Former DA says Meuser's numbers don't add up

SERIOUS QUESTIONS RAISED ABOUT MEUSER’S STORY ON HIRING ILLEGAL ALIENS


Ex-Wayne County DA casts doubt on Meuser claims;
Research documents show far broader and intentional violation of immigration laws;
Meuser called upon to release legal documents


Dallas, PA – Today, former Wayne County District Attorney Mark Zimmer, raised serious questions about the account Dan Meuser gave of his company’s violations of immigration law in a recent Scranton Times article.

In the March 7, 2008 article entitled “Meuser firm fined in ’97 over illegals,” Dan Meuser is quoted as claiming that the hirings were “unintentional” and the result of “phony identification,” and limited to only three illegal aliens. Meuser repeated those claims in a debate that took place yesterday (see CitizensVoice.Com, “First Meuser-Hackett debate focuses on conservative values,” March 18, 2008).

In a letter to Meuser (attached), District Attorney Zimmer outlined two salient points about immigration law. First, employers can only be fined if they knowingly hire illegals. Second, at the time, the fine for a first offense was limited to a maximum of $2,000 per illegal alien. Meuser’s company was fined $41,000, suggesting significantly more than three illegal hirings.

In his letter, Zimmer went on to cite a report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) about the case against Meuser’s company. The CIS report indicates that Meuser’s business was fined for 58 instances of continued violations of immigration laws, which is defined as “The continued employment of an unauthorized worker after the worker’s unauthorized status came to the attention of the employer.”

This degree of pervasive violation of the law would represent 39% of the entire workforce of Meuser’s company at the time; and indeed, the $41,000 fine is the second largest illegal alien employment fine on record for a Pennsylvania manufacturing company. Zimmer concludes his letter by asking Meuser to release all legal documents pertaining to this case.


CIS sanctions database has the details.