National Infantry Museum, under construction in June, 2007.
(Dave Bender)
Federal law-enforcement officials arrested 30 undocumented workers at Columbus's National Infantry Museum, under construction adjacent to Ft. Benning earlier this week.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained the construction workers at the site on Tuesday, Oct. 30. Agents caught two who tried to flee.
Museum spokesperson Cyndy Cerbin says the workers were not on the base itself:
“The National Infantry Museum is being built on property owned by the National Infantry Foundation, and it is not federal property – part of Ft. Benning.”Ft. Benning's Public Affairs Office refused to comment on the case, and directed all inquires to Batson-Cook, general contractors for the museum.
Eddie Sanders, site project manager for Batson-Cook, says his company is cooperating with federal authorities on the case. Sanders says the workers were employed by subcontractors "to perform various trades on the project," and not by Batson-Cook:
"Batson-Cook files all federal, state and local laws, as well as our subcontractors regarding hiring practices."Sanders says the workers "are innocent until proven guilty," and were not on Ft. Benning property at any time. He declined to name the subcontractors, only saying that, "Since they [ICE] are conducting an investigation, we would not be able to release that information at this time."
Project Executive Paul Meadows told the Ledger-Enquirer newspaper that those arrested worked as masons, fireproofing, and metal stud tradesmen and included local and out-of-town subcontractors.
Referring to the subcontractors, Sanders said, "There are several contractors we work with frequently," adding, "...they abide by the federal, state and local laws and regulations."
Sanders said that the number of workers, including subcontractors and employees on-site averaged "from 75 to 90 -- right around there. It kind of fluctuates from day-to-day."
Richard Rocha, a spokesman for ICE says the detainees are mostly from Mexico:
“Most of the people apprehended on Tuesday are from Mexico. There are 27 from Mexico, three from Guatemala, Those individuals will be processed throught the immigration court system...”Seven of them were arraigned today, several on charges that included illegal re-entry, misuse of a social security number, and fraudulent use of an alien registration card, according to US Georgia Middle District attorney Max Wood in Macon.
The detainees were taken to the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, and will face deportation hearings in coming days.
The museum is set to open next year.
Click here for more GPB News coverage of the National Infantry Museum.
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