Web site targeting employers of migrants

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Immigration officials, business owners call list of those suspected of hiring illegal workers 'virtual vigilantism'

Daniel González

The Arizona Republic

A popular Web site that allows people to anonymously accuse employers of hiring illegal workers has managed to irk business owners, raise the ire of immigration authorities and show that anti-illegal immigration forces are focusing their efforts on employers.

Wehirealiens.com is operated by a citizens group that says it's trying to fight illegal immigration by publicizing suspected employers of illegal immigrants on its site and reporting them to federal authorities. Critics, however, contend the site is part of a troubling movement by anti-illegal immigration groups to out businesses and individuals on the Internet.

It is among several sites that attempt to embarrass employers, but what makes the site so popular is what makes it controversial: Wehirealiens.com doesn't check or confirm accusations from contributors before posting or sending information to authorities.

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More than 2,700 businesses, including 200 in Arizona, are currently listed on the site's list of "illegal employers."

The Web site is not supported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but the agency has used some information supplied by the site. Business and immigrant advocates say the site amounts to vigilantism, and legal experts say the site is on shaky legal grounds.

None of that fazes Jason Mrochek, the Web site's operator.

Mrochek claimed credit when federal immigration agents on Dec. 12 raided meatpacking plants in six states and rounded up more than 1,200 undocumented workers employed by Greeley, Colo.-based Swift & Co. The meatpacker, Mrochek said, is one of several companies raided recently that first appeared on the Web site's list of "suspected illegal employers."

"We're glad that ICE is investigating and raiding some of these companies, and we hope it continues," said the co-founder and director of FIRE Coalition, an anti-illegal immigration group.

Born out of frustration

Mrochek, 32, based in Riverside County in California, said the site was launched in February 2005 out of frustration with the federal government's lack of worksite enforcement. Its goal is to pressure employers to stop hiring undocumented workers and, therefore, reduce a main incentive of illegal immigration. The site, funded by donations, now averages 750,000 to 1 million hits a month, Mrochek said.

It is the largest and most popular of several Web sites that have popped up in the past two years that target employers.

Others, such as daylaborers .org and illegalemployers.org, are less sophisticated. Anyone can visit and anonymously submit written information and photos to wehirealiens.com accusing a business of hiring illegal workers.

Mrochek reviews the information. If he deems the accusations add up to what he calls "reasonable suspicion," he posts the company on a list of businesses to boycott and then forwards the information to ICE, the FBI and the Social Security Administration.

Mrochek said he makes no effort to verify any submitted information, or notify companies, before posting accusations on his Web site.

He said, however, that he rejects about 50 percent of the claims, usually because the information is too vague. Mrochek said several businesses have threatened to sue him after their companies were posted on the site. But none has so far.

'Virtual vigilantism'

The site has raised a number of concerns. One is that disgruntled employees or competitors could use the site to tarnish the reputation of law-abiding businesses. Another is that assumptions about an employee's legal status based on race or ethnicity could lead to false accusations.

"The virtual vigilantism of this Web site encourages anonymous informants and the trafficking of whispered innuendo. That is not characteristic of a free society that values due process and the right to confront your accuser," said Farrell Quinlan, Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry spokesman.

Indeed, some of the "evidence" that lands businesses on the Web site seems racially tinged, or stems from second- and thirdhand sources. Phoenix employment lawyer Neil Alexander said the Web site could be considered slanderous.

"If you accuse somebody publicly of engaging in criminal activity, you can potentially be liable for defamation or libel," Alexander said.

What's more, undocumented immigrants often use fraudulent documents that appear real, so employers don't always know if a worker is actually in the country illegally, experts say.

Caroline Espinosa, spokeswoman for NumbersUSA, a national organization that advocates reductions in immigration, said wehirealiens.com and similar sites illustrate the public's frustration with the federal government's unwillingness to vigorously enforce employer sanctions.

Outraged at accusations

In November, someone who claimed to be a former employee of Glendale Welding Co. accused the steel tank manufacturer of hiring "illegals a day after they crossed the desert."

Owner Bob Carlson was outraged when he found out his company was on the site.

"It's totally made up," Carlson said.

The accusation also angered Glendale resident Robert Juarez, 55, a 23-year veteran of the company. Juarez, who is Hispanic, was born in Texas. He said he resents when people assume Latinos are undocumented immigrants.

"I'm Hispanic, but I am not an illegal," Juarez said.

The company employees 22 welders, Carlson said. Half are Hispanic, but all but three were born in the U.S. Those born in Mexico have work visas, Carlson said. "It's like witch hunting," he said.

Despite criticism like that, Mrochek is looking for ways to attack employers even more aggressively on wehirealiens .com. One option he is considering is forwarding tips about suspected illegal employers to the IRS, in addition to ICE. Another is linking up with a Web site that launches organized boycotts.

"If we are being effective, that is the real mission," he said.

The Internet and immigration

Federal officials are wary of Web sites such as www.wehirealiens.com that target employers. Posting the names of suspected "illegal employers" could jeopardize investigations, said Lauren Mack, ICE spokeswoman for Arizona. The agency does, however, occasionally get leads from the site. Federal agents recently raided several companies previously listed on the site. Mack said the agency prefers that people report suspicious activity to its own tip line, 1-866-347-2423.

