Feds Looking At Whether Arrested Janitors Had Fake IDs

Feds looking at whether arrested janitors had fake IDs


By CHRIS BLANK
Wednesday, March 7, 2007 3:44 PM CST

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Federal agents are investigating whether 22 illegal immigrants arrested while working for a state janitorial contractor were using stolen identities.



U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Wednesday that its agents also seized documents and computer equipment from the office of Sam's Janitorial Services at the Truman State Office Building in Jefferson City.

Pete Baird, assistant special agent in charge of the ICE office in Kansas City, said the agency is investigating whether any of the illegal immigrants had been using fraudulent paperwork. Agents recently have noticed more illegal immigrants using identities stolen from U.S. citizens to obtain employment and avoid discovery, he said.

Initially, the governor's office and Baird reported that 25 illegal immigrants had been detained Tuesday night when the janitorial workers gathered for what they had been told was a special meeting.

A news release on Wednesday instead reported that 22 had been arrested.

A spokesman for ICE said it is not uncommon for initial figures to be revised. Spokesman Carl Rusnok said he knows that of the 25 detained Tuesday, two were released after it was determined they were in the United States legally.

Those who were detained are citizens of Chile, Ecuador and Mexico; 14 are males and eight are females.

Records filed with the Missouri Secretary of State show that Kwabena Asamoah-Boadu, of Omaha, Ark., registered Sam's Janitorial Service in 2001.

Asamoah-Boadu told the Kansas City Star on Tuesday night that all his workers had shown him Social Security cards or immigration papers and that he didn't realize some of his employees were illegal immigrants.

"I did all they told me to do. I didn't do anything wrong," he told the newspaper.

Asamoah-Boadu said his only clue that something might have been wrong was when someone left him a note accusing him of hiring illegal immigrants.

No one returned messages left Tuesday night and Wednesday by The Associated Press for a Jefferson City phone number listed for Sam's Janitorial Services.

Sam's Janitorial Services, an Oklahoma-based company, had nine contracts to perform custodial work in Jefferson City, Columbia and Kansas City. All the people detained Tuesday worked in Jefferson City office buildings.

Gov. Matt Blunt said he has barred the company from doing any further business with the state. He has also signed an executive order directing state agencies to review state contractors to ensure companies with state bids hire employees allowed to work in the United States.





http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/20 ... nippg4.txt

Blunt: State Contractor Apparently Hired Illegal Immigrants
created: 3/7/2007 9:42:37 AM
updated: 3/7/2007 2:11:07 PM

By Jasmine Huda

(KSDK) - Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt is ordering state agencies to audit all contractors after several employees of a janitorial contractor were detained as suspected illegal immigrants.

A tip from a state employee revealed 25 janitorial workers employed by Oklahoma-based Sam's Janitorial Service were undocumented. Their countries of origin have not yet been disclosed.

The employees worked in nine state office buildings in Jefferson City. The company has been barred from doing any more business with the state.

A state executive order issued Tuesday evening requires all state agencies to audit contractors to ensure employees are documented. Furthermore, contracts may be terminated if the business is found employing illegal immigrants.

Blunt, who was in St. Louis Wednesday, said he's disappointed a state contractor hired illegal immigrants. But he said not all contractors are breaking the law.

"We should use contract workers when it is in the best interest of taxpayers and it is a good stewardship of tax dollars. But we need to demand that contracts only employ legal workers in the United States," said Blunt.

Blunt said the state employs approximately 60,000 employees. He said a recent check found them all to be legal workers

http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.a ... yid=114164

Aliens Who Worked at State Building Indicted

03/20/2007 07:22am


(Jefferson City) Seven Mexican nationals and one from Chile who had worked as janitors at a state building have been charged with various immigration offenses.

The eight - who range in ages from 19 to 56 - were indicted today on charges of illegally entering the United States and possessing false identification documents and Social Security numbers.

According to authorities, the defendants were employees of Sam's Janitorial Service and were working at the Truman State Office Building in Jefferson City at the time of their arrest.

The eight were among 22 illegal aliens employed by the janitorial contractor arrested March 6 by immigration agents, officials said.

http://www.ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=5715

[quote]We should use contract workers when it is in the best interest of taxpayers and it is a good stewardship of tax dollars. But we need to demand that contracts only employ legal workers in the United States," said Blunt. [/quote

Way to go Gov. Blunt!!! enforce the law!! :wink: