Federal agents raided six Hispanic grocery stores across metro Atlanta on Thursday, arresting three undocumented immigrants in the process.
The arrests were made as investigators with the IRS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement executed search warrants at Super Mercado Jalisco locations in Cobb, Gwinnett and north Fulton counties, ICE spokesman Lindsay Williams told AJC.com.
IN-DEPTH: ICE: 46 suspected of being here illegally found in store search
Boxes of evidence were taken at each location, but authorities would not say what the federal agents were searching for or what was seized. Williams did say that the IRS was the lead agency, and that ICE was assisting in the investigation.
Those arrested were employees at the grocery chain, and all three had been previously deported, Williams said. Two of the workers arrested were Guatemalan nationals and the third was from Mexico, he said.
In a statement, the company’s CEO said the search warrants failed to indicate the reason for the searches, and that agents declined to tell the employees why they were there.
“As a prominent employer in the Atlanta area, and as a major contributor to our local Hispanic communities, Super Mercado Jalisco is disappointed in the heavy-handed tactics of the federal government,” Jose Luis Covarrubias said. “Super Mercado Jalisco maintains the strictest standards on compliance and completion of all of the necessary paperwork required by the federal government.”
The CEO said he is unable to comment further until the agencies involved provide more information about their investigation.
In the meantime, Covarrubias said, the grocery stores will open for business Friday as usual.
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