Target 12 Investigators: Undocumented Workers (WPRI-Providence, RI)

Target 12 Investigators: Undocumented Workers
Updated: May 9, 2008 08:41 AM EDT

(WPRI) - The construction industry often relies on undocumented workers. But construction is a dangerous job, and when one of those workers gets hurt, it's you who feels the financial pinch.
Target 12 cameras were rolling as the Rhode Island State Police and agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement boxed in a construction worker.

This was the Second visit by "ICE" agents at this East Providence work site in less than two weeks- this action coming after a tip that an illegal immigrant had slipped through their fingers last time.

A friend of the worker tells us they have the wrong guy.

Tim White: "Is he here legally?"

Worker: "Yes sir, he works with us."

But without papers, the worker is taken into custody and whisked away. "ICE" tells us he is now going through the deportation process.

This scene has played out many times at construction sites across New England. With an estimated 12 million immigrants in the country illegally, the Harvard School of Government says more than half are in jobs like construction and manufacturing.

Tim White: "How long have you been in this country?

Jose: "Three years."

Such is the case with this illegal immigrant from Brazil. Going by the name "Jose," he tells us he was smuggled into the United States in the back of a box truck. He found work as a carpenter for a local contractor that employs about 30 other men.

Tim White: "Are most of your co-workers... are they illegal immigrants as well?"

Jose: "Everyone is illegal."

Jose says his boss pays in cash; $10 an hour for a job that normally pays nearly three times that.

Tim White: "They don't take out taxes?"

Jose: "No."

Tim White: "Do they... give you health insurance?"

Jose: "No."

That was a problem after an on-the-job injury landed him in the hospital.

Jose: "I went in front of the doctor. I had to lie."

Tim White: "Lie about what?"

Jose: "I said I got hurt on the street because my boss says if you use my insurance, he goes 'you're gonna kill the company.'"

The contractor was off the hook for medical expenses. Which means taxpayers had to pay up.

Tim White: "Does that story surprise you?"

Edward Quinlan, Hospital Association of Rhode Island: "No, no."

Edward Quinlan is with the Hospital Association of Rhode Island. He says hospitals here provided $124 million in uncompensated care in 2006.

$30 million of that was reimbursed with public money- that's your tax dollars. He says it's impossible to calculate how much of that was to care for illegal immigrants, because doctors can't ask about citizenship.

Edward Quinlan, Hospital Association of Rhode Island: "It would be viewed by the federal government, by the state government, as a discouragement to care."

Jose says his employer doesn't pay into worker's compensation, either. Meaning Jose wasn't able to send money to his family in Brazil after his injury. The Carpenter's Union is helping him now.

Tim White: "Have you heard from your boss since you went to the hospital?"

Jose: "He never called me. He never sent any regards for me."

The Rhode Island House just passed a bill requiring employers to check a worker's immigration status through a computer system called "E-Verify." Those who don't could be hit with fines up to $5,000. But critics say the system is unreasonable.