Facing Trump administration scrutiny, Market Basket suspends dozens of workers
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Market Basket. Photo: Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Market Basket is one of the latest American companies in immigration investigators' crosshairs.
Why it matters: The Trump administration is ramping up its scrutiny of workplaces that may be employing immigrants without legal authorization to work as part of its broader immigration crackdown, per the Washington Post.
Driving the news: Market Basket suspended 47 immigrant workers at its New Bedford location last week, the New Bedford Light first reported.
- A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said "no arrests have been made at this time, and the investigation is ongoing."
- The suspensions come weeks after the DHS's Homeland Security Investigations issued the company a notice of suspect documents, identifying 167 employees without legal work authorization.
- Neither DHS nor Market Basket said where the remaining employees work.
Between the lines: The notice and suspensions come two years after DHS first flagged the paperwork irregularities, amid the Trump administration's plans to crack down on employers with undocumented workers.
What they're saying: Harvey J. Wolkoff, an attorney representing the Market Basket board, told Axios in an email that the company will reinstate workers who can properly update their work information.
- "We hope to have these folks back to work as soon as possible," Wolkoff said.
- Those who can't will be out of a job.
Zoom in: Adrian Ventura, executive director of the Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores (CCT) told Axios workers in New Bedford started being let go in recent weeks.
- CCT is working with partners to collect food for the affected workers.
Zoom out: The grocery chain's audit comes after DHS raided a California cannabis grow site and a Nebraska plant where up to 100 people were suspected of working without authorization.
- In California, authorities arrested more than 360 people, and a farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof during the raid, the AP reported.
- In Nebraska, the agency detained more than 70 undocumented immigrant workers.
Reality check: It's not unusual for larger companies to take months, or even years, to address employee irregularities flagged by HSI, says Matthew Maiona, a Boston immigration attorney.
- Larger companies typically review I-9 forms and self-audit periodically, but sometimes employees' work permissions fall out of date.
- That may happen more often if a foreign-born worker has a work permit through parole status or another designation the Trump administration is now winding down.
Be smart: Maiona says companies of all sizes should review their I-9s more regularly given various immigration-related changes under the Trump administration.
- Companies can self-audit their I-9s to identify any irregularities before they get on HSI's radar.