By Paul Gib lin
The New York Times
Published: 06-16-08
MESA Ariz. — A raid on two busy water parks and the arrest of nine workers suspected of being illegal immigrants might become the first case to test Arizona’s new employer sanctions law.
The law which went into effect in January carries penalties that suspend or revoke business licenses of employers who “knowingly” hire illegal immigrants. It has yet to result in a prosecution.
The raid which was carried out on Tuesday by Maricopa County deputies followed a four-month investigation of hiring practices at the water parks Golfland Sunsplash in Mesa and Waterworld Safari in Phoenix said the Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio. Both parks are owned by Golfland Entertainment Centers which is based here and operates three parks in Arizona and six in California.
Deputies arrested the workers on charges of suspicion of identity theft and using forged documents to obtain employment.
The authorities also used search warrants to seize personnel records which they will use to investigate whether a violation of the employer sanctions law occurred Sheriff Arpaio said.
The director of marketing for the parks Dave Johnson said Golfland executives were not worried about a follow-up investigation. “We don’t think we have anything to hide” he said.
Mr. Johnson predicted that Sheriff Arpaio would be unable to bring an employer sanctions case against the company because since January Golfland executives have used a federal database to check the immigration status of newly hired workers in the manner prescribed by the state law.
“Those who could not be confirmed as legal they were terminated” Mr. Johnson said.
But Sheriff Arpaio said investigators thought that as many as 104 additional employees at the parks might have used fraudulent documents or Social Security numbers to get their jobs.
“It’s not over yet” the sheriff said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to see if there’s more than the nine that we arrested working there.”
A former employee at Waterworld Safari provided the tip that led to the investigation the sheriff said.
Golfland Sunsplash Waterworld Safari and a third water park in the area employ a total of 1100 people Mr. Johnson said.
State Representative Russell K. Pearce a Mesa Republican who is the father of the employer sanctions law said the arrests sent a strong message because of Golfland Entertainment’s high profile.
“It’s about time and it’s great” Mr. Pearce said. “It’s kind of like the shot fired at Concord in the Revolutionary War the shot heard around the world. This had to happen.”
Business at the water parks meanwhile was brisk Wednesday as temperatures rose to 101 degrees.
