March 18, 2014 Ricardo A. Wong, Field Office Director U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Enforcement and Removal Operations Chicago Field Office 101 W. Congress Pkwy., 4th Floor Chicago, IL 60605 Michael T. Phillips, Field Office Director U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Enforcement and Removal Operations Buffalo Field Office 130 Delaware Ave. Buffalo, NY 14202 Re: Suspected Undocumented Workers Employed by KDE Equine, LLC, Doing Business as Steve Asmussen Racing Stables; Request for Investigation Dear Messrs. Wong and Phillips: This is to respectfully request that your agency investigate Steve Asmussen ( Asmussen ) and KDE Equine, LLC, doing business as Steve Asmussen Racing Stables ( KDE Equine ), a horse training and racing business of which Asmussen is president, and events that occurred at Churchill Downs, a horse racetrack located at 700 Central Ave., Louisville, KY 40208, and further documented at Saratoga Race Course, a horse racetrack located at 267 Union Ave., Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. Between April and August 2013, a PETA undercover investigator documented that Asmussen and KDE Equine were apparently employing undocumented immigrant workers. 1 (See KDE Equine: Investigative Footage for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officials DVD, at Exhibit 1, and KDE Equine: Investigative Photographs for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officials CD, at Exhibit 2.) All of this appears to violate the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq. Legal Background In relevant part, 8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)(1) provides: It is unlawful for a person or other entity (A) to hire, or to recruit or refer for a fee, for employment in the United States an alien knowing the alien is an unauthorized alien (as defined in subsection (h)(3) of this section) with respect to such employment, or 1 All dates herein, unless otherwise noted, are in 2013.
(B) (i) to hire for employment in the United States an individual without complying with the requirements of subsection (b) of this section [referring to the Employment Verification System] or (ii) if the person or entity is an agricultural association, agricultural employer, or farm labor contractor (as defined in section 1802 of title 29), to hire, or to recruit or refer for a fee, for employment in the United States an individual without complying with the requirements of subsection (b) of this section. It is [also] unlawful for a person or other entity, after hiring an alien for employment in accordance with paragraph (1), to continue to employ the alien in the United States knowing the alien is (or has become) an unauthorized alien with respect to such employment. 2 Furthermore, 8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)(1)(A) provides that an employer: must attest, under penalty of perjury and on a form designated or established by the Attorney General by regulation, that it has verified that the individual is not an unauthorized alien by examining (i) a document described in subparagraph (B), or (ii) a document described in subparagraph (C) and a document described in subparagraph (D). Such attestation may be manifested by either a hand-written or an electronic signature. A person or entity has complied with the requirement of this paragraph with respect to examination of a document if the document reasonably appears on its face to be genuine. If an individual provides a document or combination of documents that reasonably appears on its face to be genuine and that is sufficient to meet the requirements of the first sentence of this paragraph, nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as requiring the person or entity to solicit the production of any other document or as requiring the individual to produce such another document. In relevant part, 8 U.S.C. 1324c(a) provides: It is unlawful for any person or entity knowingly (1) to forge, counterfeit, alter, or falsely make any document for the purpose of satisfying a requirement of this chapter or to obtain a benefit under this chapter, 2 8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)(2). 2
(2) to use, attempt to use, possess, obtain, accept, or receive or to provide any forged, counterfeit, altered, or falsely made document in order to satisfy any requirement of this chapter or to obtain a benefit under this chapter, (3) to use or attempt to use or to provide or attempt to provide any document lawfully issued to or with respect to a person other than the possessor (including a deceased individual) for the purpose of satisfying a requirement of this chapter or obtaining a benefit under this chapter, (4) to accept or receive or to provide any document lawfully issued to or with respect to a person other than the possessor (including a deceased individual) for the purpose of complying with section 1324a(b) of this title or obtaining a benefit under this chapter, or (5) to prepare, file, or assist another in preparing or filing, any application for benefits under this chapter, or any document required under this chapter, or any document submitted in connection with such application or document, with knowledge or in reckless disregard of the fact that such application or document was falsely made or, in whole or in part, does not relate to the person on whose behalf it was or is being submitted. 