WBURImmigrants Detained On Way To Work At Gillette Stadium

The immigrants who were stopped by federal immigration authorities Wednesday on the highway in Foxborough were apparently on their way to work at Gillette Stadium.

The men were on a short-term contract to remove snow from the stadium, according to Stacey James, the vice president of communications at Gillette Stadium. Stacey said the stadium contracted the workers through a third party, and they had “every expectation that they are legally working.”

The men were riding in four vans in Foxborough when they were stopped by immigration agents. Immigration officials said it was a “routine operation” targeted at fugitives with criminal records.

Spokeswoman Paula Grenier said the agents interviewed 60 men in the vans, most of them Guatemalan immigrants.

Seven of the men remain in federal custody at Bristol County Jail and House of Corrections. Five of them re-entered the country illegally after being deported. Two others were fugitives with criminal records and are being held for deportation.

Most of the remaining men — 49 total–have been ordered to report back to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further questioning.

That frustrated Carlos Escobedo, the Guatemalan consul from Rhode Island. “If they’re looking for someone with a deportation warrant, they need to find another way to do it,” he said, speaking in Spanish.

Escobedo says most of the men who were stopped by immigration agents are Guatemalans living around Providence, RI.

WBUR Topics · Boston
Please follow our community rules when engaging in comment discussion on wbur.org.
  • Brittancus

    This very interesting letter came to me, through my Email and I cannot vouch for the author as I get hundreds of these type of correspondence each day. These people are very aware on my stand on illegal immigration and enlighten me all the time on the consequences to come. The national press are full of stories about the awful predicament these illegal immigrants are now subjected to? They must have realized this when they intentionally broke the sovereign laws of this nation? They know they are stealing jobs of millions of Americans who remain unemployed. Illegal labor have appropriated by illegal means Social Security numbers of Americans, their children and the military abroad They have crammed our schools with their children, our hospital emergency waiting rooms and are overflowing the dormitories and cells in the penal system. They have also been allowed legally or illegally to tap into the welfare system, that was there to serve low income or unemployed Americans. WE MUST INSIST OF OUR POLITICIANS TO PERMANENTLY IMPLEMENT E-VERIFY TO RESTRICT ILLEGAL WORKERS AND AUDITS. THE 287 (G) POLICE APPREHENSION LAW AND INCESSANTLY ENFORCE ICE RAIDS.
    The man wrote:
    I have been a bookkeeper and office manager for over 30 years in various construction fields. I have seen first hand how illegal aliens have been hired by greedy bosses. Here are some of the many ways they and the employers cheat the system: 1) They always claim up to 14 dependents on the W4′s, thus they are not taxed on Federal and State Withholding. 2) When sick or injured on the job they got to the closest ER – they never file a Worker’s Comp claim through the employer. 3) They work below the wage scale a comparable American would expect to be paid, thus “depressing” the wages. While the men work this way, the women and children they have a home are on welfare and Medicaid. The Employers: Many may have Federal, State, ADA and City contracts, all which are FUNDED by American Tax dollars and require Certified Payrolls to insure fair wages are paid on the job, yet they use illegal aliens to do these jobs and keep all the profits. Often the same employer will have whole families of illegals working in their businesses and if they try to hire any Americans the illegals will freeze them out or get them fired. The Employers become millionaires through this practice. They do not offer any benefits. They often have unsafe working environments. They also usually cheat like hell on their corporate income filings and live high-on-the-hog by expensing all their personal trips, hotels, airfares, homebuilding projects, cars and even put their kids on the payrolls while they go to college. The list of cheating is endless and I’ve seen it ALL!

    Consider that just–IF–a comprehensive immigration reform passes, millions more will try to cross the border line before President Obama signs the act. If the truth was known we already have somewhere between 20 to 30 million illegal immigrants including families. Think how many more people will be added to the welfare rolls. All this is just a precursor for irreversible OVERPOPULATION. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to be connected to your Senator and Congressman and use the voting power of THE PEOPLE. NUMBERSUSA AND JUDICIAL WATCH for more enlightening information about which lawmaker is a signer to AMNESTY and their immigration grades.

