OXNARD : Company Fined by Border Patrol Office

Agents with the Oxnard Border Patrol Station fined an Oxnard company $2,625 Thursday for failing to keep proper documentation on the citizenship status of its employees.

Ocotlan Iron and Manufacturing Co. employs about 40 workers at its plant at 1664 S. Oxnard Blvd., said Mike Molloy, patrol agent in charge of the case.

An audit of company records found that four employees had not submitted forms verifying their status as U. S. citizens or legal aliens, a requirement before receiving work, Molloy said.

A large number of the forms were not properly completed, and 14 employees falsified the certificates by presenting counterfeit immigration documents, officials said. The audit, which covered a three-year period, came after seven of Ocotlan’s employees were arrested as illegal aliens, Molloy said.

It was the second fine issued by the Oxnard office in the past month, he said. On Sept. 16, the Peter Chen Dental Clinic in Oxnard was fined $1,500 for illegally employing a woman from the Philippines living in Oxnard on an expired visa, Molloy said. The dental office is at 965 W. 7th St.

Officials at both companies agreed to pay the fines and to correct the violations, he said.