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July 1, 2008
Immigration Raid at Painting Company
Authorities Detain 45 in Immigration Raid at Painting Company
By William Wan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 1, 2008; B02
Authorities raided the offices of an Annapolis painting company yesterday and detained 45 suspected illegal immigrants, who officials say were hired and housed by the company in private homes.
The raids, executed simultaneously at the offices of Annapolis Painting Services and 10 private homes that authorities said were owned by the company, were conducted by a force of 75 federal immigration agents and 50 Anne Arundel County police officers.
The immigrants are being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Baltimore while their status is reviewed, said Scot Rittenberg, an assistant special agent in charge in Baltimore.
No charges have been filed yet against the owner of the painting company, Robert Bontempo Jr., because the investigation has not been completed, Rittenberg said. But Police Chief James Teare Sr. said Bontempo could face federal felony charges.
The 45 immigrants detained -- 35 men and 10 women -- came from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and Nigeria, federal investigators said.
There were five additional workers whose cases also have been entered into the illegal immigration removal process, but ICE agents did not take them into custody for humanitarian reasons. Some had children, one was dependent on medication and another was pregnant.
Bontempo did not return calls to his office and home. According to his company's Web site, he started painting homes in the 1970s to pay his way through college.
The Web site calls his company one of the largest painting contractors in the region and boasts of its work at several local institutions: the Maryland State House, the Annapolis Visitors and Convention Bureau, the U.S. Naval Academy and Anne Arundel Community College.
The company has more than 100 employees, county police said. The 10 sites raided yesterday morning housed large groups of immigrants living in single-family homes owned by the company, authorities said. ICE agents also conducted interviews with workers at five other sites.
At a news conference yesterday across the street from the company's offices, County Executive John R. Leopold (R) touted the raid as the most significant operation against illegal immigration in his administration.
He has come out strongly against illegal immigration in the county and made a series of policy changes in the past year to deter it.
"It's unfair to those companies operating legally to be undercut by those who hire illegal immigrants," Leopold said. "This sends a clear message that it's not going to be tolerated in Anne Arundel County."
ICE officials said they appreciated the assistance of county police in the raids but said their investigation was unrelated to the county's new policies.
ICE officials received the tip about Annapolis Painting Services 18 months ago, just as Leopold was taking office and months before he had announced his policies.
"We receive leads like this all the time, and we prioritize them to focus on the most egregious violators," Rittenberg said. "In this case it was in Anne Arundel County."
In August, Leopold issued an executive order declaring that the county would sever contracts with any business employing illegal immigrants. The order was largely symbolic, as it included no enforcement measures.
He also cut county grants to nonprofit agencies that offered social services to Spanish-speaking residents.
In addition, Leopold assigned a full-time county detective to a federal task force cracking down on counterfeit documents used by illegal immigrants.
And he instituted a policy that county jails must notify ICE immediately when foreign-born inmates are processed in county detention centers so that their immigration status can be checked.
LS
July 1, 2008 | Permalink
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Comments
Way to go John R. Leopold - now we need to build a case against the employer. This case needs to serve as an example. Illegal Immigration is draining our budgets and county resources. No jobs - no reason for Illegal Immigrents to stay in our community or in our country for that matter. Consumers should look for the Legal Employer seal before doing business with anyone! Mr. Leopold you should contact www.LegalEmployer.com to keep your campaign going. Don't give in - keep up the fight.
Posted by: KyleHend | Jul 2, 2008 7:05:41 AM
'"It's unfair to those companies operating legally to be undercut by those who hire illegal immigrants," Leopold said.'
This can't be said enough. We don't need to base our economy on such an immoral principle. Rule/law breaking is rewarded and doing things the right way is punished when it should be the other way around.
Posted by: Jack | Jul 3, 2008 6:57:02 AM
Illegal Immigration is not a victimless crime; you may think that you are getting a good deal on your painting or landscaping but you and society are losing in the long run. Illegal immigration causes substantial harm to the most vulnerable sectors of our population – the poor, minorities, and children. By causing an enormous drain on public funds, we cannot provide high quality education, health care, and retirement security for our own people if we continue to bring in endless numbers of poor, unskilled immigrants. Additionally, job competition by waves of illegal immigrants willing to work for substandard wages and working conditions depresses the wages of American workers. Illegal immigration also contributes to the dramatic population growth overwhelming communities across America – crowding school classrooms, consuming already limited affordable housing, and straining already overburdened emergency rooms.
