Everett, Wash.
Published: Friday, June 27, 2008

Immigration agents raid Arlington Boeing supplier

Authorities arrest 32 workers suspected of immigration violations.

By Diana Hefley, Herald Writer

 ARLINGTON -- Federal immigration agents raided an Arlington aerospace company and arrested nearly three dozen people Thursday morning after a yearlong investigation into allegations the business employed illegal workers.

Immigration authorities served a federal warrant of inspection at Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies Inc., according to Lorie Dankers, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle.

The company is a leading supplier of frame and interior parts for commercial and military aircraft, including parts used in the Boeing Co.'s 737 and 777 jets.

Federal authorities on Thursday said they didn't have any evidence to indicate that AMT officials knew their workers used bogus documents to gain employment. The investigation is ongoing and the company is cooperating, Dankers said.

"We'll go where the evidence leads us," she said.

Nobody at AMT would comment about Thursday's raid and arrests when contacted by The Herald.

The agents arrested 32 workers for investigation of immigration violations. The majority of the workers are believed to be Mexican nationals without legal authority to be in the U.S., Dankers said. Two of the workers are thought to be from El Salvador.

The probe into AMT began months ago after Immigration received a tip that the business was using undocumented workers, Dankers said. Federal agents audited the company's employment records and discovered discrepancies indicating that a small percentage of employees used fake documents to secure jobs, Dankers said.

About 360 employees were at the shop when immigration agents showed up.

The arrested workers, 16 men and 16 women, are expected to be deported. As part of Thursday's raid, the workers were interviewed, fingerprinted and photographed. Four women were released on humanitarian grounds. Agents determined the women were either caring for children or had a medical problem. They will be allowed to remain free pending deportation proceedings, Dankers said.

The other 28 workers were being held at a federal detention center in Tacoma.

Immigration authorities across the country have launched dozens of enforcement operations at work sites, targeting businesses deemed critical to the country's infrastructure or considered to be sensitive to national security.

The Arlington company is registered with the U.S. Department of State's Director of Defense Trade Controls, Dankers said. The department oversees the export and import of products used for national defense.

Along with the thousands of arrests of suspected illegal immigrants, immigration officials have arrested business owners suspected of knowingly using illegal workers.

"(Thursday's) enforcement action is part of ICE's ongoing nationwide effort to shut down the employment magnet fueling illegal immigration," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of Immigration in Seattle.

"Every job held by an illegal alien is a job taken from a U.S. citizen or legal resident of this area," Winchell said in a statement.

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA