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Illegal immigrants arrested at military parachute factory

Fifty-seven illegal immigrants were arrested Tuesday at a worksite in Asheville, N.C., that manufactures parachutes for the U.S. military, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.

They worked at Mills Manufacturing Corporation, a contractor for the Department of Defense.

The arrests were based on an investigation that revealed that the illegal immigrants had used fraudulent Social Security numbers to obtain employment, ICE said in a press release.

The company “has been fully cooperative” and is not a target of the investigation, ICE said.

The illegal immigrants were from Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador and Honduras.

“Protecting the integrity of our nation’s critical infrastructure is among ICE’s highest priorities,” said Delburt Richburg, assistant special agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Charlotte. “When individuals use fraudulent social security numbers to get jobs, they hide their true identity and history. We need to know who is working on our critical infrastructure sites.”

The press release also said: “Illegal aliens employed at sensitive facilities — such as military bases, nuclear plants, chemical plants, airports and Department of Defense contractors — pose a homeland security threat.”

(Photo by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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