A nationwide immigration enforcement raid focusing on 7-Eleven stores included a check at a franchise in Koreatown. ICE officials in an unmarked vehicle checked ID for a lone employee at a location on James M. Wood Boulevard, KTLA reported. The employee had a valid green card.
Wednesday’s operation in 17 states and Washington DC was “the first of many” and “a harbinger of what’s to come” for work locations, one ICE official told the Associated Press. Authorities said 21 workers were arrested in relation to the raids, although the raid was intended to target store owners and managers.
More context from AP:
George W. Bush’s administration aggressively pursued criminal investigations against employers in its final years with dramatic pre-dawn shows of force and large numbers of worker arrests. In 2008, agents arrived by helicopter at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, and detained nearly 400 workers. Last month, Trump commuted the 27-year prison sentence of Sholom Rubashkin, former chief executive of what was the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking operation.
After the Wednesday operation, the 7-Eleven company issued a statement saying in part: “7-Eleven franchisees are independent business owners and are solely responsible for their employees including deciding who to hire and verifying their eligibility to work in the United States [...] This means that all store associates in a franchised store are employees of the franchisee and not 7-Eleven Inc.”