News Release April 8, 2008
ICE nabs illegal workers at an affluent hotel resort in northern Virginia
59 arrests made in Leesburg, Virginia
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As part of ongoing efforts to secure our nation's borders
through the discharge of interior law enforcement missions, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents executed an enforcement action at the luxurious
northern Virginia resort.
This morning, ICE agents interviewed roughly 100 employees that resulted in
the arrest of 53 immigration status violators working at the resort. Two females
were released at the site for humanitarian concerns. Another six where
apprehended outside of the facility bringing the total to 59.
This investigation started in early July 2007 after a routine inspection of
all I-9 employment forms at the resort.
Through the expert analysis of the I-9 forms, ICE agents identified
information that led them to suspect that many of the employees were using
fraudulent documents or had stolen someone else's identity to secure employment
at the resort. The investigation is still ongoing.
The 59 men and woman are nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico,
Honduras, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina, and all face removal proceedings.
Today's enforcement action is part of ICE's nationwide aggressive pursuit of
unauthorized workers and employers who violate the law," said Mark X. McGraw,
Deputy Special Agent in Charge of the ICE office of investigations in
Washington, DC. Companies that use cheap, illegal alien labor as a business
model should be on notice that ICE is dramatically enhancing its enforcement
efforts against illegal employment schemes."
All of the immigration status violators arrested today will be interviewed by
ICE personnel, Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Immigration
Health Services (DIHS) staff and offered access to Social Services to record any
medical, sole-caregiver or other humanitarian situations.
Based upon these interviews, ICE will determine whether detainees remain in
custody or are
considered for humanitarian release. In all cases, undocumented aliens will be
fingerprinted and processed for removal from the United States. | 