  • Brittancus

    Now they are going to urge another travesty of COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM OR “AMNESTY.” on the overtaxed American people. It almost defies any rational logic for these morons introducing immigration reform, when 15 million Americans are out scouting for a job. Due to neglect of decades of pandering politicians to non-enforcement of our undermanned, poorly constructed border fence or the 1986 immigration law. It is my decision to pas it along to all readers, otherwise it may not get the necessary publicity to show the disintegration of a society, culture and even our language. Its almost incomprehensible that University professors would abet and condone illegal immigration with designing GPS systems, making it easier for illegal immigrants to steal American jobs. But then the majority that are teaching the Students are Liberal-Marxist, left wingers.

    These people must live in a bubble that think illegal immigrants do not have an impact on American citizens.

    You have watched an economy tank, with outlandish reasoning, but no one is talking about the facts:

    The main serious issue is irreversible Overpopulation:

    It is imperative that we realize that if we keep on allowing the importation of foreign nationals on the scale that is happening today. The consequences as stated by the [United States Population Projections: 2000 to 2050 by Jennifer M. Ortman and Christine E. Guarneri of the Census Bureau]“… a greater number of migrants arriving in the United States will correspond to a larger increase in the size of the total population. Under the assumption of a high level of net international migration, the population is expected to grow to 458 million by 2050. … “ The the late U.S. Senator Teddy Kennedy, the United States added 100 million to its population via immigration. Before that time, we enjoyed 194 million in 1963. Today, we slog forward with 309 million on our way to 438 million in four decades, said Frosty Wooldridge, an acknowledged columnist. Poverty and hunger is rampant now in America, with shortages of drinking water and electricity outages are our dismal future, if we don’t halt illegal immigration. For the record thousands of Vietnam warriors are homeless, veterans of other wars , fatherless Mothers with children and Senior citizens on low income, worrying about sharing their pitiful pensions with Bush’s Social Security funds, that are on-hold for totalization with the corrupt government South of the border.

    1. Emergency room closures
    a) There was once a superb safety net for emergency healthcare to indigent Americans, that has dried up in many communities, because the hospitals could not afford to service them any longer, some would have us believe that illegal immigration had nothing to do with it, when hundreds and thousands of undocumented residents flooded the doors, and in many cases as a source of primary care.

    b) American born women under the age of 50 are no longer offered mammograms because of the cost, even though it is factual that more women under the age of 50 are being detected with suspicious findings, but rather then taking illegal residents off the rolls of CDP and other grants to detection, they cut off Americans.

    2. Welfare
    The vast majority of illegal parents to citizen children, flock to another safety net dedicated to protecting Americans from physical and financial detriment, where billions of dollars flow in, and do not circulate in the US because many of the dollars are shipped to their native countries to support the poor people there. Huge numbers of illegal immigrants file tax returns using phony Social Security numbers to cash in on the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, thanks to lax government management said Ed Rubenstein, a financial analyst and economist. “As a result, illegal aliens actually receive the EITC at even greater rates than legal immigrants,. The IRS makes little or no effort to verify the authenticity of Social Security numbers, or existence of Dependant children. This makes it possible for illegal immigrants to claim children still living in Mexico as dependents and for parents living illegally in the U.S. to file separate returns claiming the same children as dependents under the EITC. The EITC was created to boost work incentives for poor families with children. Childless households received a maximum $438 payment in 2008, while the maximum available to families with two or more children was $4,824. From a distance, the EITC looks like a winner,” he said. “The devil is in the details. For starters, the program is dominated by fraud. Illegal immigrant households are more than three times as likely to receive EITC than native-born American households.” Rubenstein said

    3. Education
    American children that should be preparing for the global competitive market, are being held back educationally because primary education is now catering to bring children that are further behind up to speed. Class room overcrowding, results in the hiring of under staffed, under qualified teachers to manage a baby sitting sector rather than educating.

