ICE Investigating Immigration Status of Chipotle Employees

WASHINGTON - Customs enforcement agents are inspecting Chipotle franchises all over the country, checking the immigration status of all their workers.

The targets in this area include restaurant locations in D.C. and Virginia, where about 60 restaurants have been affected. A company spokesperson says locations in Woodbridge and Manassas received notice over the past couple of weeks.

Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, who has been an outspoken supporter of strict immigration laws, said he is delighted the federal government is finally doing their job.

"We knew for a long time that you have a lot of illegal aliens working at Chipotle and other fast foods restaurants and other businesses and for the longest time, the federal government just turned a blind eye," said Stewart.

Community activist Joshua Lopez said it's the wrong approach in dealing with immigration.

"You’re targeting people who work in the mainstream, people who work in Chipotle, folks who pay their taxes, more than likely who respect the laws of the land and are on their way to citizenship,” said Lopez. “Now the federal government or ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in particular are saying they want to come after you."

A statement from Chipotle says they have compiled and provided documents. They say they are among thousands of companies over the past couple of years receiving requests from customs investigators.

Chipotle said in a statement:

"ICE has asked for documents for our restaurant employees in Washington DC proper and Virginia. We have compiled and provided those documents.

It is important to note that we are among many companies to receive these requests (called Notices of Inspection) from ICE, which has made such requests of more than 3,200 companies over the last couple of years.

It is also important to note that we have robust and continuously improving policies and procedures in place to help ensure that every employee we hire is legally authorized to work in this country. Under the law, companies are required to perform a reasonable review of I-9 forms and supporting documents for each employee they hire. We do this twice (the first review is done by the hiring manager, the second by someone from our human resources department). Clearly, this has been an eye-opening experience for us and we will continue to look for ways to improve upon our policies and procedures in this area, and have already communicated to ICE our plans to expand the use of E-Verify, the voluntary ICE system that uses government databases to validate the status of each worker at the time of their hire."

Some Chipotle customers say they don't see the point.

"They are not doing any harm to any of us. They are just trying to make a living, trying to survive, feed their families," said Chipotle customer Jason Metza.

"I think it's a waste of time. There are so many undocumented workers and I believe in reasonable immigration laws," said Libby Watkins, another Chipotle customer.

Last year, ICE inspections of the restaurant chain's Minnesota employees resulted in dismissals of workers whose documents to prove eligibility for legal employment in the United States could not be verified.