CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. --
An anonymous tip triggered an investigation of undocumented workers at Camp
Lejeune, resulting in 40 people being detained and a federal investigation, a
base spokesman said.
Camp Lejeune officials detained 27 people at base gates during security
checks Wednesday and another 12 at various construction sites Monday, 1st Lt.
Clark Carpenter said Thursday.
Military investigators went to the site of the new primary school at
10:30 a.m. Monday and apprehended five undocumented workers, Carpenter said.
Checks at other construction sites that same day found another seven.
That caused the base to step up inspections at a number of gates
Wednesday and the additional arrests.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Wilmington is
handling the investigation now, Carpenter said.
Details on where the workers are from, how they got on base and what will
happen to them now were not immediately made available.
Sue Brown, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security office
in Atlanta, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not commenting now
because the investigation is ongoing. Carpenter declined to mention any
contractors by name, saying only that investigators were "looking into the
practices of several contractors right now.'' Work on base projects will
continue, he added.
According to the Defense Department, Tyler, Texas-based C Construction
Co., Inc., was awarded $23.6 million last year to perform construction and
demolition of the mainside primary and mainside intermediate schools at Camp
Lejeune, including the new Carla Johnson Primary School.
Company officials declined to comment on whether their workers were
arrested.
The arrests mark the second time this year that undocumented workers have
been apprehended on a North Carolina military installation. In July, about 50
people were arrested at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in
Goldsboro.