Sites by anti-illegal immigration groups targeting employers include:

• Wehirealiens.com. Allows people to anonymously report employers suspected of hiring illegal workers. Includes a searchable database of nearly 3,000 suspected "illegal employers."

• Illegalemployers.org. Helps companies sue competitors who have gained an unfair advantage by hiring undocumented workers.

• Daylaborers.org. Discourages the practice of hiring day laborers by posting photos of businesses and individuals at day-labor sites.

Edited January 11, 2007 by Steven_and_Jinky

[pedroh 21]

yay nothing more stupid than vigilantism..

i surely can guess the accusations 'acme co. is hiring mexicans, they must be illegal cuz they don't speak english and its 1 house for 10 people' git-r-dunnn

[Traviesa 0]

yay nothing more stupid than vigilantism..

i surely can guess the accusations 'acme co. is hiring mexicans, they must be illegal cuz they don't speak english and its 1 house for 10 people' git-r-dunnn

It's pretty much like that. I looked up Maryland, and one of the companies we get ice from was on the list. The reason? Someone was in the area and decided to do a little experiment if he could purchase a bag of ice from them. Because they were all "Spanish," from what he said didn't speak English, and didn't allow him to purchase a bag of ice (what a dumbass he was anyway) they must be illegal.

[Jenn! 918]

I think the idea in itself is a good one. I think we *should* be targeting employers and slapping them with huge fines.

The problem is, as pedroh and Heina mentioned, it's way too easy to make assumptions about people's immigration status based on their appearance or English skills. There needs to be some way of confirmation, but isn't that the whole problem anyway?

[Boiler 45,525]

The company employees 22 welders, Carlson said. Half are Hispanic, but all but three were born in the U.S. Those born in Mexico have work visas, Carlson said. "It's like witch hunting," he said.

So would they be L1........

A local author issued a book on the local Stone Quarry history. Had a whole page about how most of the employees now working here were on H2b's.

Anyway at a book signing I asked him did he know how many such visa's were issued and how unlikely it was that more than one ot two max would have such visa's.

He sort of acknowledged it was all cack, but without the help of the Quarry owners he would have had no book, and that was also why there was no mention of the ICE raid a few years back.

[peejay 327]

The company employees 22 welders, Carlson said. Half are Hispanic, but all but three were born in the U.S. Those born in Mexico have work visas, Carlson said. "It's like witch hunting," he said.

So would they be L1........

A local author issued a book on the local Stone Quarry history. Had a whole page about how most of the employees now working here were on H2b's.

Anyway at a book signing I asked him did he know how many such visa's were issued and how unlikely it was that more than one ot two max would have such visa's.

He sort of acknowledged it was all cack, but without the help of the Quarry owners he would have had no book, and that was also why there was no mention of the ICE raid a few years back.

You have to wonder why ICE hasn't done a "follow up" to drop by and see how well the quarry has mended its ways.

Could it be the age old practice of these companies indignantly whining to their Senators and Congressmen to call off the dogs? The same guys that fork over wads of cash to the GOP, Dems, and their candidates' campaign coffers.

Same thing happened when regulators started cracking down on the nefarious practices of the savings and loan institutions in the 1990's. They got the legislators to call off the dogs and it eventually cost the US taxpayer 1/2 trillion $$$ to clean up the mess.

Ever wonder how 12 to 20 million illegal aliens managed to sneak into the USA without anybody in the Federal government noticing? Does institutional corruption come to mind? Illegal aliens cost the taxpayer billions of $$$ every year.

Does anyone doubt that we need campaign finance and lobbying reform in Congress?

I say if these companies and their employees noted on these websites don't have anything to hide...they don't have anything to worry about. I hope ICE checks the company I work for and checks my employment eligibility too. We have nothing to hide and nothing to worry about. I hope ICE checks every company and every employee in America. That will give the corrupt and illegal something to worry about...and it should.

[pedroh 21]

yay nothing more stupid than vigilantism..

i surely can guess the accusations 'acme co. is hiring mexicans, they must be illegal cuz they don't speak english and its 1 house for 10 people' git-r-dunnn

It's pretty much like that. I looked up Maryland, and one of the companies we get ice from was on the list. The reason? Someone was in the area and decided to do a little experiment if he could purchase a bag of ice from them. Because they were all "Spanish," from what he said didn't speak English, and didn't allow him to purchase a bag of ice (what a dumbass he was anyway) they must be illegal.

LOL

yea it's funny how the mexicans suddenly become spanish.. i guess they still think Mexico is a colony or something.. LAWL

[Boiler 45,525]

ICE are really not interested.

No idea why they did the raid in the first place, $500,000 fine I seem to remember.

I do live that near Greely and have not been here that long but even I knew the majority of their employees are illegal.

Where we used to live I guess the majority of the neighbourhood are, I was walking the dog once and met a Political canvasser who had obviously been given the short straw, he made a comment that it was nice to meet someone who spoke English, even if I could not vote. He was a Democrat.