    4. Housing
    The media did not cover the facts that thousands of illegal immigrants owned homes that went into the red, and they were allowed to simply walk away, while Americans in the same situation had to undergo financial ruin, bankruptcy, and other unfortunate situation. Non profits and other organizations like NACA helped these people get in the door, and tax payers are footing the bill.

    5. Infrastructure
    With any degree of logic, any individual will understand, if you design a freeway, bridge, building, house, etc. designed to support a certain number of people, will accelerates structure corrosion, if you add more abundantly. Place your attention on the History International TV cable channel. Starting this week , they are showing “THE CRUMBLING OF AMERICA” .Our country is 12 trillion dollars in debt, because we support the rest of the world. Our nation is progressively turning into a third world ghetto and no longer a creditor nation.

    6. Traffic
    What used to take Americans a few minutes to get to and from work, has been doubled if not tripled which takes quality time from families, drives up cost of oil, and gasoline, because of the buy and demand nature of business, adds more pollution to the air, and reduces spending in local shops because of the time lost.

    7. Crime
    The cost of housing convicted non citizens would have paid for the border fence twice, added more border personnel on the northern and southern borders to boot. which would be an added protection considering America is a marked nation.

    ID theft, is the number one violation, because it defrauds the federal government when non existent socials are in play, and drastically affects the quality of life for Americans that are victimized, because there is no legislation to protect American citizens from the consequences of the governments failure to protect them from collection agencies, dept collectors, credit card companies that did not have secure networks, and the social security administration that did not flag socials used twice or more times for employment, which pays more on the back end. Even I was–NOT –Immune to ID theft, as somebody in Dallas Texas was using my Social at a some kind of private investigative office. I contacted the SSA passing on these details, so they could clear up this mess.

    8. Assimilation
    Many illegal immigrants have no desire to assimilate with American culture, I mean look at Mr. Gutierrez, who fights harder for the rights non citizens then he does for his native constituents. Many fly non American flags, which is a basic slap in the face to Americans that would support reform otherwise.

    9. English
    Our elected officials have turned a deaf ear to Americans that are blatantly being discriminated against when companies policy hiring bilingual only employees, there are only too populations of citizens in America that are allowed this unfortunate bias, ex-cons, and non dual language speaking Americans.

    10. Wages
    How many reports do you need, before you realize many unscrupulous employers are using the illegal alien situation to drive down wages and benefits? How many small contractors have been undercut in bids for jobs, only to find that their competitor is using foreign labor?

    To every elected officials that puts a greater onus on protecting the non legal rights of non citizens above the legal rights of Americans are in the wrong business, and should consider in the ethical reasoning of national security, populous representation, simply because it was the populous that sent you to office to represent their best interest, to step down, seek office in your hearts respective country, and allow individuals with the same passion you have for your people, to represent Americans with the same tenacity.
    Thank you Mario for this fact sheet, along with my contributions. Tell everybody you know who condemns any possibility of forcing on the American people another AMNESTY, to call their ignorant lawmaker. The Capitol Switchboard’s telephone number is 202-224-3121. REMEMBER TO SEND IN YOUR 28Cent POSTCARDS NOW! WE MUST DEFEAT THIS IMMIGRATION REFORM PACKAGE. Those who believe in America’s survival, without OVERPOPULATION as stated by the US Census bureau better read facts at NUMBERSUSA not the lies spawned by open border entities. Those who want details of corruption in WASHINGTON and state government go to JUDICIAL WATCH. Overpopulation, traffic chaos, infrastructure erosion should go to CAPSWEB.

  • Daryl Brothers

    Please identify the contractor who created the opportunity for the illegal immigrants. I don’t understand why the name of the contracter is withheld from the news. This is MSM protecting corporate criminals. Please join me in promoting the concept of 3 strikes and your out for business owners. If you deliberately hire illegal aliens then Strike 1: stiff financial penalties. Strike 2: Permanent revocation of all business licenses in all 50 states, forced dissolution of the business with revenues to the state treasury earmarked for unemployment compensation of citizens, offender’s name added to public database list of offenders, 30 days hard time in prison, followed by community notifications whenever they move to a new community, as we do with pedophiles. Strike three: life in prison, no parole. I believe we should be more angry with the traitorous enabler, than we are with the illegals.

