http://www.journalnow.com

Thursday, July 13, 2006
Nationality a focus in arrest of 10 local workers
Indonesia is on a list of countries with terrorist ties

By Patrick Wilson
JOURNAL REPORTER

Ishi Japanese Restaurant was open again yesterday. It had been closed after immigration and customs officials arrested 10 of its workers, accused of being here illegally, on Monday.

Monday's arrest of 10 men from Indonesia - accused of working illegally at a Winston-Salem restaurant - was tied to an increased focus on visitors from nations considered potential terrorist threats after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a government official said yesterday.

When agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement began investigating a worker with an expired visa at the Ishi Japanese Restaurant off Stratford Road, they found nine others in a similar situation, said Thomas O'Connell, the resident agent in charge of the Raleigh ICE office.

"This initially targeted one individual, and it turned into targeting a business just because of the volume of people ... that we determined were illegal or out of status," O'Connell said.

The workers were not connected to any terrorist activity, but their home country - Indonesia - is among the countries from which visitors to the United States get extra attention because of their homeland's ties to terrorism, he said.

Non-immigrants from those countries, such as those who are here on work visas, are tracked in a database, O'Connell said.

Illegal workers from Mexico or Central America are not on the list.

"You have to prioritize," O'Connell said. "National security is the No. 1 priority."

Other countries on the list for extra scrutiny include Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. There are about 30 in all.

Terrorist incidents in Indonesia have slowed tourism in the Southeast Asian country, and the State Department warns Americans not to travel there. In October 2005, 23 people were killed and more than 100 were injured in a terrorist attack in Bali, one of Indonesia's provinces. A terrorist bombing in Bali in October 2002 killed 202 people.

"The possibility remains that terrorists will carry out additional attacks in Bali, Jakarta or other areas of Indonesia in the near future," the government warning said.

In the Winston-Salem case, ICE headquarters identified one worker with an expired visa. Agents researched what he listed as his home address - the restaurant's address at 121 Stark St.

Nine other workers who also had overstayed their visas were also using that address, O'Connell said.

Agents went to the restaurant Monday morning. After investigating, they found out about two more illegal workers at a restaurant in Charlotte called Ishi Too. Those two also were arrested.

ICE identified Purwo Nugroho, 36, as the initial target of the investigation.

Also arrested were Agus Saputro, 29; Heri Sutrisno, 30; Asep Tisna Setiawan, 38; Hendra Hardianto, 37; Achmad Djaelani, 32; Ian Hardian, 34; INengah Suparwata, 23; and a 40-year-old man and 43-year-old man whose first names are not known.

They are being held in the Forsyth County Jail while awaiting deportation hearings in Atlanta.

"A couple of them had been ordered deported already, and we just hadn't apprehended them yet," O'Connell said. "Either their work visas had expired or they weren't working for the company that sponsored them initially."

Four of the workers in Winston-Salem were here on C-1 transit visas, which allow crew members of a ship to enter the United States for up to 29 days to meet up with a ship or vessel on their way to a third country.

Ishi is known for its sushi and Japanese-style entrees. The workers in Winston-Salem were doing prep work before the restaurant opened. They lived in apartments near the restaurant.

The restaurant closed after the arrests, but was open again yesterday. A manager declined to comment. Records from the N.C. Secretary of State list the owner as a woman named Hagiao Nguyen.

ICE agents are continuing to investigate how the workers were being paid and whether the restaurant completed required paperwork for its employees, O'Connell said. He declined to comment further.

An immigration lawyer in Winston-Salem, Heather MacKenzie, said that the arrests illustrate the government's efforts to uphold national-security measures. But, she said, it also raises some questions when the government arrests people who are here to work and make a living.

"Part of me obviously disagrees on a lot of levels with profiling, but from a law-enforcement standpoint, certainly there are practical reasons why you're going to be looking for people who may be more dangerous than others."

"One of the questions is, are we all feeling safer today because there are 10 Indonesian prep chefs in jail?" she said.

• Patrick Wilson can be reached at 727-7286 or at pwilson@wsjournal.com.