Illegals provide monogramming for Williams-Sonoma in Memphis


If the monogrammed napkins at your Thanksgiving dinner are from Williams-Sonoma, there’s a good chance an illegal immigrant added that monogram. Williams-Sonoma, headquartered in San Francisco, is a high-end retailer. Last year the company produced $3.7 billion in sales, and illegal aliens helped generate that revenue.

In Memphis, Tennessee, illegal aliens sent by a staffing agency sew monograms onto backpacks, sheets, pillowcases and other goods for Williams-Sonoma. In fact, most of the workers in the monogram department are Hispanic ‘immigrants’ sent by a staffing agency.

Williams-Sonoma occupies 4.8 million square feet at several facilities in Memphis, and in Olive Branch, MS, outside of Memphis. For time-sensitive tasks like monograms and packaging, the firm relies heavily on temporary workers to manage seasonal demand.

There were 135 active staffing agencies in Memphis in 2005. The agencies are an economic lifeline for illegal aliens with fake identification. Many agencies recruit Hispanic workers by advertising in Spanish-language media, with bilingual recruiters and by training and supervising in Spanish. Researchers at the University of Memphis concluded that many local staffing agencies accepted low-quality fake identification. They found that FedEx Corp. pays good wages and benefits, and found no evidence that that Fedex was hiring illegal immigrants. Big warehouses, however, are located in Memphis because of FedEx, and many have long used temporary agencies to manage surges in volume.