Thread: Undocumented Workers sought security badges at airport

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/ ... 151121.htm

Posted on Sat, Jul. 29, 2006

Workers sought security badges
3 were hired with fake IDs by subcontractor
By ROBIN FITZGERALD
rfitzgerald@sunherald.com

GULFPORT - Three undocumented workers arrested at the airport this week used fake documents and made false statements to apply for airport security identification badges, federal officials said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said the men worked for an airport subcontractor and were applying for training to get security ID badges at the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport.

The men, arrested Tuesday, were identified as Mexican nationals. They are Jose Jesus Miranda-Guerrero, 20, Nelson Solis-Hernandez, 18, and Marcelo Perez-Martinez, 24.

Airport personnel contacted ICE agents to examine the men's documents, which were determined to be fraudulent, according to Michael A. Holt, special agent in charge of ICE in New Orleans.

Holt said critical infrastructure facilities such as airports, shipyards, defense installations and bio-agricultural industries are a law enforcement priority for ICE, which has a district office in Gulfport.

"When individuals use fraudulent documents to get jobs, they hide their true identity and history," Holt said. "We need to know who is working in our critical infrastructure sites."

Federal authorities didn't identify the subcontractor or the type of work involved.

Improvements budgeted for the airport include multimillion-dollar contracts for airfield improvements, a new air-cargo and rental-car service facilities and a parking garage.

"Because national security is our absolute No. 1 priority, it's imperative that we... make absolutely sure that the industries that provide for our defense and commerce are not vulnerable to or threatened by individuals who operate under fraudulent identities," said U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton.

Lampton said Assistant U.S. Attorney Gaines Cleveland will prosecute the case of counterfeit documents.

"Because national security is our absolute No. 1 priority" said U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton.

So they must have closed the border and I slept right through it.

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