Federal officials arrest illegal immigrants at Atlanta airport

Published: November 29, 2006

The Associated Press

ATLANTA: Federal authorities arrested six illegal immigrants Wednesday who had security badges that gave them access to restricted areas at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest airport.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested the men, all from Mexico and all construction company employees, said agency spokesman Marc Raimondi. All will be deported.
"Areas of critical infrastructure, such as airports, are especially important to national security," said Kenneth Smith, special agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Atlanta.

The men were hired to install drywall inside the airport's secure area, Raimondi said. They had access to restricted areas, including the tarmac.

Federal authorities say they increasingly have been targeting illegal immigrants at their workplace.
Since March 2003, immigration agents have conducted operations at 196 U.S. airports and audited nearly 6,000 businesses. The effort has identified more than 5,800 unauthorized airport workers and prompted the arrests of 1,100 illegal workers, Raimondi said.

But in June, the Government Accountability Office — the investigative arm of Congress — found workplace enforcement has significantly declined since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Atlanta airport officials and construction company officials did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press on Wednesday afternoon.

hmmmm I thought Chicago was biggest.