Thread: WA: 28 taken into custody in Bellingham ICE raid

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28 taken into custody in Bellingham ICE raid

12:54 PM PST on Tuesday, February 24, 2009

By KING5.com Staff

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents today arrested 28 employees during a raid at a Bellingham engine manufacturing shop.

The raid occurred at Yamato Engine Specialists, located at 2020 Bakerview Road. A spokesperson said the raid occurred just before 9 a.m. and agents were gone by 10 a.m.

Agents say the workers are foreign nationals with administrative immigration violations. They include 25 men and three women.

The workers are being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.

The raid was instigated by the arrest of a criminal illegal alien who previously worked for Yamato, according to ICE officials. Agents say Yamato's hiring records indicated other workers may have used fake Social Security numbers and counterfeit documents to obtain employment.

"The lure of jobs in the United States continues to be one of the primary factors fueling illegal immigration," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Seattle.

A spokesperson for Yamato told the Bellingham Herald that those taken into custody represented about a third of the workforce.

www.king5.com

First raid of 2009? I can't believe it.

Ostrich

Originally Posted by TheOstrich

First raid of 2009? I can't believe it.

Ostrich

2/3/2009 Miami, FL ICE arrests 117 Florida residents in targeted immigration fugitive operation

2/3/2009 Atlanta, GA ICE Fugitive Operations Teams net 95 arrests in Georgia and the Carolinas

1/30/2009 Denver, CO Colorado ICE Fugitive Operations Teams arrest 45 aliens during 3-day initiativeMedia Gallery

1/16/2009 Dallas, TX 69 aliens arrested by ICE Fugitive Operations Teams in the Dallas area

I hope there is a follow up on this story reporting the 100's of unemployed American citizens which will now show up to fill those jobs they just don't want and will not do

Originally published February 24, 2009 at 2:32 PM | Page modified February 24, 2009 at 2:58 PM



Immigration officials raid Bellingham plant
Immigration officers today raided an engine remanufacturing plant in Bellingham, arrested 28 illegal immigrant workers and began processing them for deportation.

By Lornet Turnbull

Seattle Times staff reporter

Immigration officers today raided an engine remanufacturing plant in Bellingham, arrested 28 illegal immigrant workers and began processing them for deportation.

The arrests are part of an ongoing investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at Yamato Engine Specialists in Bellingham.

ICE officials say the 25 men and three women — most of them from Mexico — may have gained employment at Yamato using phony social security numbers and other counterfeit identity documents.

Yamato officials, who said they had been cooperating with ICE since last fall when investigators began looking at employment documents, were shocked by today's raid.

In fact, three of the workers arrested today had been cleared as having legitimate documents during an employment records audit by ICE in 2005, said Yamato spokeswoman Shirin Dhanani Makalai.

We have been audited before so we do due diligence to get the proper paperwork," Makalai said. "People bring you paperwork that by law you are required to accept. You can't always tell if it's not correct."

With about 100 workers, Yamato specializes in rebuilding Japanese car engines and transmissions.

ICE investigators began looking into its employment records following the arrest of a criminal illegal immigrant who had previously worked there.

After being processed earlier today, officials released three of the immigrants on humanitarian grounds. The others are being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.

"The lure of jobs in the United States continues to be one of the primary factors fueling illegal immigration," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Seattle.

"ICE remains committed to investigating cases where the evidence shows employment laws are being violated."

Lornet Turnbull: 206-464-2420 or lturnbull@seattletimes.com

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Illegal immigrants arrested at Ugandan refugee family's Bellingham engine plant

Immigration officials on Tuesday arrested 28 illegal immigrants in a raid of an engine-remanufacturing plant owned by immigrants who fled a bloody coup in Uganda nearly 40 years ago.

By Lornet Turnbull

Seattle Times staff reporter

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers Tuesday raided an engine-remanufacturing plant in Bellingham owned by a family of immigrants who fled violence in Uganda nearly 40 years ago.

They arrested 28 illegal immigrants at Yamato Engine Specialists — more than one-quarter of the company's work force — and immediately began the process to deport them, ICE officials said.

Investigators said the 25 men and three women — most from Mexico — might have gained employment at Yamato using bogus Social Security numbers and other counterfeit ID.

Lori Dankers, spokeswoman for ICE, said all the workers were interviewed and admitted to being in the country illegally, with no authorization to work here.

"In this economy, that's 28 jobs that are being taken away from U.S. citizens or immigrants who are legally in this country," she said.

The early-morning raid shocked the immigrant family that has operated Yamato Engine since 1990. Co-owner Shirin Dhanani Makalai said the owners had been cooperating with ICE since last fall, when investigators began reviewing employee documents and the company owners said they thought they were on a track to correct any problems that surfaced.

What's more, she said, three of the workers arrested Tuesday had been cleared by ICE in a similar review of documents in 2005.

Makalai sees that as proof that even immigration officials can't always identify phony work papers.

"We were totally blindsided by this," she said. "Of course we don't advocate hiring illegal workers."

Yamato specializes in rebuilding Japanese car engines and transmissions, as well as parts supply. And with the economic slowdown, it had been reducing its work force.

"People bring you paperwork that by law you are required to accept. We do our due diligence to make sure it's proper. But you can't always tell, ... " Makalai said.

Three of those arrested Tuesday were released on humanitarian grounds, while the others were being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.



Raids can originate from ICE's audits of I-9s, the forms all employees must complete when hired. And ICE sometimes conducts I-9 audits following an informant tip. ICE began looking at Yamato's employment records after officers last year arrested an illegal immigrant with a criminal record who had previously worked there.

Makalai said an audit four years ago helped the company clean up its payroll. But she said ICE never explained how the company could ensure it would continue to hire only legitimate workers.

In 2007, ICE launched a program called ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers, or IMAGE, to help employers avoid hiring illegal immigrants.

The Dhananis fled Uganda in 1971 when military dictator Idi Amin Dada led a violent coup and slaughtered hundreds of thousands. They escaped and in 1990 established Yamato Engine.

"We're a family business," Makalai said. "We understand displacement and loss which is why is was so traumatic to see this happen to all these people. ... "

Lornet Turnbull: lturnbull@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company


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