WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Deputies arrest suspected undocumented workers at job site

Deputies arrest suspected undocumented workers at job site

By Jim Shannon - bio | email

SATSUMA, LA (WAFB) - More than a dozen possible illegal immigrants were arrested Wednesday morning after authorities conducted an impromptu roundup of suspected undocumented workers in Livingston Parish.

According to the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office, 18 undocumented workers from the North Oaks Clinic construction site near Satsuma were taken into custody during the search and booked into the Livingston Parish Detention Center.

"We've been getting a lot of complaints about some illegals working out here on the job site, so what we've done is get together a little operation," said Chief Deputy Jason Ard. "We were able to come out to the job site and find some people who were in fact illegal aliens. We were having some translation difficulties in communicating, but were able to call upon border patrol agents to assist us."

The North Oaks Health System said the job site is under the control of the contractor building facility.

"North Oaks has just been made aware of the situation and at this point, the job site belongs to M.D. Descant, our general contractor," said Melanie Zaffuto, North Oaks communications coordinator. "That being said, we are cooperating fully with the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Department's investigation and won't tolerate the use of undocumented aliens on the job site."

Contractor Chuck Descant said all of the workers are legal and will be back on the job Thursday. Deputies said they do not believe that will happen.

"We've had some of them that cooperated, but most of them hid. We had five or more actually hid in the air conditioning unit, where we had to physically go in and pull them out," Ard added.

Last week, deputies took eight other suspected illegal immigrants into custody. The men were turned over to border patrol agents. Deputies claimed they warned the job foreman then that they should expect a return visit.

Copyright 2010 WAFB. All rights reserved.