As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security cracks the whip on businesses that hire illegals, Zalud’s Blog has discovered a new “Catch 22” that got a St. Louis-based restaurant chain caught between a scam and a DHS hard place.

The scam: T&J Restaurants was approached by a California lawyer to host a seminar, free to owners, aimed at handling immigration problems of their employees, who paid for the seminar. When the firm discovered the scam, it took action. Also did DHS and last week T&J Restaurants LLC pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge, forfeiting $75,000 to the Department of Homeland Security while also paying a $75,000 fine. The company is now participating with the E-Verify program, a Web-based government system.

Security Magazine – in March 2009 – covered the security risks inherent in screening and hiring as well as use of e-Varify. Click here for a full text of that article:

http://www.securitymagazine.com/Articles/Feature_Article/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000561272