Construction firm raid nets 8 arrests

Federal officials raided a Sierra Vista construction company on Friday and arrested the president and seven others on charges that they knowingly hired undocumented workers and conspired to obtain bogus work documents for employees.

These are the first criminal charges lodged against an employer in Arizona as part of a national effort to crack down on employers responsible for the job magnet that draws undocumented workers to the U.S.

Three others were charged in state court with supplying workers with counterfeit work documents, officials said.

Ten workers,all from Mexico, also were detained.

The arrests of the employees and top managers of Sun Dry Wall & Stucco Inc. were the product of a 16-month investigation by federal immigration agents.

Scores of agents fanned out in Sierra Vista and Douglas on Friday morning, raiding the company's offices, a foreman's home, the home of a suspected counterfeiter and eight worksites.

Company President Ivan Hardt, 44, and the firm's human resources manager, Carol Hill, 42, were taken into custody, ICE officials said. Both live in Sierra Vista and were charged with conspiring to knowingly hire illegal workers and harboring illegal workers.

Friday's raid comes a year after the government announced that instead of fining employers for shoddy paperwork, it intended to go after the most "egregious" employers of undocumented immigrants and put them in jail. Immigration officials promised stepped-up examinations of construction, agricultural, landscaping and service-industry businesses in hopes of deterring illegal hirings and lessening the economic incentive for immigrants to sneak across the border.

"I would hope that employers would realize that it's not in their best interest to knowingly hire illegal immigrants," said Alonzo Peña, special agent in charge of ICE for Arizona.

Peña said more raids in Arizona are imminent. ICE is currently investigating two other employers, one in Phoenix.

In the past year, immigration officials have raided numerous businesses around the country.

In February, five former managers from IFCO Systems, a major crate and pallet manufacturer, pleaded guilty to hiring undocumented immigrants. The pleas came 10 months after federal agents staged sweeping raids at 40 IFCO sites in 26 states, including Arizona.

Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, in Washington, D.C., said the raids are tied to the Bush administration's efforts to convince skeptics that immigration laws are being enforced. Bush has been trying to get Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, including a temporary-worker program and a path to legalization for millions of undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.

But to be truly effective, the raids will have to be broadened to include small employers, not just "big fish," he said.

David Jones, president and CEO of the Arizona Contractors Association, said the raid was expected.

"We have been saying for almost 3 1/2 years that the construction industry would be a likely target for investigation due to the fact that historically you have such a mobile workforce," he said. "Many people have come to the conclusion that they (construction workers) may not have proper identification."

His trade group has been urging members to get their paperwork on employees in order, with as much supporting documentation as possible to show employees are authorized to work in this country.



Republic reporter Dawn Gilbertson and the Associated Press contributed to this article.