arrested) were paid just $3 an hour, making it near impossible to pay back the $75,000 they were charged by their smugglers.
Feds Charge 26 New York Business Owners in Unauthorized Worker Ring [Fox News]
23 arrested in human smuggling bust in NYC [CNN]
