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Illegalize LA: American Apparel's Immigrant Dilemma

American Apparel, the sexified Los Angeles-based clothing manufacturer that prides itself on the ethical treatment of its staff, was apparently...

Patrick James
By Patrick JamesJul 03, 2009
Patrick James
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American Apparel, the sexified Los Angeles-based clothing manufacturer that prides itself on the ethical treatment of its staff, was apparently employing a huge concentration of illegal immigrants. According to Reuters, "[a] U.S. federal probe has found that about a third of American Apparel's factory workers in the Los Angeles area had supplied suspect or invalid records and were not authorized to work in the United States."The Reuters piece, which was adorned with the inappropriately fittingly suggestive headline, "Probe Fingers 1,800 American Apparel Workers," reported that those 1,800 employees (out of 4,500) possessed "suspect and not valid" documentation of work-eligibility. American Apparel, which assembles 230,000 pieces of clothing a day in its Los Angeles factory, will terminate those employees, but expects that the loss will not affect its output.As Gawker points out, and as is widely known, the company had been making all sorts of noise about the need for immigration reform in Los Angeles and the rest of the country. That-along with soft core porn-is the touchstone of the company's mission statement. Hence Reuters thinks the finding will be a significant setback for the company. I'd say, if anything, it reinforces the point that we desperately need sweeping reform in the country.
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