Should the feds be sued over illegal immigrant's cancer death?

[kjl]

Thursday, October 01, 2009
Should the feds be sued over illegal immigrant's cancer death?
The Supreme Court will determine whether the survivors of illegal immigrant Francisco Castaneda can sue the U.S. officials who denied him care while he was a prisoner. Castaneda -- who did time on meth charges and then was placed in immigration detention -- complained about a lesion on his penis, and doctors recommended that he get a biopsy. A government doctor said no, though because it was an "elective" procedure.
As it turns out, the lesion was a cancer. Castaneda didn't get help for the 11 months that he was in custody, eventually had to undergo an amputation and still ended up dead. The government has acknowledged liability, but Castaneda's survivors want to sue the individuals responsible, too.
Posted by James Hart on Thursday, October 01, 2009 at 10:56 AM in Immigration and crime | Permalink

http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2009/10/should-the-feds-be-sued-over-illegal-immigrants-cancer-death.html

[kjl]

Immigration workers to get $1.5M in back pay

Immigration workers to get $1.5M in back pay
By Dan McLean, Free Press Staff Writer • October 1, 2009

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20091001/BUSINESS/91001010

Nearly 300 Vermont-based immigration workers will receive $1.5 million in back pay by the end of next month, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced Wednesday, trumpeting a Labor Department ruling.
The 272 federal contract workers in St. Albans and Essex Junction worked for SI International Inc. at the Vermont Service Center of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. The bulk of the employees work in St. Albans.
“Today’s settlement is a victory for the Vermont Service Center workers who will finally begin to receive the back pay and other benefits that they are legally entitled to receive,” Sanders said.
Following an investigation, the Labor Department Wage and Hour Division cited SI International for misclassifying employees and failing to pay them the proper prevailing wages for the type of work they were actually performing, Sanders’ office said. The company agreed to pay more than $1.5 million in back wages by Oct. 31.

Serco Inc. of Reston, Va., which acquired SI International last year, could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

SI International operated the immigration processing facilities from late 2005 until the end of 2007. Since then, the center’s contracted work force has been run by Arlington, Va.-based Stanley Inc. Not including the 400 people employed by Stanley and its subcontractors, the federal government employs about 450 immigration workers in St. Albans and about 150 in Essex, Citizenship Immigration Services spokesman Shawn Saucier said last year.

Labor issues have continued to arise under Stanley’s watch.

During early 2008, unionization efforts were launched to organize the work force at the immigration center. Employees at two of Stanley’s subcontractors voted to unionize, citing reduced wages and poor treatment.

“As important as today’s victory is, this matter is still not over. I remain convinced that other contractors have illegally underpaid workers at the Vermont Service Center,” Sanders said.

The Labor Department ruling announced Wednesday is one of three such investigations into illegal job misclassifications at the Vermont immigration centers, including an ongoing inquiry into some of the behavior of Stanley and its subcontractors, according to Sanders’ office. Stanley could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Federal wage-and-hour laws require contractors and subcontractors that work on major federal service contracts to pay service employees no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality for the type of work they perform. Sanders first raised concern about the underpayments in 2007, when he asked the Labor Department to investigate potential violations at the Vermont Service Center.
Contact Dan McLean at 651-4877 or dmclean@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com. To have Free Press headlines delivered free to your e-mail, sign up at www.burlingtonfreepress.com/newsletters.

[joazinha]

If ANY of the Vermont workers were ILLEGAL aliens, HOW can they possibly be LEGALLY eligible for ANYTHING?!