Immigration Sting Puts 2 U.S. Agencies at Odds

[Guest guest]

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/16/politics/16immigrants.html?adxnnl=1 & adxnnlx=1121700251-dfWmqJGaDfJfaUKO73hkFw

Immigration Sting Puts 2

U.S. Agencies at Odds

By

STEVEN GREENHOUSE

Published:

July 16, 2005

WASHINGTON, July 15 - The

48

immigrants thought they were attending mandatory safety training by the

Occupational Safety and Health Administration. But it was not until

they showed

up to the meeting in Goldsboro, N.C., last week that they discovered

they had

been summoned for an altogether different reason.

Federal immigration

officials had

posted fliers telling immigrant workers for several subcontractors at

Seymour

Air Force Base in Goldsboro that they had to attend a safety

meeting.

There was no meeting, however; instead there was a sting operation in

which

immigration officials arrested 48 people on charges that they were

illegal

immigrants from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Ukraine.

The action had one branch

of the

federal government speaking out against another. The United States

Labor

Department as well as North Carolina's Labor Department on Friday

criticized

the sting, suggesting that it would make immigrant workers distrust

safety

officials just when safety agencies across the nation are stepping up

efforts

to reduce the disproportionately high injury rate among Hispanic

workers.

Pam Groover, a

spokeswoman for the

federal labor department , said, "This is not something we were

involved

in, and we do not condone the use of OSHA's name in this type of

activity." The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is the

branch

of the federal Labor Department that sets and enforces standards for

workplace

safety. Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Immigration

and

Customs Enforcement, which carried out the sting, said it was part of a

stepped-up

effort to crack down on illegal immigrants working at chemical plants,

nuclear

plants and other sensitive facilities.

Defending the use of

ruses, Mr. Boyd

said: "The primary reason to use tactics like this in federal law

enforcement is to get people in a location where they can be arrested

without

running all over the place. That helps ensure the safety of these

immigrants,

the agents, the air base and the community at large."

Mr. Boyd said that as far

as he knew

this was the first time that immigration officials had enticed

immigrants by

representing themselves as OSHA officials.

"We certainly understand

OSHA's

concerns about the use of their name," Mr. Boyd said. "We're putting

in place procedures to ensure appropriate coordination."

Mr. Boyd said the

immigration bureau

also used a ruse to help gather 60 illegal immigrants who were arrested

on May

20 at petrochemical plants in six states. He declined to discuss

details, but

he said immigration and prosecutors have long used subterfuges to bring

in people

for arrest.

"For many years we have

used

undercover techniques in drug investigations, arms investigations and

money-laundering investigations," Mr. Boyd said.

Santos, the

spokesman for North

Carolina labor commissioner, Cherie Killian Berry, a Republican, said

he hoped

such stings using the OSHA name would never happen again.

"We're not at all opposed

to

what the federal government is doing to fight illegal immigration," Mr.

Santos said. "Our concern is that when you start stinging people using

the

name of safety officials, you undermine the trust relationships we work

very

hard to build to help promote safety with employers and employees."

Immigrant groups and

labor groups

said the sting sent the wrong message when the federal and state labor

departments

had undertaken programs to reduce workplace injuries for Hispanics. In

2001,

Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced an education and training

effort to

reduce fatalities among Hispanic workers after studies showed their

fatality

rate was 20 percent higher than those of white and black workers.

"We think it's an

absolute

outrage and danger for the immigration authorities to use this type of

tactic," said Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National

Council of La Raza, an advocacy group for Hispanics. "Our labor law

system

is completely complaint-driven, and our ability to keep the work force

safe

depends on workers being able to complain, and by masquerading as OSHA

officials, immigration authorities will clearly discourage immigrant

workers

from coming forward. This won't affect just immigrant workers, it will

affect

the safety of all workers."

Joe Hansen, president of

the United

Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represents more than 100,000

Hispanic

workers, said, "The word being brought back to worksites after a scam

like

this is that OSHA can't be trusted. That kind of perception diminishes

OSHA's

ability to do the critical work of protecting America's labor force."

Felipe Bravo, a

47-year-old

immigrant from Mexico City, was arrested at the meeting at the Air

Force base,

but was released when he proved that he was an American citizen. But he

said

his brother, Domingo, was arrested and faces deportation. They

installed air

conditioners and heating equipment, while many of the others worked in

construction, lawn mowing or cleaning.

Mr. Bravo said that the

government

officials first served coffee and doughnuts and that one official stood

up and

said, "I got good news and bad news. The good news is we are not from

OSHA, and the bad news is we're from the immigration office."

He said a swarm of

immigration

agents then entered the theater.

"It's not fair because

they got

my brother on false information, on having false papers, but they also

used

false information," Mr. Bravo said. "I agree with the government

about trying to protect us against terrorism. That's good. But these

people

aren't terrorists. They came here to work."

Mr. Boyd said, "We

believe it

is a very serious vulnerability when there are illegal aliens working

at Air

Force bases, nuclear power plants, chemical plants and airports. They

have

access to some of the most sensitive work sites in the U.S. Our job is

to take

actions to immediately remove them from positions where they can do

harm."