Nearly 300 people were arrested Wednesday in what officials say is the largest workplace immigration raid in a decade.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) authorities arrested over 280 people at CVE Technology Group Inc. and four affiliated companies in Allen, Texas.
In a release, ICE said the employees were “arrested on administrative immigration violations” for allegedly working illegally at the telecommunications device repair company.
{mosads}The arrests were part of an ongoing investigation into the New Jersey-based company’s alleged hiring of immigrants without legal status, many of whom ICE says were using fraudulent identification documents.
“Businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens create an unfair advantage over their competing businesses,” HSI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Katrina Berger said in the statement.
“In addition, they take jobs away from U.S. citizens and legal residents, and they create an atmosphere poised for exploiting their illegal workforce.”
Officials told Dallas-Fort Worth’s NBC 5 that a January audit of the company’s hiring forms indicated hiring irregularities.
Berger told the television station that “as far as immigration related arrests, this is the largest ICE worksite operation at one site in the last 10 years.”
Authorities said those arrested will be interviewed by ICE staff, who will determine if they should remain in custody or will be considered for “humanitarian release.”
“In all cases, all illegal aliens encountered will be fingerprinted and processed for removal from the United States,” according to the release.
The number of arrests in the Wednesday raid is almost triple other recent ICE raids.
Last April, agents arrested 97 immigrants in Tennessee in what was then called the largest raid in a decade.
The arrests come amid continued tensions between President Trump and lawmakers over illegal immigration. In recent days, Trump has threatened to close the border between the U.S. and Mexico in response to what the administration has called a “crisis” of illegal crossings.