Posted on 06/28/2006 3:28:41 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN DIEGO
U.S. agents arrested 22 illegal immigrants Wednesday who worked for a company that provided services to the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base.
The workers, all Mexican men, were arrested at their homes by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during an early morning sweep.
Agents were looking for 72 illegal workers employed by Burtech Pipeline, Inc., an Encinitas-based business that had a contract at Camp Pendleton, the base near Oceanside that is home to some 40,000 military personnel, ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack said.
None of those arrested had worked at Camp Pendleton, but Mack said some of the remaining 50 may have.
Mack said Burtech's contract at Camp Pendleton ended last year. She said employees could have gained access to the base with their employee identity cards.
The arrests are part of an ICE clampdown on private contractors in San Diego County. Since 2003, ICE agents have screened some 900 companies connected to the military and nearly 30 percent of the firms employed illegal workers, including two companies that hired illegal workers to repair warships.
"It is a significant problem," Mack said. "We have no way of knowing what their true identity is or what their motives are if they are using false documents."
Representatives for Burtech Pipeline and Camp Pendleton did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.
During the sweep, 17 other illegal immigrants were arrested for reasons unrelated to Burtech, Mack said.
Fingerprint them, list them as Juan/Juana Doe #1, Juan/Juana Doe #2, etc. and then give 'em the boot.
ping
ICE arrested 22 out of 12 million...
While certainly better than the nothing we're used to getting, it would seem that they should be arresting 22 illegals every minute of every day.
Let me know when either happen in this instance...
Hmmm.....interesting that even ICE has NO WAY to verify illegals.
MS Mack w/ICE then continued, "or what their motives are if they are using false documents."
apparently ICE not able to recognize "false documents" either.
WOW........I feel safer already......../sarcasm
Must of been hired by her *know nothing* boss, Julie Myers
WOW........I feel safer already......../sarcasm
So do the illegals!! (No sarcasm)
Go git 'em!
Maybe it was the areas that we were working in but I always had to send in a list of everyone that would be working on the job a month ahead of start for security clearance whether it was on a military base or contractor such as Lockheed, Rockadyne, etc.
Did you see the Mexican flag flying over the San Diego County Fair?
"I wonder if their competition can sue them under RICO laws."
Sue them for what?
If Burtech has photocopies of two forms of ID on file, for each employee, they have complied with the law.
That is the way our elected representatives left this topic, when last visited in 1986, under Reagan.
Between then and this recent increased activity, authorities have done next to nothing regarding enforcement.
From 9/11/2001 to present, it appears most enforcement resources have been deployed checking workforces involving transportation, federal installations (military, other), etc.
If current immigration reform efforts leave gaping holes like the present system, expect little to change.
Unless the employer is FORCED to verify the SSN, for instance, he just makes photocopies for the file, and thereby complies with law.
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