Walmart Closes
the Door on Immigrants
Supporting Arizona’s
Discriminatory Senate Bill 1070
Through its leadership in the American Legislative
Exchange Council (ALEC), Walmart and the Walton
family have supported an organization that has a
history of promoting anti-immigrant model
legislation. Arizona’s infamously anti-immigrant SB
1070 was written at an ALEC conference in
December 2009. 1 ALEC’s board also pushed for a
law that compelled local government to enforce
federal immigration laws and pushed for the
elimination of birthright citizenship in January
2008, a right established by the 14th Amendment
to the Constitution. 2 ALEC also opposed federal
legislation that would allow undocumented
immigrants a path to citizenship, using
fear-mongering language about “illegal-alien [sic]
gang members, criminals, and terrorists”
becoming U.S. citizens. 3
While other corporations have recently withdrawn
from ALEC in response to public pressure, Walmart
and the Walton Family continue to support the
organization.
FACT:
The largest
recipient of
contributions
from the
Walton family,
Rep. John
Boozman
(R-Ark.), had a
score of 0%.
Walmart and the Waltons Have
Disproportionately Funded
Anti-Immigrant Elected Officials
Walmart and the Walton family have massive public
relations machines that project a positive image. But,
actions speak louder than spin. Walmart and the
Waltons have disproportionately supported
politicians who have overwhelmingly anti-immigrant
records. 4 The vast majority of recipients of funding
voted against the DREAM Act, which would expand
the ability of immigrants to become citizens. Many
elected officials who received contributions from
Walmart PAC and the Waltons also supported E-verify,
immigration detention, militarization of the
U.S.-Mexico border, and funding local law
enforcement agencies to conduct enforcement of
federal immigration laws. 5
We compared our database of Walton family and
Walmart political contributions to Congressional
candidates with the scorecard published in the
William C. Velasquez Institute Immigrant Justice
March 2010 Interim Report, 6 the most recent
available.
Of Walton family
contributions given to
64%
was given to
candidates whose
Immigrant Justice
Report Card score
was just 0% to 10%,
politicians with WCVI scores,
and 85% was given to candidates with scores below 50%.
A troubling history of anti-immigrant
employment practice...
Abusing Undocumented Workers
In March 2005, Walmart agreed to pay $11 million
to settle federal allegations that it used
undocumented immigrants to clean its stores.
Investigation by the federal government found at
least 250 cases where undocumented workers,
employed by Walmart janitorial contractors, were
hired to clean the company’s stores. A lawyer for
the workers said that many of the janitors worked
every day of the week without overtime pay or
compensation for injuries, and overnight workers
were often locked in stores overnight. 7
Discriminating Against Immigrants
FACT: Walmart gives
disproportionately to
candidates with low
Immigrant Justice
Report Card scores 44% to candidates
with scores between
0% and 72% to
candidates with scores
below 50%.
In February 2010, ten former Walmart associates
from West Africa filed complaints with the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, stating
that they were discriminated against at work and
were ultimately fired from Walmart stores in
Colorado because managers wanted to hire “local
people” instead. According to several of the
complaints, in January 2009, a store manager in
Avon, CO called a store meeting, and said to a
group of mostly West African associates: “I don’t
like some of the faces I see here. There are people
in Eagle County who need jobs.” The associates, all
Muslim, also reported that they were denied brief
prayer breaks. 8
Racism Against Mexican Workers
In April 2011, Walmart paid $440,000 to settle an
EEOC suit claiming harassment of Latinos at a
Sam’s Club in Fresno, California. According to the
EEOC, at least nine employees of Mexican descent
and one who was married to a Mexican endured
regular ethnic slurs and derogatory remarks from
a fellow co-worker. The victims were told that
Mexicans are only good for cleaning homes and
were called “f—-n’ wetbacks,” and despite that the
victims were in the country legally, their harasser
even reported three of them to immigration
authorities. 9
1 http://alecexposed.org/wiki/Arizona
2 http://alecexposed.org/wiki/Arizona
3 http://alecexposed.org/w/images/c/c4/7K6-Resolution_Against_Amnesty_Exposed.pdf
4 http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/index.php
5 http://wcvi.org/justice/reportcard/marchprogress_senate.htm
6 http://wcvi.org/justice/reportcard/marchprogress_senate.htm
7 “Wal-Mart Mops Up Immigrant Flap,” http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-681593.html
8 “Immigrants Claim Wal-Mart Fired Them to Provide Jobs for Local Residents,” Dan Frosch, The New York Times, February 9, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/us/09walmart.html
9 EEOC v. Walmart Stores, Inc. dba Sam’s Club, et al., Case No. 09-CV-00804, filed in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California; “Walmart to Pay $440,000 to Settle EEOC
Suit for Harassment of Latinos.” 4-14-11. EEOC Press Release. http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/4-14-11.cfm