3 For purposes of this section, the term falsely make means to prepare or provide an application or document, with knowledge or in reckless disregard of the fact that the application or document contains a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or material representation, or has no basis in law or fact, or otherwise fails to state a fact which is material to the purpose for which it was submitted. 4 Asmussen and KDE Equine appear to be employing undocumented workers, obtaining and/or using false documents, and assisting in filing false documents, as follows: On April 21 in Kentucky, PETA s investigator asked XXX (whose full name may be XXX), one of the KDE Equine employed grooms, 5 if he was going to the Saratoga Race Meeting at Saratoga Race Course in New York, to which XXX replied, No papeles, meaning, No papers. PETA s investigator heard one of the KDE Equine employed hot walkers, 6 XXX, respond, No tengo papeles, meaning, I have no papers, when XXX asked her the same question. PETA s investigator suspected that the papers to which these workers referred were visas, proof of citizenship, or other paperwork required to work legally in the United States. On April 23, PETA s investigator asked exercise rider 7 XXX (also known as XXX; hereinafter XXX ) if Saratoga Race Course was the hardest track about having to have legal workers, to which XXX responded, Yeah, they re very strict. (See Inc. 1, at Ex. 1.) 3 Id. 1324c(a)(1) (5). 4 Id. 1324c(f). 5 A groom is a person who cares for a horse in a stable. 6 A hot walker is a person who walks horses to cool them down after workout or races. 7 An exercise rider is a rider who is licensed to exercise a horse during the horse s morning training session. 3
On May 1, PETA s investigator heard Asmussen s assistant trainer, Scott Blasi (Blasi), ask a horse transporter, in reference to a hot walker at Indiana Downs, a horse racing track in Shelbyville, Indiana, Is he legal? PETA s investigator heard an unidentified person answer, He s illegal. PETA s investigator heard Blasi ask, apparently to clarify, He is legal? PETA s investigator heard someone answer, No, no. PETA s investigator suspected that the hot walker mentioned by Blasi was employed by KDE Equine, as Blasi appeared worried about whether or not the worker was undocumented. (See Inc. 2, at Ex. 1.) On May 14, XXX told PETA s investigator that the mafia, as XXX had previously said that the employees act like a Mexican mafia which PETA s investigator understood to mean KDE Equine employed grooms and hot walkers were protesting having to complete W-4 and I-9 forms. 8 During this conversation, XXX told PETA s investigator that Blasi had even brought someone in to make cards for the grooms and hot walkers, which, in context, PETA s investigator understood to mean forged Social Security cards for the workers because the workers were undocumented. Also on May 14, PETA s investigator heard Asmussen say to Blasi, apparently in reference to KDE Equine workers, Can t we give them cash some other way? Through a bank? Cashed. Can t we get the checks in the wrong people s name? and Then why do they want them in their name? In this context, PETA s investigator understood Asmussen to mean that he wanted KDE Equine workers to agree to the use of names other than their true names on their paychecks, apparently because the workers were undocumented. (See Inc. 3, at Ex. 1.) Also on May 14, PETA s investigator heard Asmussen discuss a W-9 form which is a request for a taxpayer identification number with XXX, 9 one of the KDE Equine employed foremen, saying, You have to have a W-9 to get a check. The numbers W-9 the government said are no good. It states, You can t employ this person, this number, or it s a $25,000 fine. The first number wasn t good. When you re attached to a number that isn t good If you use that number, they re gonna fucking know. you get caught. In context, PETA s investigator understood Asmussen to be explaining to XXX how to avoid getting caught apparently as an undocumented worker by falsifying federal tax information. (See Inc. 4, at Ex. 1.) Also on May 14, XXX told PETA s investigator that six workers recently quit working for Asmussen. PETA s investigator understood XXX to mean, in context, that the workers would not agree to use false names on their paychecks, as Asmussen and Blasi were asking them to do. (See Inc. 5, at Ex. 1.) On May 15, PETA s investigator saw a sheet of paper on which a worker s Churchill Downs track license 10 and a Social Security card were photocopied. The name on both the Social Security card and the track license was XXX, but PETA s investigator recognized the man in the photograph on the track license as a hot walker who went by the name XXX, whom she saw on a daily basis at the facility. PETA s investigator did not know a worker named XXX. (See Inc. 6, at Ex. 1.) Also on May 15, Blasi indicated to PETA s investigator that he asked KDE Equine workers to assume false names, after an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security 8 A W-4 form is an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form that determines how much federal income tax should be withheld from an employee s paycheck. 9 We do not know this person s surname. 10 Churchill Downs requires that all workers register and obtain a license indicating that they are employed by a trainer at the track. 4
