http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,...867981,00.html
Illegal labor aided Tancredo
Workers say they redid basement for immigration critic
By Michael Riley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Undocumented immigrants helped remodel U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo's
Littleton basement, two of the workers told The Denver Post.
The workers said they were among a crew of five or six people who
labored for contractor Creative Drywall Design of Denver, creating a
home theater with terraced seating, a billiards table and game area,
and a bedroom for Tancredo, a Republican and one of the nation's most
vocal immigration critics.
All but one of the crew were undocumented immigrants from Latin
America, according to two of the workers. The Denver Post is not
naming the employees because of the possibility that identification
might lead to legal proceedings against them.
Tancredo didn't break any laws, according to immigration lawyers
briefed on the case. He never asked whether the workers - only two of
whom spoke English - were in the country legally, said Eric Givan,
project manager for the company.
The company's president said he believed all of his workers were in
the country legally and that he had documentation from them on file.
The two workers said their documentation was false.
When first informed of the workers' allegations Tuesday, Tancredo
issued a brief statement.
"I hired a reputable company, I did not hire the labor," Tancredo
said. "It is the government's responsibility to enforce our
immigration laws, and if the INS were doing its job, no illegal
immigrant would be available to violate our labor laws."
In a fiery speech on the House floor late Wednesday, Tancredo said he
didn't know whether the drywallers were legal immigrants.
"We know there are between 9 and 13 million people who are here
illegally. I haven't the foggiest idea how many people I may have
hired in the past as taxi drivers, as waiters, waitresses, home
improvement people. I haven't the foggiest idea how many of those
people may have been here illegally, and it is not my job to ask
them."
In the speech, Tancredo also defended his recent stance in the case of
Jesus Apodaca, an Aurora honor student who complained publicly that
because he was an illegal immigrant, he would have to pay out-of-state
college tuition.
After Tancredo read Apodaca's story in The Denver Post, he called the
Immigration and Naturalization Service and asked that Apodaca be
deported.
The Apodacas pose no threat, he said in the House speech, but in
trying to personify the immigration issue through them, "what you do
is ignore another face of illegal immigration that is much nastier,"
he said.
"It is the face of murder. It is the face of infiltration into the
country of people who are coming to do us great harm."
Smugglers bring immigrants to the U.S. illegally, then "they rape the
women, they steal the money" and leave them in the desert to die, he
said.
The two drywallers said they were unaware of Apocada's case when they
spoke to The Denver Post. They said they agreed to speak to The Post
after reading about Tancredo's positions against immigrants in a
Spanish-language newspaper.
Tancredo "doesn't want us here, but he'll take advantage of our sweat
and our labor," said one of the workers. "It's just not right."
Experts say Tancredo's remodeling project illustrates an undeniable
reality: It's hard not to come into contact with undocumented workers.
The workers said they refurbished Tancredo's basement for more than
two months starting in mid-October 2001.
A building permit filed with the Jefferson County Building Office
estimates the value of construction in the 1,053-square-foot basement
at $15,795. County officials said that did not include expensive
features such as an in-ceiling projector and built-in screen and
speakers the workers said they installed.
As the contractor's client, Tancredo had no legal obligation to ask if
all the workers were documented. In his floor speech Wednesday night,
he said he couldn't legally ask that question.
"You can be sued under the Civil Rights Act if you go out and ask
people who have been hired by someone else if they are here illegally
or not," he said.
But a Justice Department lawyer disagreed. "If a person wants to feel
more comfortable by asking a contractor to sign something assuring
them that everyone who works for them is legal, they can do that
because (the contractor) has that obligation in the first place," said
the lawyer, who declined to be identified.
Creative Drywall owner J.J. Fukunaga said he has documents on file
showing that each of the company's 15 employees is legally entitled to
work in the U.S. The documents vary by employee but in some cases
include copies of Social Security cards and driver's licenses, he
said. When asked to show copies of those documents, he declined.
The workers are paid by check and taxes withheld, Fukunaga said. "We
are more organized and more in compliance than any other construction
company out there," he said.
Fukunaga said the company pays competitive wages, and the two workers
agreed, saying they were satisfied with conditions at Creative
Drywall.
"I came here to create a better life for my family," said one worker.
"I pay taxes. I want to be here and do the right thing."
Tancredo, a two-term congressman, has pushed for tougher border
controls, including deployment of troops. In May, he clashed with the
White House, warning that because of President Bush's lax attitude
toward immigration "the blood of the people killed" in any future
terrorist attack would be on the administration's hands.
"Tom Tancredo is no more breaking the law by having his basement
refinished by a company that employs undocumented workers than anybody
who goes into a McDonald's and gets served a Big Mac" by an
undocumented immigrant, said Laura Lichter, a Boulder immigration
attorney.
"But this does show the hypocrisy that makes up much of the system.
This is the line out of 'Casablanca' when the saloonkeeper who rents
out a couple of rooms out back says, 'I'm just shocked to find out
there is gambling going on back there."'
At the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors
stricter immigration controls, officials noted that Tancredo has
sought reforms to make it harder to falsify documents.
"All you can do is ask a contractor to sign an agreement that all his
employees are legal," said FAIR director Dan Stein. "Tom probably
should have done that."
Immigration advocates and many economists say undocumented workers are
fundamental to the economy.
While there are no reliable estimates of the number of undocumented
immigrants in Colorado, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there
are at least 8 million nationwide - at least 5 million of those active
in the labor force.
That represents about 3 percent of the nation's workforce, but in some
key economic sectors, including home remodeling, undocumented workers
dominate.
"If you look at seasonal agricultural workers hired by labor brokers,
about 60 percent will be illegal. If you look at garment workers in
New York and L.A., the percentage is also about 60 percent," said
Philip Martin, an economist at the University of California-Davis.
Experts say laws meant to keep undocumented laborers out of the
workforce - such as those governing the relationship between Tancredo,
Creative Drywall and its employees - make that easier.
The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act required employees to
provide certain documents as proof of their work status. Those can
include a passport or green card, but the most common is a combination
of Social Security card and driver's license. In cities around the
country, including Denver, immigrants can buy forged Social Security
cards for $100 to $150.
Efforts to toughen those restrictions have repeatedly been opposed by
employers, immigrant advocates and ordinary citizens who fear that the
quest for more reliable documents could evolve into a requirement for
a national identification card.
