Thread: Steel firm owner jailed Illegal aliens had bogus SS numbers

By MICHAEL NEWSOM
mmnewsom@sunherald.com
The owner of Tarrasco Steel, a company that supplied workers on the Biloxi Bay Bridge, was arrested and charged with hiring illegal immigrants on projects in three states. Some had improper welding certification.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Jose S. Gonzalez, 32, at his office in Greenville Thursday, according to a news release. Tarrasco Steel was hired as a subcontractor for rebar installation services to major bridge projects in Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee. The federal government considers those bridges as critical infrastructure, and they were part of routine inspections of facilities that if damaged could pose a threat to national security and public safety.

"There is a serious public safety concern when illegal aliens, who are not authorized to work in the country legally, and who do not possess valid welding certifications, are employed in the construction of bridges in our communities," said Michael A. Holt, special agent in charge of the Customs Office of Investigations in New Orleans, in a news release.

On inspections of several construction sites March 29, representatives of several federal agencies confirmed the majority of Tarrasco Steel employees were using bogus Social Security numbers, and 77 immigrants were arrested. Twenty-six of them worked for Tarrasco Steel. Some of them worked on the Biloxi bridge, the Huey P. Long bridge in New Orleans, and a project on Interstate 40 in Memphis, among others, the news release said.

In April, nine Tarrasco employees caught in the March 29 operations were charged with fraudulent use of immigration documents and Social Security account numbers. Investigators served a search warrant at the Tarrasco office in Greenville and they got copies of payroll records. They allege Gonzalez falsified information on the I-9 Employee Eligibility forms. Investigators learned that several workers had inappropriate welding certifications.

Several South Mississippi law enforcement agencies participated in the investigation, including the Harrison County Sheriff's Department, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Biloxi Police Department.

Gonzalez was indicted on July 29 and $457,368 has been seized from Tarrasco accounts, the news release said.

http://www.sunherald.com/201/story/112962.html

Hell! When they are employed to do any form of construction.

Faulty craftmanship can destroy your home. Ask a housing inspector about the damage and dangerous situations they can create. Oh, they think they are qualified plumbers and electritions too.

Dixie

My nephew told me the Hispanics are getting real aggressive on the different job sites.. I guess the are trying to intimidate the American workers.. Just a bunch of little things like spilling paint on steps and putting ladders in the way of guys trying to carry compressors and hot tubs things like that.. It all started just after the Americans victory in the Senate..

Jose S. Gonzalez, 32
Gee Ive interviewed that same guy twice this year
Id be interested in seeing what number they used...

Originally Posted by Cigar

My nephew told me the Hispanics are getting real aggressive on the different job sites.. I guess the are trying to intimidate the American workers.. Just a bunch of little things like spilling paint on steps and putting latter's in the way of guys trying to carry compressors and hot tubs thing like that.. It all started just after the Americans victory in the Senate..

Yes and it will get worse...
I was told today, and this is Gross the wipe some stuff on the poty so no body could go ...
So when the new ones came it said Americans only in English(Brick lawyers spray painted it.... and something else in spanish
I want to go out and get a picture.See if its true...

I traveled down to one of the major resort towns on the coast of Mexico last year. Stayed in one of the most expensive resorts. While there I helped my self to a room inspection one day.

I stood on a chair and lifted a ceiling tile in the bathroom. I almost feel off the chair for what was hanging up there. The electrical wires were run through low dollar cheap garden hose instead of conduit and instead of junction boxes or at least twist caps they had used black electrical tape for the flimsy hand spun splices.

After spending another hour or two checking the wiring out every where I could sneak a peak in the building I decided to visit a new construction site the next day where another resort was going up.

It cost me a few buck to get in but it was worth it. I love a good cartoon.

I admire the grueling labor the workers went through to put up a three story structure with simple hand tools and no fork lifts but the plumbing , the wiring , the framing design was a drunk hookers worst nightmare.

I took some pictures I was so impressed. Next time I get into one of my storage sheds I will look for them and post a few for your viewing pleasure.

I would not hire a sub employing illegal aliens if my life depended on it. My bond means to much to me. Happy customers mean even more to me.

You would be surprised.. I have friends that are in the trades.. Stories that go from 30 illegals cooking in the basement of a new house to throwing shingles like Frisbees off a roof, he lost the ladder and was stuck up in the heat for hours ... Illegals using the pipes for an outhouse, not number 1.....ETC....

An American has a hard way to go on a lot of job sites nowadays...

My nephew has school starting soon so he will be getting a job that will let him go to school at night without being wiped out...

Originally Posted by buffalododger

I traveled down to one of the major resort towns on the coast of Mexico last year. Stayed in one of the most expensive resorts. While there I helped my self to a room inspection one day.

I stood on a chair and lifted a ceiling tile in the bathroom. I almost feel off the chair for what was hanging up there. The electrical wires were run through low dollar cheap garden hose instead of conduit and instead of junction boxes or at least twist caps they had used black electrical tape for the flimsy hand spun splices.

After spending another hour or two checking the wiring out every where I could sneak a peak in the building I decided to visit a new construction site the next day where another resort was going up.

It cost me a few buck to get in but it was worth it. I love a good cartoon.

I admire the grueling labor the workers went through to put up a three story structure with simple hand tools and no fork lifts but the plumbing , the wiring , the framing design was a drunk hookers worst nightmare.

I took some pictures I was so impressed. Next time I get into one of my storage sheds I will look for them and post a few for your viewing pleasure.

I would not hire a sub employing illegal aliens if my life depended on it. My bond means to much to me. Happy customers mean even more to me.

Well what we need now is this to happen a lot faster, maybe some of them will get up and go home on their own.

I've heard their work is really bad, and houses they build are shabby work, I think it was a report I read about New Oleans.

Way to go, ICE! South Mississippi!

Come to our urban renewal zone, next. There must be at least a few hundred running around here. Mostly drywallers, but painters, laborers, tile setters, too.

After a week I finally got over the germs one of them was spreading with his indiscriminate sneezing.

If we get about a hundred more busts like that they might get scared and run back. Meanwhile the housing slump has caused many to pour into the commercial construction fields.