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CNN Live At Daybreak
Wal-Mart Roundup: Immigration Raids Stores, Detains 300 Illegals
Aired October 24, 2003 - 06:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little 'Business Buzz' right now, though. Wal-Mart stores nationwide took a hit from Operation Rollback, and we're not talking about prices.
Carrie Lee live at the Nasdaq market site with more on this story.
Good morning -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
A big crackdown yesterday at Wal-Mart and a crackdown on undocumented workers. Federal agents arrested over 300 Wal-Mart workers in Wal-Mart stores in 21 states. Now these were contracted workers, so the workers were hired by contractors to fill cleaning crews. They were arrested at a total of 61 Wal-Mart stores. Agents also raided Wal-Mart offices in Arkansas. That's where Wal-Mart is headquartered. They hauled out several boxes of documents from an executive's office, basically trying to figure out who knew what when it came to these illegal workers.
Now the contractor is mainly responsible for this. Of course a contractor has to make sure somebody can legally work in this country, but it's also Wal-Mart's responsibility or a company's responsibility. If it's found that Wal-Mart knew that these folks were illegal and that they violated the law, potentially Wal-Mart could face a fine of up to $10,000 per employee. So certainly a big story, Carol, and we'll see what happens as it goes forward.
COSTELLO: And maybe you have mentioned this already, but could there be criminal charges levied against Wal-Mart if it knew that it was hiring illegal immigrants?
LEE: If it's a practice of violating the law, it really depends on the extent of knowledge here. If they didn't know about it, well there could be some civil penalties involved. But in the worst case scenario, if the company were found to practice violating the law, that they knew about this, maybe it had been going on for some time, then that's where the $10,000 penalty kicked in.
COSTELLO: I understand.
LEE: That would be the stiffest. Yes.
COSTELLO: I understand. Quick look at the futures before you go.
LEE: Things look weak this morning. Looks like we're going to see some selling. Microsoft, the big story, in fact that stock has been down about 4 percent in Europe. They beat the Street for profits and sales expectations for the recent quarter. However, the company did see fewer new sales book than it had forecast. And executives say we're not seeing that increase in tech spending, the magic words everyone has been waiting for. So it looks like some selling for this morning -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. We'll keep an eye on it. Carrie Lee live from the Nasdaq market site this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Illegals>
Aired October 24, 2003 - 06:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little 'Business Buzz' right now, though. Wal-Mart stores nationwide took a hit from Operation Rollback, and we're not talking about prices.
Carrie Lee live at the Nasdaq market site with more on this story.
Good morning -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
A big crackdown yesterday at Wal-Mart and a crackdown on undocumented workers. Federal agents arrested over 300 Wal-Mart workers in Wal-Mart stores in 21 states. Now these were contracted workers, so the workers were hired by contractors to fill cleaning crews. They were arrested at a total of 61 Wal-Mart stores. Agents also raided Wal-Mart offices in Arkansas. That's where Wal-Mart is headquartered. They hauled out several boxes of documents from an executive's office, basically trying to figure out who knew what when it came to these illegal workers.
Now the contractor is mainly responsible for this. Of course a contractor has to make sure somebody can legally work in this country, but it's also Wal-Mart's responsibility or a company's responsibility. If it's found that Wal-Mart knew that these folks were illegal and that they violated the law, potentially Wal-Mart could face a fine of up to $10,000 per employee. So certainly a big story, Carol, and we'll see what happens as it goes forward.
COSTELLO: And maybe you have mentioned this already, but could there be criminal charges levied against Wal-Mart if it knew that it was hiring illegal immigrants?
LEE: If it's a practice of violating the law, it really depends on the extent of knowledge here. If they didn't know about it, well there could be some civil penalties involved. But in the worst case scenario, if the company were found to practice violating the law, that they knew about this, maybe it had been going on for some time, then that's where the $10,000 penalty kicked in.
COSTELLO: I understand.
LEE: That would be the stiffest. Yes.
COSTELLO: I understand. Quick look at the futures before you go.
LEE: Things look weak this morning. Looks like we're going to see some selling. Microsoft, the big story, in fact that stock has been down about 4 percent in Europe. They beat the Street for profits and sales expectations for the recent quarter. However, the company did see fewer new sales book than it had forecast. And executives say we're not seeing that increase in tech spending, the magic words everyone has been waiting for. So it looks like some selling for this morning -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. We'll keep an eye on it. Carrie Lee live from the Nasdaq market site this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Illegals>
