Image Credit: Red Ginger Buffet / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
The owners of a Carter County restaurant were arrested last week and indicted on felony federal charges related to the harboring, concealing, and employing of several illegal aliens.
Xiong Wei Yang and Xu Rong Wu were indicted on three counts related to the employment of four illegal immigrants at their Red Ginger Chinese Buffet in Elizabethton. Both have since been released on a $20, 000 bond.
They will have to answer to three individual charges:
- Concealing the four employees from “detection in such buildings and other places for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain”
- Enticing the individuals to “enter and reside in the United States, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, and residence in the United States was a violation of the law”
- Hiring the four individuals “knowing they were unauthorized aliens…with respect to such employment”
Wu says the couple acknowledges their actions but plans to keep the restaurant open, although it was closed for several days following their arrest.
Immigration lawyer McKenna Cox told WJHL that charges like this are being seen more frequently across the state, as well as the country, with more small businesses being held accountable for hiring illegal workers.
“Right now we’re seeing a focus on restauranteurs and restaurants in our area and throughout the Southeast,” Cox said. “We’re also seeing a focus on construction sites. We’re seeing a focus on any location where we frequently have undocumented folks or immigrants working in those industries.”
According to Cox, prosecuting these cases should send a warning to other business owners.
“This type of arrest, this type of prosecution is a message to anyone who employs undocumented workers, if they know that they’re undocumented or people who may have entered the country unlawfully and don’t have a current, valid legal status,” Cox said.
