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Thirty-two workers charged as undocumented immigrants
Employees arrested at Molded Acoustical Products in Palmer.

By Joe McDonald
Of The Morning Call

More than 30 factory workers in Palmer Township were arrested Tuesday in the latest crackdown by the Northampton County district attorney's office on people it says are illegal immigrants.

A search warrant was executed late Tuesday afternoon at Molded Acoustical Products, 3 Danforth Drive, and 32 workers were charged with either identity theft, tampering with public records or both at the plant in the Palmer Industrial Park.

All but one worker, a pregnant woman from Easton who was released on unsecured bail, were to be sent to Northampton County Prison under $25,000 bail by District Judge Ralph Litzenberger of Palmer Township. Because there was no room at the prison, they were shipped out of the county, a move that could cost Northampton more than $50,000 a month, said Director of Corrections Todd Buskirk. The women were sent to Lackawanna County Prison in Scranton and the men to a facility in Philadelphia, Buskirk said.

Molded Acoustical did not return calls seeking comment and District Attorney John Morganelli was in Harrisburg and not available for comment.

It was the fifth time since 2002 that workers in Northampton County had been arrested on charges they provided false Social Security numbers or identification to obtain jobs.

The recent arrests stemmed from an investigation Morganelli, an outspoken opponent of illegal immigrants, ordered Aug. 22, when he told county Detective Robert A. Miklich to check if ''illegal aliens'' were using bogus documents at the plant, according to court papers.

Miklich got a list of employees and their Social Security numbers from the Palmer Township earned income tax office and passed it onto the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, court documents state.

On Sept. 22, the Philadelphia office notified Morganelli's office that it had determined 31 employees had invalid Social Security numbers, which had never been issued, and another 39 were using someone else's number, court records state. The 32 individuals were at work when they were arrested.

Miklich said many workers were from Mexico.

Last October, Morganelli's office conducted a similar raid at Rapp Bros. Pallet Services Inc. in Williams Township, where 27 were arrested.

In January 2004, 20 foreign workers were arrested at Pallet Express in the 2900 block of William Penn Highway, Palmer Township, on charges they used false or stolen Social Security numbers.

In 2002, workers at MCS Industries in Forks Township and at Molded Acoustical Products were arrested.

Arrested Tuesday were:

Eusebio Silva, of 687 Ferry St., Easton; Victoria B. Flores, of 1543 Northampton St., Easton; Marcos Rodriguez, of 687 Ferry St., Easton; Tomas Camacho Blas, of 310 Hobart St., Bethlehem; Patricia Robles, of 1011 George St., Easton; Rosa Benitz, 21, of 482 S. Main St., Phillipsburg, N.J.; Xiomara Estrada, 22, of 1849 S. Charles St., Allentown; Rocio Hernandez, 28, of 1124 Lehigh St., Easton; Socorro Hernandez, 35, of 721 Northampton St., Easton; Louis Camacho Torres, 19, of 950 Jackson St., Allentown; Teodoro Perez, of 724 Pearl St., Easton; Pablo V. Jeronimo, of 6711/2 Northampton St., Easton; Miguel C. Garcia, of 310 Hobart St., Bethlehem; Maria G. Monroy, of 310 Hobart St., Bethlehem; Jose Vega, of 310 Hobart St., Bethlehem; Sabina Hernandez, of 628 Bushkill St., Easton; Reyna Heras, of 1127 Mechanics St., Bethlehem; Sonia Acosta, of 838 Northampton St., Easton; Cisneros Fortunata, of 828 E. Sixth St., Bethlehem; Jose L. Sanchez-Rendon, of 1304 Lehigh St., Easton; Lucelia Hernandez, of 311 E. Fourth St., Bethlehem; Lucia Gomez, of 683 Ferry St., Easton; Camerina Sosa, 37, of 100 S. Seventh St., Easton; Alejandro Cuenca, of 306 Hobart St., Bethlehem; Martha Castellano, of 743 Turner St., Allentown; Alfonso Acosta, of 14 S. Seventh St., Easton; Nestor Silva, of 687 Ferry St., Easton; Milton Hernandez, of 522 Wilkes-Barre St., Easton; Ernesto Alonso, of 949 Butler St., Easton; Felipe Morales, of 838 Northampton St., Easton; Luisa

Galvez, of 689 Ferry St., Easton; Daniel Arellanes, of 683 Ferry St., Easton. Robles was released on $25,000 unsecured bail.