INS Raiders Seize 65 Workers at Plant

A raid by 12 immigration officers Tuesday morning resulted in the arrest of 65 suspected undocumented aliens, more than 75% of the work force at a Chatsworth industrial plant, officials announced.

Only 20 workers at Senior Systems Technology Inc. were able to demonstrate that they are legal residents or U.S. citizens, according to Harold Ezell, western regional commissioner for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Those arrested can either leave the country voluntarily or go before an immigration judge for a deportation hearing to prove their legal status, INS spokesman Joe Flanders said. If deported forcibly, the workers would be forbidden legal entry into the U.S.--even on a visitor’s pass--for five years, he said.

Paid $4-$6 Hourly

Officials of the firm, at 20131 Bahama St., refused to comment on the raid. The company manufactures electronic circuit boards and pays decent wages, Ezell said.

“Our estimate is that they were making between $4 and $6 an hour,” he said of the arrested workers. “I think this case destroys the myth that illegal aliens create jobs and that they hold jobs American citizens don’t want.”

Ezell added that the raid “points out the need for immigration law reform which makes it unlawful for employers to knowingly hire illegal aliens.”

There are no penalties against employers who hire undocumented workers. The Simpson-Mazzoli bill, an immigration reform measure that would have imposed sanctions against employers, died in Congress last year.

Flanders said that, if such penalties were in place, illegal aliens would hesitate to apply for jobs because they would be asked to prove their legal status. He said the raid was staged on information from informants and previous investigations.