Agricultural Personnel Management Program
University of California

8/9/00 News Report -- The Associated Press

FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) -- Fifty-three well-service workers were fired after Immigration and Naturalization Services officials discovered they were not legal U.S. residents.

A routine inspection by INS officials turned up 95 past and present Key Energy Services employees with discrepancies in their documents, including the 53 fired Tuesday.

Key Energy Services did not know the employees were illegal immigrants because documents that verify an individual's identity had been falsified, Key Energy division president Ron Fellabaum said.

"They found that our records were in good shape," Fellabaum said.

He said the company dealt with the matter and INS officials were not involved in the terminations.

INS officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Fellabaum said there was nothing wrong with the employees' job performance, but said the company had no choice but to fire them because they were not following the law.

"They do a good job," he said. "They're not enough laborers to do all the work out there. It's not just here, it's nationwide."

Federal agents arrested 58 suspected illegal immigrants employed in the area in 1995. A similar investigation in 1994 resulted in 43 arrests.