Carpentersville business expects clean audit

The largest employer in Carpentersville said Tuesday he did not expect a U.S. Department of Labor audit of his company's work force to find any illegal immigrants.

Tom Roeser, president and owner of Otto Engineering, said federal officials notified him of their intent to review the company's employment records, checking specifically for illegal immigrants, two months ago.

Otto Engineering, which has 500 employees, recorded a clean audit four years ago.

However, an audit 11 years ago uncovered more than a dozen illegal workers. The company was never fined, nor were workers escorted off the premises, Roeser said.

"This is the Department of Labor, which is far from the INS," said Roeser, referring to the former Immigration and Naturalization Service -- now U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. That organization is responsible for the admission, control and status of all immigrants in the United States.

He said the labor department requested operative documents, and the company had complied. Roeser said he has not received information since.

Neither the federal Department of Labor nor the Illinois Department of Labor could provide further details of the audit Tuesday.

"I expect it to be routine," said Roeser, who has denied repeated allegations that he hires illegal immigrants to keep wages down. "I go out of my way to be assured we only hire legal employees because I want a stable work force."

Roeser acknowledges the possibility that one of his workers could have slipped through screening processes.

Although the company crosschecks paperwork with the Social Security Administration and trains hiring managers in spotting a fraud, a woman who had worked at Otto for nine years was fired in April. An anonymous tip off revealed she had used her sister's Social Security card and driver's license.

"If people are willing to pay for good documents, they will be able to get things like library cards, utility bills, Social Security cards and even driver's licenses," Roeser said Monday. "Remember, employers must hire someone if they have proper-looking documents and employers are not required to call Social Security as we do."