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Labor in the Twin Tiers Illegal immigrants work way into Tiers
Organized labor among those pushing for tougher penalties for hiring undocumented workers.
By G. Jeffrey Aaron
jaaron@stargazette.com
Star-Gazette
September 3, 2006


If you think the Twin Tiers is too far away from the Mexican border to be affected by undocumented immigrant workers from that country, think again.

Recent incidents show the issue is hitting close to home:

•On Aug. 30, state police in Bath arrested three Mexican nationals who were in the United States illegally and working on a Steuben County highway project. The men were transferred to a federal detention facility in Buffalo.

•In mid-August, the Chemung County Sheriff's Department began investigating a complaint about illegal immigrant workers employed at an undisclosed site in the county.

Because the case is ongoing, Sheriff Christopher Moss said he couldn't provide any details, other than to say the department's criminal investigators are handling the case.

•On July 10, 26 undocumented immigrant workers were arrested in Athens after local police stopped two vans that were carrying the workers to their job site -- the new Lowe's home improvement store being built on North Elmira Street in Sayre.

The men, believed to be from Mexico, were taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to a New Jersey detention facility, and authorities said they were eventually deported.

One of the men, wanted in a rape that allegedly took place during a previous illegal visit to the United States, was detained by federal officials.

•On May 16, 11 unregistered Mexican men were arrested in Cayuta, where there they were employed at Wagner Hardwoods, a rough-cut hardwood timber operation on Route 224.

The men, who police said had forged documents stating they were in the United States legally, were deported, along with 34 others who were previously nabbed in western New York.

•Chemung-Schuyler Labor Assembly President Margaret Costello can't prove it, but she suspects that undocumented alien workers were used by the North Carolina sub-contractor hired to dismantle the manufacturing equipment at MT Picture Display Corp. in January 2005.

Some of the project's workers were local union members, she said.

But there was a group of Spanish-speaking workers who came with the North Carolina company. Costello later learned the out-of-state contractor had a history of using undocumented workers.

She said she questioned MT managers about her suspicions but was unable to get solid answers.

"But somewhere along the line, somebody knows something," she said.

Mexico leads in illegals
According to the Office of Immigration Statistics in the Department of Homeland Security, an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants were living in the United States at the start of this year, up from an estimated 8.5 million in January 2000.

Mexico is the largest contributing country of illegal immigrants, with nearly 6 million in the United States in 2005, the government said.

El Salvador, Guatemala, India and China follow with a combined contribution of about 1.4 million unauthorized immigrants.

To Costello, those numbers mean it's time for the United States to seal its borders and begin legalizing the undocumented immigrants who are already in this country.

Organized labor also is lobbying for legislation that would toughen the penalties for employers who hire illegal workers, Costello said.

"We would rather see more money put into prevention or punishment rather than hiring more border guards. We want to remove the economic incentives that unscrupulous employers have to hire undocumented workers," said Costello.

Laws currently on the books lack that punch, said Dean Boyd, spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The agency also would like to see laws that are tougher on employers.

Employers convicted of hiring illegal workers pay civil penalties ranging from $275 for the first offense up to $3,300 for the third offense.

Criminal charges can bring fines of up to $3,000 per undocumented worker and a jail term of up to six months.

Employers who knowingly hire 10 or more illegal workers within a 12-month period can be jailed for up to five years.

In order to prosecute an employer for using illegal aliens, the government must prove the employer "knowingly" hired them, said Boyd.

But employers are only required to verify that the prospective employee has the documents needed to work in the United States; they are not required to be document detectives, said Boyd.

As one might expect, a booming underground fraudulent document industry is developing along with the networks that smuggle the illegal immigrants into the country, said Boyd.

Trying new tactics
To clamp down on employers who tap into this source of cheap but illegal workers, new tactics are being used.

In the government's eyes, the proceeds earned and the assets purchased by a business using illegal laborers are also illegal, said Boyd.

"So, we can seize those assets, and that's what we are starting to do -- freezing bank accounts, seizing homes, cars and other assets from employers who use illegal labor as a business plan," said Boyd.

"It's been a wake-up call for employers that has really picked up steam."

While Boyd admitted it's hard to gauge the new strategy's effectiveness, he said it has created a flood of calls from worried employers who are saying, "We are concerned. We are honest brokers and want to make sure we don't get caught up in the new enforcement regimen. And what can we do to ensure we don't?"

The government also has begun to pursue more serious charges against employers.

Among them: the charge of harboring illegal aliens, a felony that carries a 10-year jail term; and money laundering, which carries a 20-year jail term.

"We have also submitted some funding proposals for more agents and the additional tools we need. At this point, it's all in Congress' hand, but we are still moving forward," Boyd said.

Borders a 'disaster'
Meanwhile, David Stamp, who grows grapes on 70 acres and operates a family-owned winery just outside Watkins Glen, feels the government's movement is in the wrong direction.

Stamp is one of several Finger Lakes grape growers who rely heavily on foreign-born workers in their vineyards.

He keeps an eye on the immigrant labor debate but doesn't like a lot of what he sees.

"There's a push to make (employers) liable, but what they're doing at the borders is a complete disaster," said Stamp.

"They are trying to make it (the employers') problem, but before they come after me, they need to get the border-control person."

Stamp is confident the core group of workers he uses -- five- or six-person crews at various times during the growing season -- are in the United States legally.

They live in the Geneva area, where some own homes. And they weren't scared off by a recent raid in the Geneva area by Immigration and Customs agents.

Stamp's farm is one of about 25 on a circuit the Spanish-speaking laborers have developed for themselves.

Stamp said that before he hires workers, he checks their paperwork. And when he files his quarterly tax forms, the names and Social Security numbers he submits match those on file with the government, he said.

Stamp also disputes the popular notion that immigrant labor is "cheap" labor.

His workers earn about $10 an hour unless they opt for piece work, which bases their pay on the volume of work performed. In those cases, said Stamp, the rate jumps to about $40 an hour.

And don't tell Stamp his foreign-born workers are taking jobs away from Americans.

"A majority of us are hiring them because they are the only people who will show up for the jobs," he said.

"The people who they say are being squeezed out have never given me a call. I can't find them.

"There are things that we have to get done, and they've worked out ways to do it fast."