"Michigan couple made $74M by harboring 240+ undocumented workers, feds say. Is this common in the US?"

A couple that owns a plumbing company in Plymouth, MI., is facing multiple charges related to harboring, employing and "conspiracy to bring in” undocumented immigrants to work for them...

...are accused of employing 247 undocumented immigrants, who they allegedly “housed … in overcrowded houses and hotel rooms.” Authorities allege that the couple also took the immigrants’ passports...

...released on bail but is due back in court at the beginning of December, where CBS News reports they face a decade of prison time and charges of up to $3,000 per undocumented immigrant they employed...their company, Orduna Plumbing Inc. — which is based in Michigan but operates in multiple states — reportedly raked in around $74 million in revenue since 2022 while paying workers roughly between $800 and $1,500 a week...

A slew of recovered WhatsApp messages between Moises and the employees revealed the concern among the undocumented workers about the risk of arrest, including asking for more financial compensation as a result. Other messages mentioned complaints about overcrowding at the residences where the company put the workers up, with one sparsely furnished 1,500-square-foot residence allegedly housing nine undocumented immigrants...