By Guillermo Contreras
The San Antonio Express-News
06/03/2009
A San Antonio eatery is under investigation as part of an immigration raid that netted the arrests of more than 20 alleged unauthorized workers.
A phone tip by a fired employee last fall to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement resulted in a probe of Salsalito Cantina, which has locations in the 11700 block of Bandera Road and in the 14500 block of Nacogdoches Road, according to federal court affidavits.
ICE said in a statement that it executed two search warrants and two criminal arrest warrants last Wednesday in connection with the investigation of Salsalito's two locations.
“During the execution of the warrants, ICE agents administratively arrested 20 aliens who were found to be illegally present in the United States,” the statement said.
The arrest warrants were served on two employees charged with possession of fraudulent immigration documents. They were kitchen manager Carlos Cossio Mendoza and kitchen worker Jose Reynaldo Esquivel Guerrero, who knew a person who made fake green cards for $100, the affidavits said. Both are being held without bail pending bail hearings on Monday.
The other 20, arrested at both locations, were not identified, but were deported or will be.
The affidavits allege that Salsalito's owners had been fined previously for similar alleged immigration violations.
Michael Gross, a lawyer for Salsalito Inc. and one of its owners, Hossein Bagheri, said Gross' own ongoing investigation has found the allegations untrue.
“From the numerous individuals I have interviewed affiliated with Salsalito's Inc., they did not knowingly employ undocumented aliens,” Gross said.
The case began in September when a former Salsalito employee called ICE and said the Bandera location was knowingly employing 20 unauthorized workers.
The “illegals show up to apply, state they don't have an ID, then show up the next day with an obviously fake ID and are hired,” the tipster stated, according to the affidavits.
The caller further alleged that “illegals are made to work 75 hours per week with no pay.”
The caller said he was fired after confronting Bagheri about the allegation, which Gross said is false.
Agents used an informer to check out the caller's story and reported that unauthorized immigrants could work at the Bandera location using fake documents. Additionally, Cossio allegedly suggested to the informer that if he wanted to work overtime, he could get a second Social Security number that would allow Salsalito to issue him a second employee ID number.
“In this way, Salsalito Cantina Inc., circumvents paying overtime wages by having employees work for eight hours a day under their first employee identification number, then after eight hours, clock out and clock in again, using their second employee number,” the affidavits said.
Gross said Bagheri was unaware if what the informer observed took place. Gross added that Salsalito's records show every employee hired has the necessary paperwork and permits to work.
Gross did not have any information regarding the alleged fine.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Salsalito_is_under_ICE_scrutiny.html
