Agricultural Personnel Management Program
University of California

5/5/03  News Report -- The Deseret (Utah) News

PROVO -- When immigration agents swept into the Champion Safe Co. plant last February they said it was to protect jobs for U.S. citizens.

Little did they know they may have lost that fight before the raid ended.

With 107 workers detained, the raid left Champion Safe with about 30 percent of its workers remaining. The rest reportedly were undocumented aliens who had submitted fake employment information.

In the aftermath of the raid, families were left broken and the company was left to pick up the pieces of its business. "The company is financially devastated," said Jose Silva, the company's attorney. "It's been quite a difficult task, just because of the lack of good workers in the area."

Now, Silva told the Deseret News, Champion Safe may move its operation to Mexico

"They've talked about the possibility of moving out of the country just because they're having a hard time finding a work force," Silva said.

Simply put, it appears no one wants to do such back-breaking work for such little pay.

But immigration officials question the company's motives and intentions. Are Americans really unwilling to work these types of jobs? Or are companies simply tempted to pay undocumented workers so much less than their American counterparts?

"This operation was executed because the employer knowingly violated immigration law by hiring these people," said Nina Pruneda-Muniz, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, formerly the INS. "All we can do is follow the letter of the law, and it will continue to be a priority."

Local immigration attorneys say the federal government's approach to dealing with illegal immigrant workers and the companies that hire them is not working. They say it is a problem only Congress can solve -- but say that body has been less than motivated to address it.

Scott Poston, an immigration attorney, said it is a complex issue involving market forces and politics. Caught in the middle are immigrants who are looking for opportunity.

Poston, who represented several Hispanic workers who were detained during "Operation Safecracker," the raid at the Provo factory, said many families were left fractured.

"People were deported and families were broken up," Poston said. All of his clients were eventually deported to Mexico. Pruneda-Muniz confirmed the majority of the 107 detained workers were deported.

Immediately after the raid, many families were left without their primary-wage earner. Stuck with bills and rent to pay, many had to find a way to move back to Mexico.

On the day of the raid, some children came home from school to an empty house. Their parents had been placed in federal custody.

"They lost houses, they had to move, things like that," Poston said. Poston gives immigration officials credit for releasing single mothers to care for their children.

"We do not break up families," Pruneda-Muniz said. "We do use sensitivity in those cases."

Parents being deported are given the opportunity to take their children, some of whom are U.S.-born citizens, with them. "We leave it up to the parents to take the steps to bring their family with them or to make arrangement for their children for their future," she said.

Poston does not blame the agents involved in the raid. "It's not the local INS office's fault because it comes from the top . . . this is a legislative problem."

For years, the employment of illegal workers has been America's dirty little secret. Tempted by cheap labor, businesses took the risk and hired undocumented workers.

In the past, the only consequence for owners was having workers deported.

In 1996, Congress passed a law aimed at holding employers accountable. Poston said the law went after employers who knowingly hired illegal workers. All it did, he said, was provide a boom in the market for fake documents. The law does not require employers to investigate the veracity of employee documents.

Silva said Champion Safe had documents for all of its workers and, by law, had no obligation to verify those documents. Silva has heard federal charges may be coming against the company, however.

"They have convened a grand jury in federal court and are in the midst of trying to seek an indictment," Silva said.

This may also be the beginning of a serious immigration crackdown in Utah County. Silva said he is aware of about a dozen businesses in Utah County alone that are being audited by federal immigration.

"A lot of companies are in a panic because they're not sure if they need to prepare for raids," Silva said.

Pruneda-Muniz said she could not comment on specific ongoing investigations in Utah County but noted, "We have a lot of things ongoing."