NC ICE Operation Succeeds, but Draws Fire from Fellow Feds

By Bill West

There is an old saying, �Let no good deed go unpunished.� Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in North Carolina who conducted the investigation and sting operation earlier this month that successfully led to the arrest of 48 illegal aliens working at the Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base near Goldsboro must now be understanding the meaning of that old clich�.

That operation was reported in a July 7 CT Blog posting. Apart from the lamentable fact that 48 illegal aliens were found working on a supposedly secure US military installation in the first place, the noted multi-agency investigation and law enforcement arrest operation identified the violators, all of whom had false documents that allowed them to procure their illegal employment, and resulted in their arrest without anyone getting hurt. And, it turns out, with the solid coordinated effort of Federal prosecutors the offenders apparently all entered swift guilty pleas on the immigration and false document charges and are headed toward quick removal from the US. So far, this particular operation appears to have been a significant success.

So, where�s the problem? It seems the Federal coppers decided, in setting up their sting, to pretend to be inspectors from the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the North Carolina State equivalent, and invited the illegal alien workers to attend a �safety training� class wherein, of course, the gumshoe dropped and they were arrested. The OSHA and state safety bureaucrats apparently were not notified of the ruse (law enforcement operational security seemingly came into play in that), and now those safety bureaucrats have their collective noses bent out of shape.

The wailing and gnashing of teeth coming from the safety minions goes something like this: now illegal alien workers everywhere will be reluctant to deal with OSHA and state and local safety officials for fear they will really be dealing with immigration cops and will be arrested; therefore, workplaces will be more dangerous. Oh my�because the big bad ICE arrested 48 illegal alien workers, with false identification documents, employed at a combat operational US Air Force base as part of an ongoing homeland security campaign, suddenly hundreds of thousands of other illegal alien construction workers will refuse to listen to an OSHA worker tell them to put on their hard hats?

It appears officials at OSHA have been infected with the same sanctuary virus that has been running through the veins of too many mayors, city councils and even police chiefs, requiring their local employees to refuse cooperation with Federal immigration authorities in the enforcement of US immigration laws. Being an immigration cop is tough enough, having another Federal agency refuse cooperation and criticize a legitimate enforcement operation is entirely inappropriate. Of course, some of the media has dutifully fallen in line with its own criticism of the ICE operation using �undue subterfuge.� One must wonder, if the targeted violations had been narcotics trafficking or illegal firearms or explosives, would the criticism of such a sting scenario be as it is? Once again, however, immigration law violations are relegated to something akin to traffic offences. That might be expected from certain media sources, but from other Federal agencies?

And, speaking of other Federal agencies�perhaps they should be alerted to a specific section of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Admittedly, this statute is seldom used, and probably even most of the High Command of DHS and ICE are not even aware they have this legal tool at their disposal (maybe they should), but it is potentially quite useful when it comes to dealing with the likes of annoyances such as OSHA bureaucrats buzzing about law enforcement stings. It is 8 USC 1360(b), within Section 290 of the Immigration and Nationality Act:

(b) Information from other departments and agencies
Any information in any records kept by any department or agency
of the Government as to the identity and location of aliens in the
United States shall be made available to the Service upon request
made by the Attorney General to the head of any such department or
agency.

The DHS Act transfers all the authorities under the Act relegated to the AG to the DHS Secretary, so such authority now lies with DHS. So, if DHS really chose to, it could legally require an agency like OSHA, that probably maintains lots of information about lots of illegal alien worker identities and locations (whether it realizes it or not) thanks to all those �safety inspections� and training programs it�s so concerned about, to research and turn over all that information. Maybe the State and Federal safety bureaucrats should simply get with the National Security program and let the beleaguered immigration cops do their difficult law enforcement jobs without undeserved post-op criticism. On this one, the ICE folks and their fellow badge carriers deserve the kudos.

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