Immigration raids in Cary (The Progressive Pulse)

Immigration raids in Cary
November 30, 2010
Posted at 2:10 PM by Sarah Ovaska

Here’s some breaking news from N.C. Policy Watch about an unusual immigration case in the Triangle area.

Two weeks ago, federal immigration agents arrived at three construction worksites in the Cary and Durham area and arrested more than two dozen workers from construction sites in the Cary and Durham area, according to court documents. All but one of the 20 arrested construction workers were Mexican nationals, and all worked for J&A Framing Carpentry Inc., a small Durham company that does framing work for residential and commercial building. They’ve been in jail since Nov. 15 and 17.

In the federal courthouse in Raleigh today, eight of the 20 men plead guilty to a federal misdemeanor criminal charge of “eluding examation of inspection by immigration officers,” meaning that the men were living in the country without permission of immigration officials.

Their punishment, as expected, was light. They were given a 30-day sentence in custody and ordered to pay $10 assessment. They’ll be deported to their home country of Mexico once they finish out the remaining two weeks of their punishment. The remaining twelve workers are still awaiting trials on criminal charges of their own, also related to being in the country illegally.

Tom O’Connell, the special agent-in-charge of the Cary office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office, declined to comment on the case, referring comment to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Raleigh. And Robin Zier, the spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, couldn’t answer any questions either, because the investigation is ongoing.

So why is this case unusual?

Most immigration violations are not handled through the federal criminal system, but instead go through the immigration courts system. It’s unclear why the 20 men picked up on the Cary worksites were charged criminally, and why they were targets of the federal investigation to begin with.

The New York Times reported in July on how immigration enforcement, under the Obama administration, has moved away from the workplace raids seen in this case and towards “silent” raids where pressure is put employers through fines to not hire undocumented workers. Workers are often then fired by the employers, but have not typically been rounded up in immigration raids like what was recently seen with J&A Framing.

Juan Antonio Lopez, the owner of J&A, said he hasn’t been charged anything, though he was asked to turn over accounting information for his company.

He appears to be a target, but Lopez told NC Policy Watch in a phone interview that he’s not been charged with anything, though he was questioned about his accounting and hiring practices by federal agents.

Check back with N.C. Policy Watch tomorrow morning when we’ll have a fuller report about the immigration raids themselves. If you’ve got questions, drop reporter Sarah Ovaska an email at sarah@ncpolicywatch.com.

Also, several local immigration advocates plan on holding a vigil from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m tonight at the Louisburg Detention Center, where the detained workers are being held.