Immigration officials on Wednesday arrested some 280 employees of a North Texas tech company suspected of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, the largest such single-company sweep in 11 years.
More than 200 law enforcement personnel took part in the operation at CVE Technology Group in Allen, north of Dallas. Officials said the company refurbishes and repairs telecommunications equipment, including cellphones.
"The numbers of the administrative arrests we made today hint at the significant scope of this criminal investigation," Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Katrina Berger said at a news conference. Berger said investigators had worked on the case for "at least a year" after receiving "many tips that they [CVE] were hiring illegal aliens who were using fraudulent documents."