Homeland Security Raids Vermont Hotels

October 23, 2007

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Federal Agents have apparently raided two Vermont hotels early today, leading at least one worker away in handcuffs.

Vermont’s U.S. attorney Thomas Anderson said his office would be releasing information later in the day. We will continue to update this story as details become available.

The federal officials were joined by Brattleboro police officers and Windham County Sheriff deputies.

Guests were stopped as they left and entered the parking lot, and occasionally were asked to open their trunks and show identification.

One guest of the hotel said FBI agents searched throughout the building early Tuesday, knocking on doors and asking questions about the hotel staff.

The raid was led by the ICE agents , which according to the agency’s Web site, “is the largest investigative branch of the Department of Homeland Security,” and was created to, “more effectively enforce our immigration and customs laws to protect the United Stes from terrorism.

The Windham County Sheriff who was standing at the head of the parking lot was asking visitors to turn around unless they had reservations at one of the hotels and was inspecting all delivery trucks as they pulled in.

Agents were seen carrying thick folders and talking on cell phones. At least a dozen law enforcement officials took part in the action Tuesday with most of the activity centered around the Quality Inn.

Story Link The Reformer

UPDATE: A Brattleboro man is facing federal charges for allegedly employing illegal aliens at his hotels and letting them live on site.

Gurdeep Nagra, 38, a Canadian citizen living in Brattleboro, pleaded innocent Tuesday in federal court in Burlington to an indictment charging him with employing and harboring illegal immigrants and on charges of having lied to authorities in obtaining his own authorization to reside in the United States.

He was ordered detained pending a bail hearing today.

Federal officials said at the same time they arrested Nagra, federal agents searched both the Hampton Inn and the Quality Inn in Brattleboro.

In addition to arresting Nagra, federal agents also took into custody 10 aliens illegally living and working in Vermont, federal prosecutors said in a statement released Tuesday.

According to court records, Nagra is president of the Nanak Hotel Group, which owns the Quality Inn and Hampton Inn in Brattleboro. In October 2006, federal agents learned that the hotels were employing illegal aliens and the hotels were also allowing them to live on the hotel premises.

Federal agents said they also learned the hotels handled payroll differently for legal and illegal employees, court records stated. The records also show that persons involved in the illegal employment have confirmed to agents that illegal aliens lived and worked at the hotels.

“Many of these individuals were employed by a ’shell’ company created by Nagra to avoid detection by immigration officials,” the statement released Tuesday read.

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