Five immigrant workers arrested
By Dan McLean
Burlington Free Press Staff Writer
November 14, 2008
Working from a citizen's tip, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested five illegal immigrants walking across an Essex parking lot Thursday morning.
A union analyst said the immigrants were subcontractors working on the Lowe's in Essex. Mark Henry, an operations officer with U.S. Border Patrol in Swanton, declined to disclose the illegal immigrants' nationality, gender or age, citing agency policy.
The Border Patrol has established through interviews, record checks and an investigation that the five individuals are in the U.S. illegally, Henry said. They will be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation proceedings, Henry said.
The arrests took place in an Essex parking lot at about 8 a.m. Thursday morning near where Lowe's Cos. Inc. is building a store, Henry said. He did not know the parking lot where the arrests took place.
Damon Hall, a Burlington-based industry analyst for Ironworkers Local 7, which covers most of New England, said the five people arrested worked for a drywall subcontractor that is working on the Lowe's in Essex. "They were seen walking to and from the job site," he said.
Karen Cobb, Lowe's Cos. Inc. public relations manager, said the home improvement store is "continuing to review this situation."
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