Noteboom The Law Firm

Illegal Immigrants Found Working On Orlando VA

February 24, 2011 - The Orlando Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center was designed to be a state-of-the-art facility; something short of a crown jewel as far as Florida VA medical centers go. The medical center is being constructed at a price tag of $665 million. An unfortunate series of events, however, may delay the completion date or cause further complications.

During construction, a worker's compensation investigation was underway at the Orlando VA's build site. That investigation revealed the likely presence of illegal immigrants being employed to work on the medical center. A later raid by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials lead to the arrest of 9 illegal Mexican aliens concealing themselves inside a crawl space in the ceiling rafters. They were not easy to find; locating them required the use of both cadaver dogs and infrared equipment. As there was no way for those aliens to put themselves in the rafters, they must have had help getting themselves into hiding. 

E-Verify is a free, online system with which American employers can use to verify their potential employees' legal status and documentation prior to hire. There is no excuse for not checking a worker's status as laws prevent the hiring of any employee without the proper documentation. There were approximately 36 contractors and sub-contractors employed at the VA construction site but VA officials are not releasing who hired the illegal immigrants. 

Companies employing illegal aliens are subject to fines and even prison time for the more habitual offenders. It could very well be the case these are not the only illegal aliens on the job site, so there may be even more slow-downs. What this means for the ultimate deadline of the medical clinic is still unknown.