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America Strikes Back Story Index Malena Burnett, left, and Esperanza Solorio of Fair Treatment for Immigrants demonstrate Friday outside the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse. The two were protesting the arraignment of 18 undocumented workers arrested as part of Operation Tarmac. Photo by Gary Thompson.

Saturday, February 16, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Eight airport workers still sought

Suspects among 27 facing charges in immigration case

Law enforcement officials on Friday continued to look for eight McCarran International Airport workers who were indicted in late January as part of Operation Tarmac.

The multiagency investigation, aimed at improving airport security, led to criminal charges against 27 McCarran workers accused of lying about their immigration status.

David Watts, general manager of Five Star Parking, said five of his employees were among that group. They have not been arrested, and Watts said they did not return to work after the criminal charges were made public last week.

"We don't know anything about their whereabouts," he said Friday.

Those five have been identified as Alsrap Abdul Karim, Shamshad Bagam Karim, Arafice Karim, Mubarak Ali Karim Abd and Muhummad Qudeer Sharif.

"As far as I'm concerned, they seemed like great people," Watts said. "I liked them all."

Authorities said they have not been able to determine the national origins of those five suspects.

Watts said previous discussions with the workers led him to believe they were Punjabis from Malaysia. He said they all spoke fluent English.

Operation Tarmac drew criticism last week from immigrant and worker advocates who claimed the investigation had unfairly targeted undocumented Hispanic workers who pose no threat to national security.

Most of the 19 workers arrested in connection with the case came from Spanish-speaking countries such as Mexico, Colombia and Peru.

In addition to the five employees of Five Star Parking, law enforcement officials still are looking for Rufino Perez-Bautista, Gabriela Rascon and Martin Blanco.

Authorities said all 27 defendants in the case worked in positions that required security clearances and provided access to restricted areas of the airport, such as airplane cabins, runways and kitchens where flight meals are prepared.

U.S. magistrate judges held arraignments Friday morning for 18 of the defendants, many of whom have been released on bond. All of them pleaded innocent to the charges against them.

Malena Burnett and Esperanza Solorio, representatives of a nonprofit organization called Fair Treatment for Immigrants, demonstrated outside the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse prior to the arraignments.

"Basically what I don't want is the government to treat these people with a heavy hand," said Burnett, who founded the organization.

She said immigration officials process people on a daily basis who have had or used illegal documents. Those cases are not referred to the U.S. attorney's office for prosecution, she said.

With Operation Tarmac, Burnett said, law enforcement officials are overreacting to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She carried a sign Friday morning that read, "Stop terrorizing honest, undocumented workers."

Undocumented workers should not face criminal charges, she said, noting that felony convictions will end their hopes of ever returning to the country legally.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Arthur Allen represents five of the defendants: one from Peru, one from Tonga and three from Mexico.

"There's no allegation that we're aware of that any of these people themselves posed a risk," he said. "They are in a way victims of 9-11."

Watts said he supports any effort to keep the public safe.

"Bottom line: I think that when it comes to the security of the nation, whatever steps that were taken, if law enforcement felt they were necessary, then I don't have a problem with it," he said.

Watts, who joined Five Star Parking about four years ago and became general manager earlier this month, did not hire the five employees of the business who face criminal charges.

The general manager said all but Shamshad Karim, a cashier, worked as valets for the business. She was hired more recently than the others, who worked for the business for about two years, he said.

Watts said he believed Shamshad Karim and Alsrap Karim were sister and brother. He said he did not know whether the other individuals were related.

The general manager said he never felt that any of them posed a threat to airport security.

"It's kind of sad that it had to turn out this way," he said.