Aquatico: Feds Make An Example Of Sugar Land Company For NOT Hiring An Immigrant

By Richard Connelly Wed., Jun. 9 2010 at 6:01 AM

Categories: Courts, Immigration

Hire those immigrants, dammit!

When the Department of Justice puts out a press release about a local employer getting penalized over immigration issues, it's usually because the company has been hiring illegal aliens.

Not so with Sugar Land's Aquatico Pool Managment: The DOJ announced today they had reached a settlement with the company over complaints Aquatico did not hire an immigrant.

Training. Sounds fun!

The prospective employee apllied for a job with "a valid, DHS-issued permanent resident card," the DOJ says, but still was turned down.

"Because he also presented a Social Security card with the notation 'valid for work only with DHS authorization,' Aquatico withdrew its offer of employment," the agency said.

And for that they shall pay!! Aquatico, that is.

The company agreed to pay almost $1,600 in civil penalties and back pay to Anthony Ernest Gobran, a Sudanese immigrant, and to have its human-resources people undergo training on just which immigrants are good to hire.

"The [Immigration and Naturalization Act]'s anti-discrimination provision means that all individuals authorized to work in the United States have the right to seek employment without the added burden of special rules or document demands based on their citizenship status or national origin, " Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for Civil Rights, said in the announcement. "This settlement represents our ongoing commitment to work with all employers, large or small, to ensure compliance with the anti-discrimination requirements of federal immigration law."