Illegal Workers Arrested At Wal-Mart Stores Across The Nation

Federal officials arrested more than 300 illegal workers at 61 Wal-Mart stores across the country early this morning and searched the office of one of the retail chain`s corporate executives. Raids happened at Wal-Mart stores in Conway, Berryville, Forrest City, Benton, Hot Springs, and Stuttgart. The workers, members of cleaning crews that the company hired through a contractor, were arrested as they finished their night shifts at stores in 21 states. All were in the country illegally. That`s from Garrison Courtney, a spokesman with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Wal-Mart is based in Bentonville nd is the world`s largest retailer. Company spokeswoman Mona Williams confirmed the government is investigating and that stores were raided this morning. But Williams said the workers were employed by an outside floor cleaning company and are NOT employed by Wal-Mart. She said Wal-Mart would give more information later. ------ The arrests stem from a November 1998 investigation done in conjunction with the Pennsylvania attorney general`s office. That investigation also targeted contractors and subcontractors used by Wal-Mart to clean stores. The workers arrested were detained at local immigration offices, Courtney said. If they had no previous criminal record, they were released with notices to appear before immigration judges. The states where arrests were made are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.