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Chinatown raid targets exploitation of illegal workers - Houston Chronicle
Federal agents arrested the owners of two employment agencies in Houston's vibrant Chinatown on Thursday and charged them with allegedly providing hundreds of undocumented workers, mostly from Latin America, to prep food, bus tables and wash dishes in Chinese restaurants.
The Chinatown raid came as part of a multistate crackdown by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that led to the arrest of 21 other owners and managers of Chinese restaurants in South Texas, Louisiana and parts of Arkansas who allegedly employed and exploited the illegal workers.
"You have two businesses, two placement agencies, that in essence built a business model where the commodity was illegal workers," said Brian Moskowitz, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Houston. "They acquired and delivered illegal workers to greedy restaurant owners around the country."