Here are some statistics: between 1993 and 2003, 60 California hospitals closed because half their services were unpaid. Another 24 California hospitals are on the verge of closure. Both PA and NJ hospitals recently reported that they provided almost $2 billion in free emergency and short term care services, in large part to illegal aliens. Minnesota county commissioners say that the cost of medical care for uninsured immigrants is too high for local governments to bear and they expect a $4.2 billion budget shortfall over the next two years. NC has about $1.4 billion in un-reimbursed hospital expenses annually. The Texas Hospital Association directly spent $393 million treating illegal aliens in 2002. One third of the patients treated by the LA County Health System are illegal aliens and the system is facing a $300 million deficient. In AZ, the Southeast Arizona Medical Center had a $1 billion shortfall and recently filled for bankruptcy.
This is only one example, but take your pick; hospitals, schools, parks, roads, police force, judicial system, water and sanitation systems, among others. Illegal aliens impact these services to a far greater degree, since they generally aren’t paying for any of it.
Posted by: Frank Lee | Jul 3, 2008 1:29:29 PM
Illegal Immigration is not a victimless crime; you may think that you are getting a good deal on your painting or landscaping but you and society are losing in the long run. Illegal immigration causes substantial harm to the most vulnerable sectors of our population – the poor, minorities, and children. By causing an enormous drain on public funds, we cannot provide high quality education, health care, and retirement security for our own people if we continue to bring in endless numbers of poor, unskilled immigrants. Additionally, job competition by waves of illegal immigrants willing to work for substandard wages and working conditions depresses the wages of American workers. Illegal immigration also contributes to the dramatic population growth overwhelming communities across America – crowding school classrooms, consuming already limited affordable housing, and straining already overburdened emergency rooms.
Here are some statistics: between 1993 and 2003, 60 California hospitals closed because half their services were unpaid. Another 24 California hospitals are on the verge of closure. Both PA and NJ hospitals recently reported that they provided almost $2 billion in free emergency and short term care services, in large part to illegal aliens. Minnesota county commissioners say that the cost of medical care for uninsured immigrants is too high for local governments to bear and they expect a $4.2 billion budget shortfall over the next two years. NC has about $1.4 billion in un-reimbursed hospital expenses annually. The Texas Hospital Association directly spent $393 million treating illegal aliens in 2002. One third of the patients treated by the LA County Health System are illegal aliens and the system is facing a $300 million deficient. In AZ, the Southeast Arizona Medical Center had a $1 billion shortfall and recently filled for bankruptcy.
This is only one example, but take your pick; hospitals, schools, parks, roads, police force, judicial system, water and sanitation systems, among others. Illegal aliens impact these services to a far greater degree, since they generally aren’t paying for any of it.
Posted by: Frank Lee | Jul 3, 2008 1:29:54 PM
Illegal Immigration is not a victimless crime; you may think that you are getting a good deal on your painting or landscaping but you and society are losing in the long run. Illegal immigration causes substantial harm to the most vulnerable sectors of our population – the poor, minorities, and children. By causing an enormous drain on public funds, we cannot provide high quality education, health care, and retirement security for our own people if we continue to bring in endless numbers of poor, unskilled immigrants. Additionally, job competition by waves of illegal immigrants willing to work for substandard wages and working conditions depresses the wages of American workers. Illegal immigration also contributes to the dramatic population growth overwhelming communities across America – crowding school classrooms, consuming already limited affordable housing, and straining already overburdened emergency rooms.
Here are some statistics: between 1993 and 2003, 60 California hospitals closed because half their services were unpaid. Another 24 California hospitals are on the verge of closure. Both PA and NJ hospitals recently reported that they provided almost $2 billion in free emergency and short term care services, in large part to illegal aliens. Minnesota county commissioners say that the cost of medical care for uninsured immigrants is too high for local governments to bear and they expect a $4.2 billion budget shortfall over the next two years. NC has about $1.4 billion in un-reimbursed hospital expenses annually. The Texas Hospital Association directly spent $393 million treating illegal aliens in 2002. One third of the patients treated by the LA County Health System are illegal aliens and the system is facing a $300 million deficient. In AZ, the Southeast Arizona Medical Center had a $1 billion shortfall and recently filled for bankruptcy.
This is only one example, but take your pick; hospitals, schools, parks, roads, police force, judicial system, water and sanitation systems, among others. Illegal aliens impact these services to a far greater degree, since they generally aren’t paying for any of it.
Posted by: Frank Lee | Jul 3, 2008 1:30:07 PM
