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To the casual observer, the El Pollo Rico restaurant in Wheaton, Md., may have seemed like any successful restaurant found in communities around the nation-—a popular hang out where locals gathered to enjoy good food and friendly company.

But as it happens, El Pollo Rico’s success was anything but deserved. While it may have enjoyed an edge over local competitors, El Pollo Rico and its owners were at the center of a multi-million dollar criminal conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens into the United States. For El Pollo Rico, the smuggling, employing, and housing of illegal aliens was likely much more profitable than paying lawful wages to American workers.

This week, the restaurant's owners, Franciso C. Solano and his wife, Ines Hoyos-Solano, pleaded guilty to federal charges and agreed to forfeit $8.7 million in illicit proceeds they had realized from the scheme over the years. Mr. Solano pleaded guilty to conspiracy to harbor aliens, conspiracy to commit money laundering and structuring bank transactions to evade reporting requirements in connection with the operation of the restaurant. His wife also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The Solanos employed an elaborate and corrupt business model to evade and circumvent federal immigration laws in a way that allowed them to gain an unfair advantage in the marketplace. But what is even more disturbing is that these individuals are not alone. Indeed many corrupt businesses today engage in the illicit practice that we call "domestic off-shoring."

The American public has heard numerous accounts of jobs being outsourced to workers offshore who work for less money than do American workers. Policymakers have long debated the supposed merits and alleged drawbacks of this practice. But little attention has been paid to the use of undocumented aliens as part of a domestic off-shoring scheme. This type of outsourcing has no positive benefit to American workers or respectable businesses.

Companies that build their workforce using illegal aliens here in the United States take jobs away from law abiding American citizens and residents who are authorized to work. By cutting corners to cut costs, they unfairly acquire market share to the detriment of responsible businesses playing by the rules. The shadiest of these establishments often exploit and abuse their workers because of their illegal status, disregarding worker safety and wage laws simply because they know the workers, fearing arrest and deportation, won't report them to regulators.

The good news is that ICE's comprehensive approach to worksite enforcement is helping turn the tables on domestic off-shoring. Not only are ICE’s efforts against unscrupulous employers working to level the playing field between them and their competitors, but by also targeting the identity thieves and document vendors, ICE is able to protect those American workers whose identities have been used for these nefarious purposes.

Julie L. Myers
Assistant Secretary, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement