Arizona Company Fined $600,000 for Hiring Illegal Aliens

Eurofresh Inc., the nation’s largest grower of greenhouse tomatoes, last week pled guilty to knowingly hiring illegal aliens and was fined $600,000. The Arizona- based company will remain on probation for five years.

The plea agreement, which was announced on August 26th by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, is the result of extended investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that started during the Bush Administration. It notes that Eurofresh’s human resources director continued to employ 17 illegal aliens in supervisory jobs between 2000 and 2006 despite knowing they were not work authorized.

The former human resources director now awaits sentencing for allegedly allowing their employ. According to a company statement, “When Eurofresh discovered the activities, the company voluntarily reported the infraction to authorities, terminated the employee, and acted swiftly to implement new procedures that ensure full compliance with immigration laws.”