The Bay Area's biggest Latino grocery chain is trying to avert a threatened boycott after it began checking the immigration status of all its new hires through a federal work-verification program.

"This is a decision that doesn't come easily," said spokeswoman Perla Rodriguez of the 21-store Mi Pueblo Foods chain. "The immigrant community, that's the core of who we are."

The company joined the E-Verify network a few weeks ago at the recommendation of the Department of Homeland Security, which uses the database to inform companies if their prospective employees are living and working in the country legally, Rodriguez said.

Read more at the Contra Costa Times