EMAIL DETAILS

<FONT face="Default Sans Serif,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" size=2><DIV>Hunter,</DIV><DIV> </DIV><DIV>I hope all is well with you and your family. Sorry the dates you and your business partner were in town didnt work out. </DIV><DIV> </DIV><DIV>Mr. Williams came across this in his morning clips and recongized it as one of the job sites that your father may have visisted when he was down in Orlando. Just as an fyi...</DIV><DIV> </DIV><DIV> </DIV><DIV> </DIV><DIV><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; mso-line-height-alt: 11.0pt; mso-outline-level: 2" class=MsoNormal><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 18pt; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt">Illegal Workers Found Hiding At Big Federal Construction Site</SPAN></B></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; mso-line-height-alt: 11.0pt; mso-outline-level: 2" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 18pt; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt"><SPAN class=f><FONT color=#767676>Engineering News Record</FONT></SPAN></SPAN><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 6pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 6pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><FONT size=3>By </FONT><A href="mailto:enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.com" target=blank><SPAN style="COLOR: black; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><FONT size=3>Debra Wood</FONT></SPAN></A><FONT size=3>/ENR<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></I></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 6pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT size=3>Federal agents found illegal workers hiding at a big federal construction project in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Orlando</st1:City></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><st1:country-region w:st="on"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black">U.S.</SPAN></st1:country-region><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"> immigration agents, returning to a site they had previously visited, discovered six illegal workers hiding in the ceiling of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Orlando</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Veterans</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Administration</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Medical</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, which is under construction.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT size=3>The agents, part of the Dept. of Homeland Security, and the Orlando Police Department received an anonymous tip that “illegal immigrants were stuck in a storage container somewhere on the construction site.” The caller indicated the hidden subjects were in a poorly ventilated spot with no access to food or water, according to the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Orlando</st1:place></st1:City> police report.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT size=3>After several hours of searching the 64-acre site, Salvador Hernandez, a worker who helped hide the illegal workers, led the investigative team to the six individuals hiding in the ceiling of the new hospital. The Orlando Police indicate the space was 30-ft long by 10-ft wide by 18-inches deep. A forklift was required to move scaffolding and locate the hidden subjects, who could not have escaped without the assistance of a forklift, according to the police report.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT size=3>Three additional workers were taken into custody on administrative charges. All nine were identified as illegal aliens from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region> and taken to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Orange</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> jail, where they will be processed for removal from the country, according to a spokeswoman for the immigration and customs agency.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT size=3>The immigration agents had been at the site an hour earlier with state insurance department investigators,as part of “an ongoing investigation by multiple agencies into employment practices of several contractors.”<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT size=3>The main contractor on the $665-million project, Brasfield and Gorrie, holds separate contracts covering the main structure, two garages and a warehouse and the foundations and concrete.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT size=3>Brasfield & Gorrie’s public relations agency issued a written statement acknowledging that the “authorities identified individuals who are suspected to have used deficient documentation to secure their employment. We are working with the agencies to assist with the investigation. Brasfield & Gorrie has always been and continues to be fully committed to complying with federal, state and local laws.”<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT size=3>The public relations agency said that Brasfield & Gorrie used the federal E-verify system, in addition to the I-9 Employment Verification process to confirm work eligibility of all its workers on this site. “In addition, we also require that all contractors and subcontractors do the same for their employees as well.”<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT size=3>The public relations agency would not provide additional information or confirm or deny that the men identified by the anonymous caller to the police as being involved in hiding the men—Hernandez of Winter Garden, Fla., and manager Carey Duell of Webster, Fla.—work for Brasfield & Gorrie. The police report contains social security numbers for both men. Duell, reached by telephone, would not identify his employer.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P><BR></DIV><DIV>Chris Sloan, Director<BR>Government Affairs Department<BR><A href="mailto:CSloan@iupat.org" target=blank>CSloan@iupat.org</A><BR>International Union of Painters and Allied Trades <BR>7234 Parkway Drive <BR>Hanover, MD 21076 <BR>Main Line: (410) 564-5900<BR>Phone (410) 564-5881<BR>Fax (866)656-4159 <BR></DIV></FONT>