Businesses strive for legal workers
Some Vail Valley businesses have trained to spot fake documents

EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado —The landscaping crew building on a pond and waterfall in a Minturn backyard speak with marked accents and hail from Mexico, but Johnie’s Garden owner John Rosenfeld knows all his workers are documented and legal immigrants.

Most of the crew are here through the H-2B program, a federal program that brings seasonal guest workers into the country.

Like many other local employers, Rosenfeld said he sees hundreds of job applicants each year, some here illegally, and hiring H-2B workers is one way Rosenfeld said he makes sure his employees are legal.

For other applicants, Rosenfeld said, the company always asks for documentation, and people who can’t produce paperwork are turned away.

His office manager has taken training classes in order to learn how to spot fake visas and papers, both of which the office sees quite often, he said.

“It’s easy to spot if you’ve had the training,â€