Pappas Partners, a Houston-based company that owns 54 trendy restaurants in three states, has been given a $1.75 million penalty, the largest fine ever for immigration employment violations. The previous record was $1 million.
The company was charged with hiring illegal aliens and actually hiding them during raids by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The INS claims to have found a substantial degree of complicity between the employer and the undocumented workers. Some workers were even rehired by the company giving false names after having been previously arrested and deported. Under the company’s plea agreement, only the company and no individuals were charged.
The single fine represents a substantial portion of penalty revenues received. For the fiscal year 1997 for the period through March, the INS levied $3.8 million in fines. That compares to $13.2 million in fiscal 1996.
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