Speech #1100008756

According to ICE. the illegal immigrants work for different subcontractors who are not facing any charges from the Government. Unfortunately. that is not a new problem. In October of 2005. seven illegal aliens were arrested for working at the U.S. Air Force base in Idaho. They were employed by a subcontractor. Also. last October. 2006. three illegal workers were working at Fort Bragg and they were arrested. In 2005 alone. ICE arrested 6 illegal aliens working at Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida. 48 illegal aliens working at the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. 9 illegal aliens performing contract work at a facility that refits Navy aircraft in North Carolina. 18 working for a San Diego company that performed maintenance on U.S. Navy vessels. According to an Empire Journal article. a huge problem is that employers can participate in a voluntary program to verify employee work eligibility. but they suffer no penalty for failing to check the validity of the Social Security numbers. The article concluded: A weak law allows the employer to see the document and if the document looks genuine to the employer. the employer cannot be held responsible for hiring the illegal immigrant. It is astounding how widespread this problem is. In a report by ICE in 2005. a company contracted by the Navy to paint ships was found to employ 86 illegals who had security passes giving them access to the entire Navy base in San Diego. In 2004. 41 suspected illegal aliens were apprehended while working for a Department of Defense contractor that was providing Boeing with antimissile systems and radartop security type equipment. Also. in 2004. seven foreign nationals were arrested for working illegally at the Fort Polk Joint Readiness Training Center in Louisiana. They were "role players" in combat exercises to prepare soldiers for combat in Iraq. In one alarming incident. the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was caught allowing illegal aliens to obtain bogus documentation by using fake Social Security numbers to work as contract painters in nuclear facilities. Representative EDWARD MARKEY. a Democrat from Massachusetts. stated: Commission regulations are supposed to ensure that individuals who are able to ac153. Pt. 2 January 25. 2007 cess nuclear facilities are subject to appropriate background and security checks but they clearly did not work in this case.