identified undocumented workers at the facilty so that he and Asmussen would not face penalties for employing undocumented workers. Specifically, PETA s investigator asked Blasi, in reference to the workers, What were you asking them to do, use different names? Blasi told PETA s investigator, Yeah it s the same names they ve been getting their check in for a year. They are weird. They have the identification and the Social Security. Blasi told PETA s investigator that Homeland Security came and wanted to see his payroll records. Blasi said, in reference to the KDE Equine employees, What s so stupid is the shit they have now is not real. When PETA s investigator asked, Like their Social Security cards? Blasi shook his head and said, No, which PETA s investigator understood to mean that the KDE Equine employees Social Security cards were not real. Blasi then stated, So, long story short, Homeland Security says, You have to terminate these people. It s not my job to be a documentation specialist. I don t have to know, you know. It s not my job to know that the shit that you showed me is real. So they, uh, Homeland Security says, Listen, he goes, The list of people. These people are not legal, and you cannot work any of them. Blasi told PETA s investigator that he then told the KDE Equine workers, If you guys want the job, you re not gonna work for me under that name. They re gonna charge like 10, 25,000 a person, something stupid. Blasi further told PETA s investigator, the checks had to match the paperwork that we gave them, so I had to fill out all this paperwork again, in case they would ever come in. My payroll for that time period would have to match the people on it. So I can t have the people on it that were on the list, so they have to get a check in another name. Well every single one of em, and their new name that they ve been getting their check for, for a year grant you, not, like, this isn t, I didn t ask em to do it yesterday. We ve already had this conversation. It s to protect them. I told em, You dumb son of a bitches, go fucking get a job with somebody else, but if Homeland Security comes in and wants to see your shit, your ass is grass. They ll come in and fucking raid you, and as far as they know you don t exist anymore. (See Inc. 7, at Ex. 1.) Also on May 15, Blasi indicated to PETA s investigator that he paid someone to provide KDE Equine workers with forged or false Social Security cards. Specifically, PETA s investigator asked Blasi, in reference to the workers, Did you help them get the Social Security cards too, to which Blasi replied, Yeah, it s like 60, 70 dollars a person. PETA s investigator understood Blasi to mean that he paid $60 to $70 per person to have forged or false Social Security cards supplied to the undocumented workers. (See Inc. 8, at Ex. 1.) On July 11, when in Saratoga Springs, PETA s investigator organized KDE Equine employees I-9 and W-4 forms, as requested by Blasi. While doing this, the investigator saw documents for a groom who goes by the name XXX. PETA s investigator saw that XXX s paperwork as well as the forms of identification he provided a Social Security card and an international driver s license, which displayed XXX s photograph listed his name as XXX. PETA s investigator never knew XXX to go by the name XXX or XXX or XXX (the name with which XXX s W-4 form was signed) or for anyone to call him any of these names. Even so, this name was on XXX s W-4 form and I-9 form and forms of identification. (See Photographs 2013_07_11_01_XXX's W-4_IMG_0163 to 2013_07_11_05_Closeup of XXX's Social Security card_img_0167, at Ex. 2.) Also on July 11, when in Saratoga Springs and while organizing KDE Equine workers paperwork at the request of Blasi, PETA s investigator saw that Blasi had two sets of I-9 and W-4 forms for a foreman who went by the name XXX, with one set listing the name XXX 5
XXX and one listing the name XXX both sets of forms contained copies of forms of identification for each name with XXX s photograph on them. PETA s investigator asked Blasi which set of forms to file for XXX, and Blasi told her to file the set of forms matching the name on XXX s paycheck, which was XXX. PETA s investigator never knew XXX to go by the name XXX or XXX or for anyone to call him either of those names. PETA s investigator only heard people refer to this man as XXX. (See Photographs 2013_07_11_06_XXX's W-4 with the name XXX_IMG_0168 to 2013_07_11_10_XXX's Social Security card with the name XXX_IMG_0172, at Ex. 2.) PETA s investigator observed a Social Security card listing the name XXX and a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission stable employee license displaying XXX s photograph and listing the name XXX. (See Photographs 2013_07_11_11_XXX's W-4 with the name XXX_IMG_0173 to 2013_07_11_15_XXX's ID cards with the name XXX_IMG_0177, at Ex. 2.) All of the above appears to suggest KDE Equine and Asmussen are hiring undocumented workers in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as well as producing and/or using false identification documents and assisting in preparing and/or submitting false immigration forms. We are available to assist you in your investigation. I can be contacted at 828-734-3851 or ElizabethOvercash@peta.org. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Elizabeth Overcash Evidence Analyst Cruelty Investigations Department 6