Thread: Feds cite crackdown on hiring illegals

Hunt has contracts for base housing at several locations across the country.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/l ... 42,00.html

Feds cite crackdown on hiring illegals
By Fernando Quintero, Rocky Mountain News
September 22, 2006
The arrests of undocumented workers near Buckley Air Force Base Wednesday are part of what federal immigration officials call a more aggressive crackdown on companies suspected of employing illegal immigrants.
Instead of just fines, employers now face the possibility of prosecution under criminal statutes that can result in asset seizures and jail time.

Prior to 9/11, large immigration raids sought specific people indicted by a federal grand jury on criminal charges. Mostly, they ended with deportations. But that has changed.

"We're doing things different from the way things used to be done under Immigration and Naturalization Service," said Jeff Copp, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent in charge of Denver district operations.

"Now, we look at everything criminally. Instead of picking up people, we go after everyone," he said.

Despite the threat of bigger fines and jail terms for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, ICE's new get-tough policy has had limited impact, said Steve Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates for tougher immigration controls.

Camarota believes the bust at Buckley and similar raids are accompanied by long, drawn-out investigations that have yielded few results.

In 2004, only three employers nationwide were actually fined for violations, he said. While subsequent raids have resulted in more worker arrests, there have been few fines and little jail time for company officials, he said.

"Much more systemic enforcement of work verification is needed. It's not clear the (Bush) administration is committed to it. You'd think there would be a lot more of these raids," he said.

In Colorado, there have been four high-profile raids on work sites since Sept. 11. Most have resulted simply in the deportation of workers.

Copp said the raid at Buckley would result in the investigation of subcontractors as well as principals at Hunt Building Co. Ltd., based in El Paso, Texas.

Estimates of the number of subcontractors on the Buckley project range from 20 to 40. Among them was Golden Triangle Construction, which has offices in Longmont and Colorado Springs. Brian Laartz, company vice president, said his firm completed a club house at the Buckley site about four months ago, and was not part of the investigation.

"We're always in full compliance. Our employees and subcontractors carefully verify the status of all workers, including background checks," he said.

In a statement, Mike Hunt, president of Hunt Building, said only one of the 91 construction workers who were detained was a Hunt employee. The others all worked for subcontractors under Hunt.

Hunt said his company has no economic reason to hire illegal immigrants because it doesn't pay lower wages.

"Much more systemic enforcement of work verification is needed. It's not clear the (Bush) administration is committed to it. You'd think there would be a lot more of these raids," he said.

We know the Bush administratrion isn't committed to it. The statistics have shown that.

Instead of just fines, employers now face the possibility of prosecution under criminal statutes that can result in asset seizures and jail time.

So far I haven't heard of ANY criminal charges being brought against the employers in this recent ICE charade.