Gulf Oil Spill: Feds Looking For Illegal Immigrants Working On Cleanup, Sheriff Worried About 'Criminal Elements'

NEW ORLEANS — A sheriff in suburban New Orleans has asked federal authorities to investigate reports that illegal immigrants are working on the Gulf oil spill cleanup effort.

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack A. Stephens said Wednesday that he asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement weeks ago to look into the reports.

ICE spokesman Brian Hale says the agency has not conducted any work site enforcement at the request of local officials and has not made any arrests.

Stephens says he wants to protect the community from "criminal elements" and not "people who want to earn an honest buck."

Immigrant rights groups lament that the request comes at a time when many people are searching for work.

Comments

[Donald McKenzie]

04:00 AM on 06/17/2010

Finely a criminal charge that could stick..... Make these Corporate Bastards an example. Jail time for federal labor violations.

[nickfromla]

03:38 PM on 06/10/2010

This is soooooo SAD! Check out this Oiled dolphin fighting for its life: http://www.frequency.com/video/oiled-dolphin/99243

[ugly american]

02:29 PM on 06/10/2010

It may seem petty to some or that we, the people of Louisiana just want to keep poor illegal aliens from working jobs we want but there is a GOOD reason we don't want them there. Goes back to Katrina.
After Katrina, HazMat classes were offered for people who wanted in on the cleanup. Thousands took them and expected a Cert-Card and a job. We finished, but they cancelled the contract- no cards for us, no jobs. (Safe Harbor owned the cards).
Suddenly there were thousands of Mexicans here to do the jobs. OK. We lost.
But we knew we needed safety equipment. The illegals did not. Many sickened and died and for some reason they had haz-mat cards.
Wife of a guy named Martinez called me a year later and told me her husband died working down in N.O. from benzene. He had a cert-card with my name and info on it. What could she do? Not much, I am afraid. There was protest from Mexico that we were killing thier citizens. Trust me it was not the people of Louisiana's fault.
This kind of work can be dangerous and training is essential. Government contacts only call for a certain number of cards not really trained people. If illegals take those jobs, they can wind up dead as the other ones.
A better life is worthless if you ain't alive to enjoy it.
That's one GOOD reason why we object.

[MyAhaMoment]

09:36 AM on 06/10/2010

OMG! Is he worried they're going to steal the carcasses of dead pelicans? What an a$$. What's criminal is
a) the oil corporations
b) the local and federal politicians who still won't support serious regulations
c) and people who aren't affected by this disaster applying for 'compensation"

THAT's what's criminal.

fudpucker

[ugly american]

02:55 PM on 06/10/2010

The illegals will be easy to spot. They are the ones working in regular clothes because they don't know the toxins in that crude can make them sick or kill them.
I would not worry about "criminals". The worry is about human beings who don't know any better winding up like the pelicans. Better to arrest and deport them before they get sick or worse. What this stuff can do to a person they don't heal from.
Now that is what is really criminal. Wrongful death always is.
And why don't you save the name calling? This is a debate, not a townhall meeting.

[hottingers]

10:59 PM on 06/09/2010

Us Amuricans don't want no illegals cleanin' up ur messes. We'd rather live in the filth..........kinda reminds us of ur trai lers

[TXfemmom]

10:26 PM on 06/09/2010

Let's face it. The people in Lousiana and other states should have first dibs at jobs involved in the cleanup, if they have been effected by it.

These contractors love to use illegals because they don't realize they should have safety gear and won't complain.

[ugly american]

02:44 PM on 06/10/2010

I fanned you because that is EXACTLY what happened when the Mexicans came to clean up after Katrina. I have already heard of people getting sick from doing the haz-mat clean-up for the spill. It would be nice to avoid a repeat of another country complaining we are killing their citizens.
Not our fault. This is a type of work where under-bidding other people can be taking your life in your hands. Without equipment $1000 an hour is not nearly enough, much less $10.00 an hour.
This is another case of companies trying to do things cheaper with no concern for human lives.

[zitlight73]

06:09 PM on 06/10/2010

And they can avoid paying out workman's comp, overtime or unemployment.

[Alfredo Zapata]

10:19 PM on 06/09/2010

Why not send Bernie Madoff and Jack Abramoff down there to help clean up this mess? Also all the Wall Street bankers too!

[ugly american]

03:18 PM on 06/10/2010

Cute idea, but why do we need more slime on our coast?

