In an early morning attack on Wednesday at Mt. Baker Roofing Company in Bellingham, immigration officers confirm that they have arrested 37 people who represented their immigration status in a fraudulent manner.
A spokesman for immigration and customs authorities (ICE) said that his agents as well as the border patrol and customs and border protection air and marine operations had carried out a federal search in society, “based on an ongoing criminal investigation of the illegal employment of extraterrestrial employment without legal work.”
On his website, the roofing company is described as a veteran company with 120 employees who repair, replace and install roofs and gutters. The company owner could not be reached for a comment.
Geovana Perez Juárez said her nephew, Jose Manuel Sanches Juárez, was one of the imprisoned workers. Before she woke up on Wednesday morning, she said she had already received a text from her nephew who lives with her and daughter.
“Goodbye aunt … He also sent a message to my daughter, which she also says goodbye to her,” said Perez Juárez in Spanish.
Her nephew worked for the DACHING Company for four years and sent part of his money to his mother in Mexico, said Perez Juárez.
After seeing his message, she hurried to the Bellingham Company, where she and other family members of the workers saw how ice agents loaded people on a bus to take them away.
Perez Juárez recorded a video in which agents spoke to people outside the company camp with non -marked trucks, vans and a bus before the in advance.
“If you only know the sadness that it can be seen that hard -working people get on this bus, people who came to work are [one morning] And they won't return with their families, it is honestly humiliating, ”said Perez Juárez in the video.
An ICE spokesman said the 37 detained workers are brought to the Northwest Ice Processing Center in Tacoma.
Investigations for home protection investigations are looking for violations of the construction site. In an explanation, an ICE spoke person said that raids such as one Wednesday in Bellingham concentrate on reducing illegal employment, taking employers into account and protecting employment opportunities for the legitimate workforce of the country.
The Pew Research Center reports that people without legal status in the United States make up about 4.8% of the US workforce in 2022. A separate study by the American Immigration Council reports that the number in the state of Washington is 5.2%.
At the end of January, NBC News reported that, according to officials from the Ministry of Homeland Security, the average costs for arrest, detention and fly from someone to the home country of a person is 10,500 US dollars.
With these employees 37 by ICE in Tacoma, roofers in Bellingham try to find out how to pick up the gap.
Angie Rangering from the Skyline Roofing Company said she spoke to other roof owners about the attack. She says that the industry has difficulty getting us citizens to apply for roof work.
“I think everything is just so political that it made it impossible to find out a solution to this problem,” said Ringeling.
Your solution is pretty simple and an echoed in a proposed legislation in the congress called Dignity Act.
“You should be able to get a fast Green card for people who can work for you because we know these industries, such as food processing, hotels, construction workers, concrete workers, roofers. We know that all of these industries are not sufficient to set the US citizens sufficient … to fill the positions,” said Ringering.
Note from the publisher: This article was updated on Wednesday, April 2, to record the reaction of Angie sound at the Skyline Roofing Company.