Texas Authorities Make Arrests in Illegal Immigrant Labor Ring Supplying Chinese Restaurants

Mexican and Central American immigrants illegally entering the United States across the southern border into Texas have been funneled into working in Asian restaurants in Texas and forced to work extremely long shifts according to federal agents who raided the labor ring this week.

There were 32 indictments passed down, including one Dallas man, four from nearby Rockwall and two from Sanger, a rural suburb of Dallas. One defendant charged in the case is from across the state border in Arkansas. Some of the Chinese restaurants employing the workers are also believed to be in Louisiana.

In total, the raid affected employees of 21 Chinese restaurants and eateries across three states.

Authorities say the immigrants were forced to work 12 hour shifts, six days a week and were denied overtime.

"The Hong Li Job Agency and the Tai Shan Employment Agency operated a 'take-out and delivery service' for restaurants across the region - but they didn't deliver food. Instead, they delivered people illegally present in the United States to greedy restaurant owners and managers looking for cheap labor," said Brian M. Moskowitz, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Houston, according to the Dallas Morning News. "The illicit efforts of the defendants and others like them help push those unlawfully here deeper into the shadows, and the jobs they market serve as a magnet for future illegal immigration."

"The workers, who were primarily from Mexico and Central America, worked in less-than-desirable conditions, were paid below minimum wage, received no benefits, we're provided housing that was substandard, and weren't allowed to keep tips or gratuities," Moskowitz told the Houston Chronicle. "At the end, this is a crime about greed, profit and money."

In news reports coming out of Houston the first agency is listed as the "Long Li Job Agency." Both agencies are listed as residing on Bellaire Ave. in Houston.

The defendants in the case will be charged with federal racketeering and be held for trial in the East Texas city of Beaumont.