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ASSE Concerned Over Immigration Agents Posing as Safety Officials
3/1/2006
 DES PLAINES, IL (February 14, 2006) ' The American
Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) voiced their concern in a
letter today to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Secretary Michael Chertoff over reports that the U.S. Bureau
of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intends to
continue the practice of having its agents pose as
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) personnel
to round up illegal immigrants. The letter from ASSE President
Jack H. Dobson, Jr., CSP, was also sent to Jonathan Snare,
acting assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, and John P.
Clark, the acting assistant secretary of DHS for
ICE.
'If the reports are true, ASSE insists that you
intervene and make sure the impersonation of OSHA personnel
ends,' Dobson wrote. 'ASSE fully supports the responsible
enforcement of this nation's immigration laws. Doing it in
ways that add to the risk of death, injury and illness among
this nation's workforce is not a responsible way to do
so.
'It was our understanding that ICE had indicated
this egregious usurpation of another federal agency's good
name and positive contributions to occupational safety and
health would be discontinued,' Dobson continued. According to
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, fatal work injuries among
Hispanic workers were up 11 percent in 2004.
'Finding
ways to reach out to immigrant workers with safety and health
information and training that can help them avoid death,
injury and illness on the job has been an increasingly
important concern of the safety and health community," Dobson
said. "Ironically, President Bush's just-released FY 2007
budget calls for an increase of $2.6 million in OSHA's
compliance assistance budget to expand Hispanic worker
outreach. ICE's tactics will make this needed investment
largely pointless due to the already high levels of distrust
in government authority that many immigrants bring to this
country.'
Last July, federal agents arrested 48 workers
at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina on charges
of being illegal immigrants after the agents tricked the
workers into attending what was billed as a mandatory safety
training session sponsored by the federal OSHA. Afterward, the
federal Department of Labor, North Carolina and immigrant
officials and ASSE criticized the deception, stating that it
compromised workplace safety and health.
Founded in
1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE is the oldest and largest
professional safety organization and is committed to
protecting people, property and the environment. For more
information on workplace safety tips and standards visit asse.org.
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