  • RoBoTech

    Now, let me get this straight.
    This article continuously says these men were immigrants. then as you read, you find EVERYONE either has a record already and are Illegal Aliens, then at the end the REST have been ordered back to Immigration court indicating they are PRESUMED Illegal Aliens. So Mrs Toness, just WHERE ARE THE IMMIGRANTS in this article?
    Are you really THAT stupid? These people are NOT Immigrants. They are ILLEGALS. Why can’t you say so? Because you are an open Border zealot, and quiet frankly, an idiot!
    And because they have idiots like you representing them, Americans assume THE ILLEGALS are idiots, too! You do them no favors by deliberately lying in your so called, reporting.

  • Dish Washer

    How many of you have been to Guatemala? NONE.
    Hitler acted within the law, didn’t he?
    Slavery was LEGAL for many years, wasn’t it?
    Our president wouldn’t even exist with the previous laws that people from different races couldn’t marry.
    One thing is certain, the less education you have, the less you know about the world you live in the easier it is to throw stones at the weaker in our society.
    How many Guatemalans were in 9/11 planes? NONE.
    Remember the next time you get your cheap beer,that the cup you drink from was washed by an illegal.
    How many of you know what the current immigration laws are? NONE.
    Where did the Pilgrims come from?
    Did they get rid of all the natives and took the land? Was that LEGAL?
    Stop watching FOX News and travel outside the US once in a while.

  • http://emma.root@verizon.net Emma Root

    I understand the frustration of out of work citizens, but I ask two questions:
    would you be willing [and able, physically] to clear snow from a football field on a 15° day? and do you have any idea how to connect to this job opportunity?

  • RoBoTech

    “How many of you know what the current immigration laws are? NONE.
    Stop watching FOX News and travel outside the US once in a while.
    Posted by Dish Washer”

    Sorry Pedro, I know the Immigration Laws. I have them right here and read some bit of them everyday. I also travel around America and campaign for Immigration Law Enforcement. I can quote the REAL Immigration laws all day long. Not those fantasy laws you are thinking of. And ILLEGAL is ILLEGAL! Simple as that.
    Need to travel outside the US? Lets see. Guam, Okinawa, Taiwan, Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Great Britain, Wales, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia (many times. My sister is a Prof at the University in Riyadh, and My work used to take me to Abu Dahbi twice a year), Egypt, Mexico, Peru, Rio, and others I can’t talk about. Hmmm, have I traveled outside the USA? Well, According to you, apparently not.
    Sir, you are a liar AND a fool.

  • James Basebier

    Regarding Emma Roots comments, These jobs require the payment of prevailing wages, there are also workers willing able and waiting to do this work all someone needed to do was call the Laborers Union.

    Most employers don’t utilize undocumented workers because they posses some special skill or some genetic makeup that makes them supper employees. Rather, they can be cheated out of a fair days pay and the fruits of this exploitation can then be pocketed by the employer.

    It’s unfortunate that the bourgeoisie liberals and reactionary conservatives have joined forces to deny the American worker an opportunity to earn a living.

  • Jack

    Emma-

    Those are two valid questions. The response is that having an illegal alien work force lowers wages. It makes it difficult for people who PAY taxes on their earnings to compete with them. This story is a great example of how Companies could afford to pay a decent wage and yet go after cheap labor, at the expense of the American citizen. If they could afford to pay the players and coaches and the unions who built the stadium the outrageous sums that they do, they should be able to pay a decent wage to the people who clear the snow. If it paid a decent wage, there would be thousands on call to work. There is no question that legal employees are available and willing to do that job.

More stories in 'Boston'
UNDERWRITING
Most Popular
SUPPORT
SUPPORT
This site is best viewed with: Firefox | Internet Explorer 9 | Chrome | Safari