Immigration Bust At Military Supply Firm

The largest immigration bust in the history of southern Massachusetts took place Tuesday after hundreds of illegal aliens were discovered working in New Bedford making products for the United States military.

CBS affiliate WPRI reports the massive raid occurred at Michael Bianco, Incorporated, where the leather company and surrounding streets were blocked off for hours as federal immigration agents questioned workers inside. The company's owner and three managers face charges they hired illegal immigrants to meet the demands of $91 million in military contracts.

Owner Francesco Insolia, plant manager Dilia Costa, payroll manager Ana Figueroa and office manager Gloria Melo were all arrested during a sting yesterday morning at Michael Bianco Incorporated.

Investigators say the four allowed an undercover officer posing as an illegal immigrant to continue working at the plant for four days late last year.

U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan says illegal immigrants were forced to work in deplorable conditions. About two-thirds of the company's 500 employees were detained by immigration officials for possible deportation.

The sweep caused chaos which saw some workers try to flee, only to be turned back by the bitter cold, said Bruce Foucart, Customs Enforcement Special Agent in Charge.

There was also serious fallout from the detention of hundreds of workers: Dozens of young children were left stranded after their parents were rounded up by federal authorities. As a result, many children weren't picked up from day care or school.

Corinn Williams, director of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts, estimated about 100 children were left with babysitters or caretakers.

"We're continuing to get stories today about infants that were left behind," she said Wednesday. "It's been a widespread humanitarian crisis here in New Bedford."

The state Department of Social Services was working Wednesday to make sure the children receive proper care.

Julie Myers, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said Tuesday that women who were sole caregivers of children would be released, but that it takes time to verify people's accounts.

Federal officials coordinated with DSS before the raid, including meeting with top officials, and a DSS team was on site, said Marc Raimondi, spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"I'm not saying there won't be children whose parents are detained and removed, but I am saying that every effort is going to be made to ensure no child is going to be put in jeopardy because of the removal," he said.

The company not only hired illegal immigrants, but courted them in a quest for cheap labor to maximize profits from million-dollar military contracts, federal officials said.

Federal authorities said a fifth person, also not identified, was arrested on charges related to supplying fake identification to illegal aliens working at the company. Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for ICE, said the raid followed an 11-month investigation.

Investigators said the illegal worker paid a steep price for their jobs: dingy conditions and onerous fines, including a $20 charge for talking while working. Some were forced to work double shifts on the lines of machines for stitching military backpacks and safety vests.

Sullivan compared the scene to sweatshops from the early 1900s.

"They were given no options. It's either here, or the risk of no income at all," he said. "Clearly, they were exploited because of the fact they were here illegally."

Most of the suspected illegals were women from Central America, officials said.

Insolia's wife, Suzanne Thompson, said Sullivan's characterization of the company as a sweatshop was "horrifying."

"None of that is true," she said.

Insolia's lawyer, Inga Bernstein, said, "The whole story will come out, and at that point it will be a very different scenario."

Families have taken up shelter in a local church that has opened to help loved ones with connections to the raid.

Jasmine Mendoza, a friend of one detainee, told WPRI that the company exploited its workers, penalizing them if they took a bathroom break longer than two minutes. "They give you a fine of twenty dollars, or fifty dollars second time," she said.

Michael Bianco Inc., founded in 1985, specialized in manufacturing high-end leather goods (such as handbags, back packs and briefcases) for retailers including Coach, Rockport and Timberland, before landing a $9.4 million military contract in 2003 to make survival vests.

Between 2004 and 2006, it won $82 million in military contracts to make products including lightweight backpacks. An Army spokesman did not return a call about the status of the contracts.

The contracts led to a massive expansion of the company's work force, which grew from 85 employees in 2003 to more than 500, according to investigators.

Social worker Helena Marques criticized the use of illegal workers while at the same time receiving government contracts. "These big companies are making a lot of money and exploiting the undocumented communities," she said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has set up a hotline for those seeking information about relatives who may be detained. The toll free number is (866) 341 3858.