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By TIM McGLONE
The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK - A contractor hired by Verizon Communications to install fiber-optic lines is blaming a subcontractor for employing 14 suspected illegal immigrants who were detained by federal authorities earlier this week.
Ivy H. Smith Co., with a local office on Curlew Drive, issued a statement Thursday saying it has opened an investigation into the hiring practices of its subcontractors.
A state trooper Tuesday evening stopped a clapboard van on Interstate 264 in Virginia Beach and discovered 14 suspected illegal immigrants inside. The Ivy H. Smith name and logo were stamped on the doors of the vehicle. Below the logo was stamped "a Verizon contractor."
The 14 men - 12 from Mexico and two from El Salvador - were taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and will be processed for deportation.
A Smith official said Thursday that the men were employed by a company subcontractor, whom he declined to identify.
Smith's contract with the subcontractor "requires procedures to be in place to verify the legal status of its employees," George Summers, president of Ivy H. Smith, said in a statement.
"In conjunction with the ongoing investigation, the company is reviewing the hiring practices and procedures of its subcontractors as well as how it monitors compliance with those procedures," the statement reads.
"The company does not endorse or condone hiring of illegal immigrants," it says. If proper procedures were not followed, "appropriate corrective actions will be taken."
Ivy H. Smith is based in Greensboro, N.C., and is a subsidiary of the Florida-based Dycom Industries.
Mike Netherland, head of the local ICE office, said Thursday that his agents are investigating "the employment status of the individuals." He would not identify any companies that may be targeted in the case.
A Verizon official said Thursday that his company also has launched an investigation that could lead to the dismissal of Ivy Smith.
"We're investigating the incident with Ivy Smith, and we'll take action," said Harry Mitchell, a Verizon spokesman in Charleston, W.Va. "We don't tolerate this at all."
Verizon is laying some 27 million feet of fiber-optic cable in Virginia for phone, television and high-speed Internet service. The company hires contractors to perform all of that work, Mitchell said.
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Come on now.....
cheap labor is never cheap. Someone, somewhere will have to pay the price in the long run. If it is not illegals selling themselves to the lowest bidder and forcing out citizens with the accredited skills to do the job, then it is our social services that will bear the brunt of providing care and support to both illegals and citizens. We need to look past the profit line and consider safety and quality of life as the defining factors that determine business and security policy of our country.
As long as cheap
is the principal consideration in the hiring of workers we should never be surprised when illegals who will work for cheap take each and every job possible. And as long as quarterly profits remain the highest possible corporate consideration for corporate executives, any shock or horror that only illegals are employed is equally wrong. As is currently the case employers have no effective and efficient way to check on immigration status they too are helpless (though for the reasons above they are not exactly objecting to the situation either). Had President Bush's immigration bill of 2000 been approved we would not be in this situation. One of the enduring embarrassment of the time Republicans controlled Congress is that they did not pass the President's bill then. Shame on the Congress for not having fixed this years ago!!!!!
Racism
It's amazing to see the comments from people claiming these illegals must have committed other crimes while in America. Have any of you been to Mexico? And I'm not talking Cancun. Go to a border town, you'd want to move to America too. These people only want better for their families, and while I realize there are procedures that need to be followed, not everyone has the capacity to realize this and do it correctly. How about instead of automatically deporting, we give them an opportunity to become US citizens? Have we forgotten that many of us were immigrants? At least these people are working, not draining the welfare pool and wasting public housing.
This country has a lot of "legal" immigrants. People who came to this country, went through the process and became Americans. Not people who run through our borders, try to force their values on our society and take advantage of our heathcare and welfare systems without paying a dime in taxes to support these programs. I have a solution. If you are so blind by ignorance that you can't see the problem we are facing as a society with illegals draining our resources without contributiing to our systems then it's alarming you have the right to vote!
Simple solution
This whole issue of illegal aliens residing/working in United States could be easily solved if our linguini-spined politicians in Washington, DC, only had the will to solve it. Sentence the illegal employers, such as the CEO/President of Ivy Smith, to jail for 6 months for the first offense, one year in jail for the second offense, and if they are really stupid and haven't learned from their first two trips to jail, three years in prison, the "big house," for the third offense of employing illegal aliens. It wouldn't take long before there would be no motivation to come to this country illegally, and there would be a steady stream of illegals heading back to their country of origin to find work there. It's not difficult, it just takes a little backbone in Congress. Instead, led by buffoons like John McCain and Ted Kennedy, Congress is considering how they will give citizenship to all 15 million illegal aliens. It's the epitomy of stupidity.
Ivy the worst of the worst!
Ivy H. Smith Co. is a disgrace! Ivy should be the one deported to another country. His crime is the worst of the worst. Fist he is destroying our country and secondly he is exploiting these people for his own benefit. Please do not tell me that he did not have a very big idea that they were illegals. This country needs to make an example of Ivy and to every contractor that employs these illegals. How dare him!The sad and very sick part of this crime is that our country will let him get away with this atrocious act. Homeland security is a total joke by the Bush administration and this proves that it is just right wing rhetoric. Ivy has cheated the American People, he has cheated the contractors that try to make an honest living, he has cheated our fragile economic system and he has cheated the immigrants that he exploits for higher profit. You really cannot sink any lower! Tidewater builders and contractors are doing this same act all over our city! Stop it now!
Illegals
The contractor knew the status of those workers. I always have top have people, (self included) an I-9 form. If you are here illegally you should be deported, at your home countries expense. If the Mexican government cares about its people it would not be so lazy and make for a better economy there. We need the border fence, and this is proof positive NAFTA isn't working. The contractor should spend time in prison for his crime. I live in Florida now. The problem is here tenfold. Locally here they even busted a ring of illegals from India, and sent them home. People who came by ocean liners in the late 1800's, and early 1900's came to blend into the United States melting pot. They came legally. At least eighty percent were even checked for things like lice, trachoma, and other health issues. We should check for this as well. Why should we have another nations health problems surface here as well.
Again fry the contractor, and send all illegals packing.
Unbelievable
First I leave Verizon for a Voip service. Verizon sues the Voip and I go to Verizons own Voip which they claim to have invented. Service is worse than ever...unusable really. Plus they sent equipment that was incomplete and they were dishonest. Now I am w/ AT&T and the service works wonderfully. However, how is it that Verizon charges more than all of the rest and offers the worst service? They claim to own the tech that makes it possible but theirs works the worst. Could it be that w/o Voip I can only use Verizon here? Maybe. Could it be thatthey want us to pay more for their services while they pay less for labor? Appears to be. What do they think we will pay their inflated bill w/ if the money is heading south? What about the tax base?
Illegals in Our Back Yard
Yes, a bunch like this were in our backyards(Great Neck Area of Virginia Beach) last summer laying cable..none spoke English. And, yes, city government, it was very very disturbing...and just as scary...layers of subcontractors..
Most Illegals.............
Are hired by 'temp work agencies'. They (the agency) get paid 'X' amnt an hr and then pay the illegal a lesser amnt. There-fore, the Temp Agency is making $$$ off every illegal they employ. There is where the crack-down needs to be focused. But, on the other hand, they (the illegals) are usually doing work that no 'american' will do (manual labor). So? Unless we kick the Welfare scofflaws OFF welfare.......where will this work force come from ? (nothing more frustrating than to see 11 adults living in Section 8 Housing for little or nothing a month, getting food-stamps/welfare and WIC, working part-time @ McD's and driving a Lexus )