[zitlight73]

09:47 PM on 06/09/2010

Haliburton buys Boots and Coots, oilwell blowout and cleanup company a week before the explosion. Goldman Sachs sells off $250 million worth of Bp before the explosion. Would either of these companies deliberately cause such an accident to make money? Is congress controlled by lobbyists? All that aside if we're going to investigate let's start at the source of this disaster.

[TXfemmom]

10:28 PM on 06/09/2010

Well, I do recall that Boots and Coots was bought out by Halliburton shortly before this happened.
However, I would have to defend Halliburton on this and say that they probably blew it with just plain, old-fashioned, incompetence.

There had been discussion within the industry, however, in March about the safety and whether this rig was going to blow up the well. Yes, all the way back in March. That may well have been why Goldman Sachs sold out.

[ChangeurMind]

09:06 PM on 06/09/2010

God forbid an illegal immigrant is willing to risk his life and health to help the clean up for some coin.

[Donald McKenzie]

03:55 AM on 06/17/2010

After Katrina, employers starved and stole wages of undocumented workers and lined their pockets on the tax payers dime. Please do some research, this is not a race thing. Do not support these companies by just seeing the poor helpless immigrant. There are some real evil people in the world and this country, who are willing to exploit the weak and uneducated. By letting BP use undocumented workers, you are giving them a break on this horrible incident they caused. They should have to provide fully paid jobs to the people whose lives are left in disarray.

[1jdgriff]

08:58 PM on 06/09/2010

It is true, BP is the new BS.

[MSaxe]

08:39 PM on 06/09/2010

Has the sheriff checked the front office of BP for that criminal element yet? I suspect he might uncover a crook or two.

[JTHC75]

08:38 PM on 06/09/2010

It's been scientifically proven that an undocumented worker is only 50% as effective at cleaning up oil compared to a legal American. Fact.

/sarcasm off

[MSaxe]

08:40 PM on 06/09/2010

But the cost half as much so you're even all the way around.

[JTHC75]

08:56 PM on 06/09/2010

Yeah, but they probably won't just get half when all these workers file lawsuits for health problems from toxic material exposure. Tort Recovery For Real 'murricans Only!

[noratoo]

08:26 PM on 06/09/2010

Please, no matter what the angle on this story, can we call it the BP Toxic Failure?

Because three things are wrong with calling it the Gulf Oil Spill:

1. This is not a Gulf Oil Spill. The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean are part of a SINGLE ocean water basin. Additionally, this ocean water circulates out of the basin. ( I only mention this since so many Americans aren't literate in geography, and I fear this label erroneously on news stories compounds this ignorance.) The Gulf Oil Spill label also confuses BP's mess with the Persian Gulf Spill; geographically and historically the Gulf Oil Spill is a useless label. Besides, the Gulf did not spring this leak without BP's activities at the seabed. So the responsibility clearly rests with BP, not the Gulf.

2. This is not a 'spill'. The Exxon Valdez tanker spilled a finite quantity of oil that BP failed to provide technology to contain, so technically that was a spill but it was also a BP failure; but a spill it was. However, this constant non-stop gush of crude oil due to BP's failure to use adequate professionalism or existing technology is AGAIN a BP failure and should be labelled a failure.

3. Using the word 'oil' in Gulf Oil Spill is inaccurate too, since it doesn't acknowledge the horrendous damage being done by BP's continuing application of now over a million gallons the toxic dispersant COREXIT.

It is The BP Toxic Failure.

[JTHC75]

08:37 PM on 06/09/2010

Good one, but I prefer "BP's *ss-Rape of America."

[moonflowerjewelry]

08:05 PM on 06/09/2010

This makes about as much sense to me as not wanting patriotic gays and lesbians to do their part to serve their country. I will say, however, I do not want undocumented laborers performing these specific job functions because they will be exploited, underpaid, put in hazardous situations AND when they eventually get very, very ill from the toxins, they will have no benefits or recourse to get help.
You know some employers hire them for those same reasons...

[noratoo]

08:52 PM on 06/09/2010

Clear exploitation by BP. Us the unrepresented, use them hard until they're POISONED, and then dispose of them like used boom. Totally agree with you that all the corporate employers of immigrants are taking advantage of those in a weak, hungry situation.

I consider the employers the source of depressed wages and this is one of the ways they do it. Such exploitation should be treated as a crime. The best we can do and need to do is ENFORCE our laws to curb employers from hiring immigrants illegally.

[himesama]

07:58 PM on 06/09/2010

What are they gonna do? Steal the oil that they're cleaning up? Maybe spend a little of the money they do make in the local economy?