Thread: Immigrants' arrests multiply at Fort Lee

Immigrants' arrests multiply at Fort Lee

Sunday, Aug 24, 2008 - 12:09 AM Updated: 01:49 AM
By LUZ LAZO
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER



The construction boom at Fort Lee is causing a significant increase in the number of illegal immigrants being arrested on the base compared with arrests at other military installations. And the number of arrests is likely to increase as the number of workers grows over the next year.

Sixty-two illegal immigrants have been arrested this year while trying to enter Fort Lee, and all have been prosecuted for violating U.S. immigration laws, base officials said. In 2006, there were 15 arrests.

Most have been Hispanics who were commercial-delivery drivers or were entering the base to do construction and landscaping work, Fort Lee Police Chief Joseph Metzger said.

While detained immigrant workers generally are not considered direct security threats to the installation, enforcement is a security priority because even if illegal workers don't have ill intent against the U.S., they can be subject to blackmail by someone who does, federal officials said.

"We view illegal immigrants as one of many possible security threats to our installations and respond accordingly," said Cheryl Irwin, a spokeswoman for the Defense Department.

She said the department's law-enforcement agencies do not enforce immigration laws but they do criminal background checks on contract workers, and when they believe someone is an illegal immigrant they contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not keep separate statistics on enforcement actions at individual "critical infrastructures" such as military installations, said Ernestine Fobbs, an agency spokeswoman.

"It is critical to ICE's homeland security mission to know who enters sensitive areas like airports, military bases and power plants to ensure the integrity of these key assets," she said.

. . .

In fiscal year 2008, which ends Sept. 30, ICE agents have made more than 700 administrative arrests and 100 criminal arrests at critical-infrastructure facilities across the country.

The immigrants at Fort Lee were arrested at checkpoints where police conduct identification checks and random vehicle inspections, Metzger said. Most of the immigrants presented false identification, including driver's licenses, state IDs and permanent resident cards, also known as "green cards."

All military installations apply the same rules when it comes to illegal immigrants, federal officials said. However, other military posts in Virginia have not seen the increase in cases against illegal immigrants that Fort Lee has experienced.

At Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County, police arrest eight to 10 illegal immigrants a year, A.P. Hill officials said.

Northern Virginia's Fort Belvoir has several construction projects under way but has not caught undocumented workers trying to enter the base, spokesman Don Dees said.

And at Norfolk Naval Station, there has not been one undocumented immigrant arrested this year, spokeswoman Terry Davis said.

"In Virginia, we have been kind of the model for successfully prosecuting illegal immigrants," Fort Lee's Metzger said. "We are very aggressive when it comes to protecting the installation."

. . .

Fort Lee officials cite the construction boom, which began last year, as a reason for the increase in immigrants trying to enter the base. Last calendar year, Fort Lee arrested 89 illegal immigrants, while 15 were arrested in 2006 and 20 in 2005.

Eleven construction projects totaling about $700 million are under way at Fort Lee as part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission plan. On any given day, 750 to 900 construction workers are on the Army base, officials said.

Contractors and subcontractors are aware of Fort Lee's security policies, officials said. But it has become clear that some workers and subcontractors are willing to take the risk.

"We put that out clearly, that Fort Lee will not be tolerating illegal immigrants working on post," said Joanne Tompkins, director of procurement assistance for the Crater District Planning Commission.

Tompkins, who is responsible for helping contractors get work at Fort Lee, said a few subcontractors expressed concern to her about running out of laborers if they couldn't hire illegal workers.

Undocumented laborers account for about 12 percent of the employment in the construction industry, according to a study by the Pew Hispanic Center.

However, Tompkins said finding workers has not been a problem here. The Crater commission has worked with staffing companies and the Virginia Employment Commission to get workers for the Fort Lee projects, she said.

. . .

Despite the number of arrests, the project is on schedule, said William G. Robson with the Army Corps of Engineers.

"It is a big deal from the standpoint that we have to stop work" when workers are arrested, said Robson, the BRAC area engineer for the Norfolk District. "All of a sudden, you have lost 12 employees."

But the loss is minimal compared with the number of workers at the base every day, Robson said.

The number of workers is expected to grow over the next year as more construction contracts are awarded, he said. As the number increases, Fort Lee police expect to see even more arrests.

Up to 20 undocumented immigrants have been processed at once this year, but only one subcontractor has been charged by federal authorities, Metzger said.

Federal authorities find it difficult to prosecute employers because of the multiple parties involved in hiring workers.

On March 19, a federal grand jury in Richmond indicted Ronald Joseph Biringer on one count of transporting 10 illegal immigrants to Fort Lee on Jan. 14.

The indictment alleges that Biringer, owner of R.J. Biringer Construction Inc., knowingly and unlawfully transported 10 illegal immigrants to the base for "the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain."

The case has been sealed, so details of the outcome are unavailable.

. . .

Immigrant advocates say illegal workers are often victims of reckless subcontractors who don't tell the workers the job is inside a federal installation where they will be asked for identification.

"Unfortunately, you have an individual who is hired to do work who is not aware of where the work is being done. . . . They don't know that identification will be checked," said Tim Freilich, legal director with the Immigrant Advocacy Program of the Legal Aid Justice Center, a statewide group that supports fair treatment for low-wage immigrant workers.

"Virginia's construction industry is dependent on a large force of immigrants, both documented and undocumented," Freilich said. "The crime here is that Congress has failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform."

He said the system is at fault because it allows immigrant laborers but denies them a way to work legally.

Several attempts were made to discuss the issue with contractors working at Fort Lee. Balfour Beatty, one of the larger companies that has several construction contracts on the base, referred all questions to Fort Lee and said the company does not do the hiring; its subcontractors do.

Ultimately it's the workers who get caught.

"It's sad, it's tough, but unfortunately we've got a job to do. We need to protect this installation," Metzger said. "We realize that when you are breaking the law, you are breaking the law, and we are not at all going to play favorites to anyone."

Contact Luz Lazo at (804) 649-6058 or llazo@timesdispatch.com.
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news/poli ... -0210.html

Here is one option for concerned citizens who witness illegals on government property.
It's the Waste, Fraud, and Abuse hotline:


For more info:
http://www.dodig.osd.mil/HOTLINE/index.html

Keep in mind, the ICE hotline is also available for reporting illegals and non-immigrant over-stays.

Report Suspicious Activity:
1-866-DHS-2-ICE
1-866-347-2423

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even if illegal workers don't have ill intent against the U.S., they can be subject to blackmail by someone who does, federal officials said.

There's a dark thought. I never thought of this risk too.