Two Tennessee contractors at a Knoxville construction site face criminal charges for their alleged actions during a federal immigration raid.
Authorities charged Tyler Shane Wells, 33, and Alexander Bonilla-Servin, 18, last week with harboring illegal immigrants for financial gain and using force or intimidation to interfere with federal agents performing their duties.
Bonilla-Servin also faces an additional charge of forcibly impeding federal agents engaged in the performance of their official duties.
These charges stem from alleged actions by the two men from January 5th to January 13th.
According to court documents, the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that Wells and Bonilla-Servin decided to use Bonilla-Servin’s GMC Sierra pickup truck to do counter-surveillance on federal agents who were surveilling a construction site.
After completing the counter-surveillance, the DOJ alleges that Bonilla-Servin drove his pickup truck back to the entrance of the construction site, where he allegedly positioned his car in an offensive posture as a show of physical aggression.
DOJ alleges Bonilla-Servin prevented two federal agents from engaging in their official duties by striking the agents’ vehicle as the car attempted to enter the construction site.
Knox News reported that illegal immigrants who were working at the construction site ran from the site before federal law enforcement agents arrived. Despite this, at least nine illegal immigrants were arrested, according to the outlet.
Federal agents conducted a raid close to Hardin Valley Academy, WATE Knoxville reported.
In January, an Associated General Contractors of America report found that nearly one-third of Tennessee construction companies lost workers due to immigration enforcement in the last six months.
Nine percent of these construction companies reported that immigration authorities visited their construction sites to conduct operations.
Nearly 20 percent of them lost workers due to suspected or reported crackdowns at job sites.
The report found that nearly 25 percent of these construction companies needed to adjust their building schedules due to work and material shortages resulting from deportations.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com.
