For anyone who thought President Trump was rolling over on the illegal immigration issue, think again…

SF Gate reports that U.S. immigration agents descended on dozens of 7-Eleven stores before dawn Wednesday to open employment audits and interview workers in what officials described as the largest operation against an employer under Donald Trump’s presidency.

Agents targeted about 100 stores nationwide, broadening an investigation that began with a 4-year-old case against a franchisee on New York’s Long Island. The audits could lead to criminal charges or fines over the stores’ hiring practices.

The action appears to open a new front in Trump’s sharp expansion of immigration enforcement, which has already brought a 40 percent increase in deportation arrests and plans to spend billions of dollars on a border wall with Mexico. Hardliners have been pressing for a tougher stance on employers.

AP photo

President Donald Trump presided over a bipartisan meeting about immigration reform as Democrats and Republicans attempt to reach a compromise to avoid a government shutdown.

Derek Benner, a top official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Associated Press that Wednesday’s operation was “the first of many” and “a harbinger of what’s to come” for employers. He said there would be more employment audits and investigations, though there is no numerical goal.

“This is what we’re gearing up for this year and what you’re going to see more and more of is these large-scale compliance inspections, just for starters. From there, we will look at whether these cases warrant an administrative posture or criminal investigation,” said Benner, acting head of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, which oversees cases against employers.

“It’s not going to be limited to large companies or any particular industry, big medium and small,” he said. “It’s going to be inclusive of everything that we see out there.”

7-Eleven Stores Inc., based in Irving, Texas, with more than 8,600 stores in the U.S., didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Though agents arrested 21 people suspected of being in the country illegally during Wednesday’s sweep, the action was aimed squarely at management.

Trump is pursuing “its own kind of unique strategy” tied to its broader emphasis on fighting illegal immigration, including enforcement on the border, Benner said. Some workers may get arrested in the operations but authorities are targeting employers because they are job magnets for people to come to the country illegally.

“We need to make sure that employers are on notice that we are going to come out and ensure that they’re being compliant,” Benner said “For those that don’t, we’re going to take some very aggressive steps in terms of criminal investigations to make sure that we address them and hold them accountable.”

This news comes on the heels of another outrageous report about a 7-Eleven employee who exposed almost 2,000 customers to hepatitis A. 

While legal immigrants are required to be screened for diseases, illegal immigrants (obviously) are not. The Daily Caller article doesn’t mention if the 7-Eleven worker was an illegal alien, or not. Does anyone want to take bets? 

A Utah 7-Eleven possibly exposed almost 2,000 customers to hepatitis A, according to Salt Lake County health officials.

The Salt Lake County Health Department warned local residents if they used the bathroom or ate specific foods, they might have been exposed to the disease if they visited the local 7-Eleven between Dec. 26 and Jan. 3, reports CNN.

The department urged residents to get an injection if they used the bathroom, ate any fresh fruit or food from the hot case at the locale. Already, about 256 people came in to get the injection, the department noted.

“The possible hepatitis A exposure occurred when an infected employee worked while ill and potentially handled certain items in the store,” the department said of the outbreak’s potential origins.

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