Chipotle wants immigration reform after losing half its Minnesota employees
Chipotle boss Monty Moran wants comprehensive immigration reform after immigration raids cost the company hundreds of jobs in Minnesota.
Chipotle boss says immigration system "is really messed up."
Chipotle began a mass-firing of Minnesota employees last December after immigration authorities initiated a "desktop raid" into Chipotle's hiring records, which was first reported by City Pages. The company was initially believed to have fired a third of Minnesota employees but that was an underestimate. A report in the Wall Street Journal says the company fired "more than half of its 900 employees in Minnesota."
Moran has been having meetings with United States senators Michael Bennet, Mark Udall, and Charles Schumer (all Democrats), and Republican representatives like Darrell Issa and Lamar Smith to push for immigration reform in light of his company's problems.
"Immigration is really messed up," Moran said.
Immigration's examination of Chipotle's hiring records found more than 500 illegal immigrants working at the company, according to the Wall Street Journal. Chipotle had to let them go and struggled to replace that many people in such a short period of time.
The immigration audit has cost the company more than $1 million in legal fees, and the company could be fined by the federal government, according to the Journal. 
Nick Pinto "Maria" was one of the employees fired by Chipotle due to immigration enforcement
Although Chipotle is talking the talk about the need for immigration reform, immigrants who actually worked for the company reported unfair treatment at the hands of their bosses last year.
City Pages published an interview with two fired workers last winter. Both said working conditions at Chipotle were abusive even before they were fired. The two employees reported being asked by managers to work extra hours without overtime and were often given "harder and more unpleasant work than the restaurant's white employees."
Read more about the company's campaign for immigration reform here.
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Chipotle launches mass firings of Latinos across Minnesota [UPDATE]
Chipotle fired more than a third of its Minnesota workforce for immigration violations
Chipotle fires at least 80 Latino workers in Minnesota
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