Two Atlantic residents charged with employing five illegal immigrants have pleaded not guilty.
Shui Ming Lin and Xiu Wen Zhang were charged late last month with harboring multiple illegal aliens their homes in Atlantic and Harlan and employing those same individuals at their restaurants in those communities.
Authorities began surveillance on the couples’ properties in early March, after they received information employees of the China Garden restaurant in Atlantic were making numerous suspicious Western Union Wire transfers to China.
Among the illegal aliens charged with being a witness in the case against the couple are four Chinese and one Mexican. Their depositions were taken and a U.S. Magistrate has since ordered the immigrants’ attorney to respond to a government motion requesting they be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials for possible deportation.
The attorney for the four Chinese illegals is working on their behalf to seek asylum for those individuals, but no such action is planned for the Mexican illegal.