"Operation Rollback"

There's nothing better than witty law-enforcement operation names! "Operation Rollback" consisted of federal officers raiding 61 Wal-Mart stores in 21 states and arresting more than 300 illegal immigrants who were working on their cleaning staffs.

Several law enforcement sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said the investigation grew out of earlier probes of Wal-Mart cleaning crew contractors in 1998 and 2001. Based on recordings of meetings and conversations among Wal-Mart executives, managers and contractors, the law enforcement officials said "various immigration violations had continued to occur with direct knowledge by the Wal-Mart corporation."

I sure hope Wal-Mart gets nailed. I expect strong enforcement of our immigration laws when it comes to protecting our borders and keeping illegals out, and I expect companies that create the market for illegal labor to pay the price for their involvement as well. Naturally, Wal-Mart denies knowledge and responsibility.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said the company got wind of the raids when store managers started calling headquarters Thursday morning.

"They arrested a number of members of the floor cleaning crews. They are (employed by) outside contractors; they're not Wal-Mart associates," Williams said.

She said the company uses more than 100 third-party contractors for cleaning services in more than 700 stores in the United States. "We require each of these contractors to use only legal workers," she said.

Right.

Well, look -- I've never asked my gardeners for proof of citizenship. I assume they're here legally, since they have drivers licenses; what more can I do? Wal-Mart has more resources at its disposal, and is legally required to file I-9 reports on each of its employees (and its contractors have that obligation, as well). Since my gardeners are hired for "private, casual domestic work on a sporadic, irregular, or intermittent basis", I am not so obligated. The I-9 rules don't require a company to verify the status of contract workers, but they do prohibit a company from contracting workers that are known to be illegal, which is why the recordings that the feds made are important.

Or whatever, maybe I'm just being hypocritical. Sue me.

What's really interesting is the list of states where arrests were made:

Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

No California? No New Mexico? Arizona and Texas are in there, but apparently they were after workers who were "Eastern European and a few were of other ethnicities" and not illegal immigrants from Mexico.