Thread: Illegal workers' arrests point to holes in security

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Suspects detained at airport, shipyard

By Frank James
Washington Bureau
Published July 4, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Nearly four years after the Sept. 11 calamity, arrests of illegal immigrant workers are exposing security gaps at sensitive sites.

Several weeks ago, the Homeland Security Department's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, detained 26 undocumented workers at the Northrop Grumman shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., where the Coast Guard's new "national security cutters" and the Navy's next-generation ships are being built.

There was no suggestion by federal officials that the workers had any terrorist connections. But the presence of people who allegedly used false documents to gain entry to the shipyard was, at the very least, a cause for concern.

In May, ICE arrested 60 undocumented workers at a variety of sites: petrochemical refineries, a pipeline operation, power plants and an air-cargo facility.

In the past 12 months, ICE has detained illegal or improperly documented immigrants working as aircraft mechanics in North Carolina and Arizona and others working at a Texas plant that made ready-to-eat meals for U.S. troops in Iraq.

Such workers also have been arrested at Boston's Logan International Airport, nuclear plants in Iowa and Florida and Florida's Port Canaveral, which has cruise and cargo ship operations.

Terror fears

The obvious fear is that if illegal immigrants can so easily enter such locations, terrorists could too.

Since Sept. 11, immigration enforcement officials have intensified efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants working at locations critical to the U.S. economy or national security.

They've shifted immigration agents' focus to sensitive sites and away from less critical workplaces such as carwashes, hotels and restaurants. Among the efforts are Operation Tarmac, targeting airports, and Operation Glow Worm, aimed at nuclear power plants.

One consequence: Illegal immigrant workers at sites thought to have little to no value as terrorist targets haven't much to fear in terms of agents appearing during work hours to arrest them.

Despite the shift, experts say there are too few resources to close the security gaps, allowing undocumented workers to find jobs at critical sites.

Because there is such a large pool of illegal workers and a need for cheap labor--and because the fear of being caught and punished is so small--some say immigration officials are essentially involved in a version of job-site whack-a-mole.

"It's worse than that," says Michael Cutler, a retired immigration official who has testified before Congress on immigration enforcement. "What they're trying to do is spoon the beach with a teaspoon, and every time the tide washes in it brings in a lot more sand than they've removed."

ICE has about 6,000 special agents, said agency spokesman Manny Van Pelt. But some experts put the number of agents actually doing immigration enforcement at less than half that as the total includes many agents who perform traditional customs duties.

Some estimates suggest there are at least 10 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

No rescue in sight

There don't appear to be many significant reinforcements coming to the rescue for ICE. Last year, Congress passed legislation authorizing 800 more ICE agents, but President Bush's proposed budget for fiscal year 2006 provided funding for only 143 new investigators.

"That won't even cover attrition," said Randy Callahan, an immigration enforcement officer based in San Diego and executive vice president of the National Homeland Security Council, the union that represents some Homeland Security Department employees.

ICE has just emerged from a yearlong hiring freeze. The agency received emergency funding as part of legislation passed in May.

Contributing to the problem has been an overall climate of weak enforcement, according to Steven Camarota, research director for the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, which favors stricter immigration enforcement.

He cites statistics on ICE's Web site that seem to show much less enforcement against employers since the late 1990s.

Immigration officials issued more than 778 final orders or notices to employers in fiscal 1997 that the federal government was levying fines because the employer had hired illegal immigrants. In fiscal 2002 that number fell to 13, rising to 124 the next fiscal year.

"It's basically sending the message to employers," Camarota said, "that if you work in critical infrastructure and you hire an illegal alien, we're not going to fine you."

Camarota added that the Clinton and the current Bush administration have both been weak on enforcement.

The drop in enforcement actions is explained by the shift to policing work sites with economic or national security significance, said Van Pelt. And he points to the steady string of arrests by ICE agents as proof the agency is serious about the current crackdown.

"I think the actions we publicize certainly speak for what we're doing," he said.

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fjames@tribune.com

Camarota added that the Clinton and the current Bush administration have both been weak on enforcement.

Duh! I'm glad someone noticed that fact.