The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirmed on June 16 that local restaurant Jina Sushi had violated immigration laws.

The CBSA first became aware of the restaurant’s violations due to a tip, said Caroline Desjarlais, CBSA communications officer.

The CBSA charged the restaurant and manager Mija Park with five counts of employing foreign nationals not authorized to work in Canada. Park was also charged with overstaying a visitor’s permit and not being authorized to work in Canada.

Penalties for employers range from summary to indictable convictions with a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment and a $50,000 fine.

Exclusion orders were issued by the Immigration and Refugee Board for the restaurant workers on April 25 and June 2. A person removed by an exclusion order can’t return to Canada for one year unless given written permission by the CBSA.

“Everyone ordered removed from Canada is entitled to due process before the law,” Desjarlais told the Journal via email.

“Once individuals have exhausted all legal avenues of recourse/due process, they are expected to respect our laws and leave Canada or be removed.”

On April 23, a poster on the Facebook group Overheard at Queen’s said he’d seen “a Canadian Border Services Agency van parked on the sidewalk by the back entrance to Jina at 1 p.m. today.” On April 23, CBSA Inland Enforcement Officers arrested Park and five others at Jina on the suspicion that they were working without authorization.

The CBSA told the Journal in May that officers had investigated a restaurant in Kingston on April 23 for employing unauthorized workers, but couldn’t name the restaurant due to Section 8 of the Privacy Act, which prevents a government institution from disclosing personal information unless the individual consents.

Park was charged and released from custody on terms and conditions, and is scheduled to appear in court on July 3.