Dozens Held in Crackdown on Airport Access

Dozens of workers with access to airplanes at Los Angeles International Airport and other Southland facilities were arrested Thursday as part of a nationwide crackdown on airport security, federal law enforcement sources said.

Sources put the number arrested in raids at LAX, Ontario International Airport, John Wayne and Long Beach airports and at homes at fewer than 100, but cautioned that additional arrests were expected.

Detainees were employed at the region’s airports by private firms as janitors, caterers, baggage handlers and maintenance workers.

Many had badges that provided them with access to security-sensitive areas such as planes, ramps, runways and cargo areas, sources said.

The effort, which involved the Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Department of Transportation, Social Security Administration and California Department of Motor Vehicles, was not expected to ensnare suspected terrorists, according to federal law enforcement officials.

Most of those arrested were expected to face criminal charges related to document fraud.

Others may face only immigration charges, which could lead to deportation.

The crackdown is part of a nationwide sting known as Operation Tarmac, in which federal authorities have arrested workers at numerous airports across the country.

It is one of several efforts launched in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to improve airport security.

Some public defenders and court-appointed defense lawyers who milled about in two courtrooms set aside for processing the defendants in Los Angeles federal court were critical of the raids.

“This whole thing is bull,” said defense attorney Mort Boren. “These people are not terrorists. They’re just people who came here looking for jobs.”

Leaders of the Service Employees International Union were particularly outraged that the raids were carried out the day before President Bush is scheduled to visit the area.

The union plans to send a letter protesting the actions.

“It’s a disgrace,” said Eliseo Medina, the union’s executive vice president and an outspoken advocate of immigrant rights.

“President Bush is punishing hard-working immigrants for the crimes committed last September by terrorists. These people are not terrorists--they only want to work.”

Reviews of employee records conducted under Operation Tarmac are separate from an order from the Federal Aviation Administration last fall that the nation’s airports conduct background checks on 750,000 airport employees by Dec. 6.

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Times staff writer Greg Krikorian contributed to this report.