Woman Fined for Hiring Illegal Immigrants

The former general manager of a hotel on Santa Catalina Island has been placed on one year probation and fined $1,000 for hiring illegal immigrants.

Michelle Manire 41, who managed the Catalina Canyon Hotel, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to hiring the unauthorized workers and accepting false documents from them, said David Lavine, assistant U.S. attorney.

The case represents about the 10th criminal prosecution in the past 18 months of area employers deemed “egregious” violators of a 1986 federal law that made it a crime to hire illegal immigrants, Lavine said. The vast majority of violators face only civil fines.

The Clinton administration has said that cracking down on unscrupulous employers is essential to fighting illicit immigration. But immigration officials have conceded that they are overwhelmed by the thousands of employers who may be violating the law. Nonetheless, authorities have vowed to press both civil and criminal cases.