PHOENIX (AZFamily) — New court documents obtained by our newsroom reveal details about why federal agents raided more than a dozen Zipps Sports Grill locations across the Valley this week, taking 35 employees into custody.
The documents outline allegations that multiple employees applied for jobs using the same identification documents and that at least one manager helped them do it.
According to court records, the investigation began about a year ago when immigration agents received a tip that Zipps was hiring undocumented workers.
The documents answer many questions about why Zipps was targeted and why so many locations were raided simultaneously.
Prosecutors allege more than 70 employees were using false documents to obtain jobs and that the company’s kitchen manager helped facilitate the practice.
While the allegations may sound unusual to some, immigration attorneys say the circumstances are common.
Darius Amiri, an immigration attorney, said he has seen dozens of cases with similar details.
“So as an attorney who’s practiced over 15 years, I’ve seen it quite often,” Amiri said. “I’ve seen cases where it was very minor, where there was someone bought a fictitious ID and used that to work and used that to pay taxes. And I’ve seen some egregious examples where someone maybe stole an ID from someone else and used that and claimed unemployment benefits.”
In this case, court documents show Diego Gonzales-Rosales, the kitchen manager for all Zipps locations, is charged with multiple counts, including a pattern and practice of knowingly employing unauthorized immigrants and knowingly making false attestations on a Form I-9.
According to the documents, Gonzales-Rosales stated on record that every manager knows many of the IDs used are fake and that almost every cook in the restaurant is working under a false identity.
“So what I think is the most likely scenario here is that the employees who were using this fictitious documentation will likely be criminally charged,” Amiri said. “And that person is here undocumented, it’s very likely they’ll end up in deportation proceedings where they can be removed from the country.”
Amiri said the responsibility does not fall solely on the employees but also on the employers.
“How much to the extent can they prove that the employer knowingly employed these employees even after being put on notice by the HSI investigation that they were working with faulty documentation,” Amiri said.
When asked whether undocumented immigrants come to the U.S. knowing they can obtain false documents to work, Amiri said many do.
“I think probably someone coming to the United States with the intent of working is going to find a way to do that, whether it’s legal or illegal. And I’m not condoning doing it illegally, but I think if you’re coming here to work, you’re going to probably do what you can to put yourself in that situation,” Amiri said.
As of now, only one Zipps location has reopened.
A company spokesperson said he expects the remaining locations to reopen by the end of the week.
Amiri said he expects to see more investigations like this in Arizona as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration.
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