37 arrested at Warren AFB; Raid finds illegal workers at largest missile-defense unit

Rocky Mountain News ^ | 27 Feb 03 | Hector Gutierrez

[Ed Straker]

37 arrested at Warren AFB

Raid finds illegal workers at largest missile-defense unit

By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News

February 27, 2003

Nearly 40 illegal workers were arrested Wednesday at the Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, home to the country's largest strategic missile-defense unit.

The raid was one of the biggest in recent memory involving national security in the region.

The presence of unauthorized workers at the Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile unit, or ICBM, was an egregious security breach in which foreigners were able to penetrate a powerful U.S. military installation, officials said.

The Denver District of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which oversees Wyoming, said it was trying to determine whether any of the workers had access to secure areas in the Air Force base, which is three miles west of Cheyenne.

Authorities did not believe the unauthorized employees were on the base to harm the United States.

Base spokesman Tech Sgt. Kenneth Smith said the unlawful employees were working for a subcontractor at two construction sites.

"Basically, they were working illegally," he said. The nationalities of the workers were not immediately available.

The 5,600-acre base is home to the Air Force Space Command's 90th Space Wing, which maintains 150 Minuteman III and 50 Peacekeeper missiles over a 12,600-square-mile area of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska.

The Air Force has begun to deactivate the Peacekeepers.

Agents for the INS Denver District participated in the raid but declined to discuss the case.

Smith said the investigation found that some of the workers had bogus papers and ID cards for the constructions jobs.

"I could say that a few documents were falsified," he said.

Smith did not know whether the credentials were the only pieces of evidence that led security personnel to the investigation and Wednesday's raid.

Authorities initially arrested 44 workers. However, seven of them produced valid documentation proving they were lawfully in the United States and they were released, Smith said.

The subcontractor was questioned by authorities and then released.

Smith said the Army Corps of Engineers contracted the work to a construction firm, which then provided a subcontractor.

A spokeswoman for the corps could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

However, Smith said the contracting office at Warren Air Force Base is expected to review the matter to determine how so many undocumented workers secured jobs at the headquarters of the world's most powerful and combat-ready ICBM force.

In September, INS and Social Security Administration agents raided Denver International Airport after investigators found that 110 workers, many of them undocumented immigrants, had used fake Social Security numbers to obtain a wide variety of jobs. All the workers had access to restricted areas, including aircraft.

gutierrezh@rockymountainnews.com or (303) 892-5204

[anniegetyourgun]

This just can't happen again....on ANY military installation. Heads should roll.

[winodog]

I see these guys all the time. They say they dont have I.D. They go to the swap meet and a few days later they have a green card and a SS card.

[chance33_98]

By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News

Hmmmmmm......

[maestro]

NOT to worry,.....there are 700,000 illegal chinese working in the Sudan!

/sarcasm

[chachacha]

I don't think the Democrats will agree with this type of action. We must be carefull we don't lock up to many of these types or next election they'll be blaming us for election fraud because we locked to many of their constituents.

[norraad]

Well, you see, we can't pay the few dollars more it would take to hire americans because we're saving up to give

24 B I L L I O N to Turkey!

[maestro]

Right!

NO profiles allowed.

Just what are turkeys?

Bankers belonging to what international organizations?

Who are the turkeys?

:-(

[TomGuy]

As soon as Congress (Gephardt) passes 245(i) Amnesty for Illegals and the President (GW Bush) signs it, they will be legal--problem solved.


(end sarcasm)

[txdoda]

In September, INS and Social Security Administration agents raided Denver International Airport after investigators found that 110 workers >>>>>>>>>>

WOW, INS has been picking up a few hundred a YEAR.....
while the illegals continue to sneak in by the THOUSANDS
EVERYDAY......

[aardvark1]

Wait a second! How can this happen? Didn't they have to fill out an I-9 form when they were hired? Do you mean to tell me that didn't prevent them from working? I'm shocked!!!

[Marine Inspector]

ping

[Bottom_Gun]

this happens more than people know about. Look at a few months ago at the the ones found at the San Diego Submarine base. The Clearence is the responsibility of the contractor, or in this case the sub-contractor to obtain. Most give an "interum clearence" untill the acual clearence comes in, which has a few restrictions but allows you into the same areas. When I went into contracting work I was lucky, having had a Top Secret clearence when I left the Navy, it was basically "rolled over" to a civilian one.

in my view, the person shouldn't be given access to an are until the final clearence comes in. Only someone who has preveious clearence should be allowed access as the process is undertaken. But then contractors wouldn't get the work done.

[zip]

...because we're saving up to give

24 B I L L I O N to Turkey!

Sorry, "give' does not equal "loan." Three fourths of that is a loan and some of it is to repay the US's abuse of Turkey's friendship in Gulf 1.

[Turbo Pig]

zip wrote: "Three fourths of that is a loan "

I won't be holding my breath waiting for them to pay it off. The US is the biggest sucker when it comes to giving aid in the form of loans, and these countries know it. Wish my mortgage company did business the same way.

[1234]

bmp

[norraad]

Thank God, this means all the "brothers" who "borrowed" from me in school will be payin me back, wahooo, I'm gonna be rich!

[gunnedah]

Dont worry folks, all of this is under Congresses oversight and the leakers and treasonous ones have our saftey at heart! Dont worry, be happy. Hillary,Chuckie and Leaky Leahy are watching out for us.

[ImaGraftedBranch]

I've gone to Wyoming several times on vacation these last few years, and always go golfing on base. The missles are not ON the base proper, they are instead spread throughout the countryside. YOu get closer to missle sites driving down thin, winding roads through the prairie than you do in Cheyenne.

[4Freedom]

"Hillary, Chuckie and Leaky Leahy are watching out for us."

Yeah, and Bush, Rove and Patacki are helping them. ;^)