February 13, 2009
Agent Delbert Richburg
Immigration and Customs Enforcement ~ Charlotte District Office
6130 Tyvola Centre Drive
Charlotte, NC 28217
Subject ~ Illegal aliens at Biltmore Park
Dear Agent Richburg:
Earlier in the week I received a call and follow-up visit from a tradesman who had recently been laid off from the large scale work project at Biltmore Park in Asheville. This is a site of on-going major construction involving 12+ large structures. His issue of contention was the significant number of "illegal" workers employed by the various sub-contractors on the site.
To give you a sense of scale of this development project, the City of Asheville has a full-time on-site inspection service on the property that I attempted to visit today. During that visit I had the opportunity to observe that a significant number of the workers (I would estimate 50% of those I observed and/or spoke to directly) were of Latino descent. I spoke to 6+ subgroups that did not speak English - several did speak Spanish.
The gentleman who escorted me through the site offered that his co-workers routinely acknowledged being in the country illegally and working either under the table or through the use of false identification. I, of course, have no evidence with which to accuse these workers or their employers of breaking the law. Nonetheless, statistically 50-70% of those not speaking English are in the state/country illegally.
I am bringing this project to your attention specifically due to the large number of workers on site. I am also aware that your one visit to Mills Manufacturing has probably created more jobs for WNC (Western North Carolina) than the City's economic development efforts for the year. Arvato, formerly Sonopress, may be known to you as the company down the road from Mills where 50+ employees left the plant during your Mills raid. That company is to be commended for their subsequent efforts to hire legal citizens and authentically credentialed workers. Others have followed suit.
As an aside, the 2 elevator shafts in the six story Hilton hotel that is currently under construction were fully exposed on three observed floors. I appreciate your continued efforts to enforce legal immigration in Asheville and WNC .
Sincerely,
Carl Mumpower
Asheville City Council
EDITOR'S NOTES: The author, Dr. Carl Mumpower (left, campaigning in 2008), ran unsuccessfully for US Congress in our state's 11th District, due to a huge Democrat tide, which voted closet liberal Heath Shuler back into office.
With Shuler expected to challenge Senator Richard Burr in 2010, thus leaving the 11th District seat open, the timing would be ripe for a Republican, such as Mumpower, to take the seat. Your blogger proudly endorsed Mumpower in 2008 and does so again, here.
If there is no "Draft Mumpower" movement for 2010, let it begin now. Not only was he not afraid of the Asheville liberal establishment, he was also not afraid of those in his own party.
We need Mumpower in Congress. We need his fearless ability to stand up to the establishment, even to those, such as the the Republican National Committee (RNC). Mumpower and others were vindicated when those old RNC "leaders" were recently thrown out of office, and instead voted in the more conservative Michael Steele and a completely new team.
Mumpower is the lone conservative on a "crunchy, granola" city council in Asheville, and is used to standing up for what he believes in, often when he is alone! That stance reminds this blogger of the late Jesse Helms, who often proudly stood alone, and never folded when he believed he was right.
(The photo at the top of this post: Copyright 2007 by your blogger, Katy's Conservative Corner/KTCreations.)
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