The company used false information for H-2B work visas and charged workers fees ranging from $400 to $3,000 and allegedly threatened workers with a $5,000 fee if they returned to their home country, the Attorney’s Office said.
IFCO Systems North America, the largest pallet management services company in the U.S., headquartered in Houston, Texas, has agreed to pay $20.7 million in civil forfeitures and penalties over four years after employing undocumented workers at its plants.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted the large worksite enforcement operation that led to the discovery. The settlement amount includes $2.6 million in back pay and penalties relating to IFCO’s overtime violations with respect to 1,700 of its pallet workers. IFCO is also paying $18.1 million in civil forfeitures that will be available to support future law enforcement activities.
For more information on the largest settlement ever in a worksite enforcement case:
Read this press release from ICE