Illegal aliens arrested at another construction site in PA

Illegal aliens arrested at another construction site in Pennsylvania
Dave Gibson
Immigration Reform Examiner
August 18, 2011

On Thursday morning, several illegal aliens were taken into custody at the Wegman’s construction site in Highridge Business Park.

Schuylkill County Sheriff Joseph G. Groody told reporters that those arrested would be processed and turned over to federal immigration authorities.

Only a day earlier, Wegmans announced that they will be adding 500,000 square feet of space to its existing 415,000-square-foot distribution center in Cass Township, which will reportedly create 217 new jobs.

According to a press release from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Wegmans has received a great deal of taxpayer funding to complete the expansion, including a $731,650 funding offer: a $200,000 opportunity grant, $97,650 in job training assistance and $434,000 in job creation tax credits.

This is only the latest discovery of illegal laborers in the Keystone state.

-In December 2010, state troopers pulled over a van with a broken windshield on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and discovered 10 illegal aliens inside the vehicle. According to Pennsylvania State Police Sgt. Anthony Deluca, three of the illegal aliens escaped during the traffic stop but were captured a short time later.

The nine Salvadoran nationals and one Honduran were all turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The illegal aliens were on their way from Maryland to work on a taxpayer-funded housing project in Jeannette, PA.

The federal project is being built by Homes Build Hope, a subsidiary of AdelphoiUSA.

-In June 2010, several illegal aliens were discovered working on another construction site in Abington, PA, where a senior living facility was being built (see video at left).

Of course, it is not only Pennsylvania where the construction industry seems to have been inundated with illegal labor.

In November 2010, a total of 14 illegal aliens were arrested in Panama City, Florida, all of whom had been working on a federally-funded construction project, where U.S. workers had actually been turned away. Read that story here: http://www.examiner.com/immigration-ref ... urned-away

In 2007, the Fiscal Policy Institute released a study which found that illegal aliens are filling certain jobs in New York City in the following numbers:

-Construction workers…17,000 (32 percent of workforce)

-Carpenters…9,000 (26 percent of workforce)

-Painters, construction & maintenance…7,000 (34 percent of workforce)

With 1 in 5 Americans out of work, we simply cannot afford to allow one job go to an illegal alien. The issue of illegal immigration is now a fight for the survival of the American family.

As I always say…For every illegal alien with a job, there is an American without one.

http://www.examiner.com/immigration-ref ... nnsylvania

Sheriff: 5 illegal immigrants caught on Wegmans construction site
standardspeaker.com
By Frank Andruscavage (Staff Writer)
Published: August 19, 2011

MOUNT PLEASANT - Five illegal immigrants were detained Thursday while working on the construction site at Wegmans Retail Service Center in Schuylkill Highridge Business Park.
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Workers from Stellar Group, the contractor building the expansion at Wegmans Distribution Center in Highridge Industrial Park, are escorted to the Schuylkill County prison Thursday.

The incident came just one day after the company announced it would double the size of its local distribution center and create more than 200 jobs.

Acting on a tip, Schuylkill County Sheriff Joseph G. Groody and his deputies, assisted by Schuylkill County detectives and police from Cass and Butler townships, went to the site about 7:30 a.m. and checked workers' personal identifications. They took seven men into custody.

The men were transported to Schuylkill County Courthouse, where two of the men were found to be legal U.S. residents and returned to the site, Groody said. Of the remaining five, Groody said one provided false identification and faces charges of false reports and false identification, filed at the office of Magisterial District Judge Carol A. Pankake, Tremont.

The sheriff said he contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who, with the help of a translator, interviewed all five by telephone and ordered them to be detained in the county prison pending deportation.

According to Groody, the investigation began Tuesday when his office received an anonymous phone call about possible illegal workers at the site.

"That's not uncommon," Groody said of the tip. "We check all of our complaints out and follow up on any information that comes in."

Wegmans officials announced Wednesday that it would invest $65 million at the distribution center, adding 500,000 square feet to its existing 415,000-square-foot facility in Cass Township. The move would create 217 new jobs. C. Alan Walker, secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development, was on hand for the announcement.

Valerie Fox of Wegmans Food Markets Consumer Affairs office said the company issued the following statement regarding the incident: "We are very concerned about what transpired this morning at our Retail Service Center. We immediately contacted the Stellar Group Inc., a Jacksonville, Fla.-based company that designed and is constructing our new facility. We are in the midst of gathering all the facts to better understand the situation."

Valerie Korman, director of marketing and communications with Stellar Group, simply said: "We will not comment at this time."

Frank J. Zukas, president of Schuylkill Economic Development Corp., said he had no further details of the incident and would not comment.

"We're going to reserve any comment until we hear from the company," he said of Wegmans.

The latest construction project at Wegmans was coordinated by the Governor's Action Team. The company received a $731,650 funding package from DCED toward the $65 million project.

State Sen. David Argall, R-29, said it is unlikely Wegmans will be in jeopardy of losing the state funding or be punished for the illegal workers at the site.

fandruscavage@republicanherald.com

Read more: http://standardspeaker.com/news/sheriff ... z1VYnO5UJE