WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced May 23 that Carrillo Farm Labor LLC (Carillo Farm), an onion farm in Deming, New Mexico, has agreed to settle allegations that it discriminated against U.S. citizens and instead hired mostly foreign visa workers.
According to allegations, Carrillo Farm preferred to hire temporary foreign workers under the H-2A visa program in 2016. It therefore denied U.S. citizens based solely on their citizenship. Purported conduct of this nature violates the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
“U.S. workers are the backbone of our economy, and the Justice Department will not tolerate employers discriminating against them because of their citizenship status,” said acting assistant attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Civil Rights Division.
“The department is wholeheartedly committed to challenging discriminatory hiring preferences that disfavor U.S. workers. We commend Texas RioGrande for bringing the matter to our attention and applaud Carrillo Farm for cooperating with the department to implement the corrective actions necessary to resolve this matter.”
Carrillo Farm will pay $44,000 in lost wages to U.S. workers affected by the alleged discrimination.