Northern Kentucky homebuilder Henry Fischer lashed out Thursday at the government’s prosecution of his firm following immigration raids on May 9, 2006.
Fischer said the effort was unfair and politically motivated.
"We were singled out," he said. "Why we were singled out I don’t know."
It was the first time Fischer has spoken about the raids and the impact they had on his firm.
"This kind of thing shouldn’t happen to good companies and good people," he said. "I’m not trying to vindicate myself. I’m beyond that."
The comments were made during a news conference at the Mercantile Library in downtown Cincinnati and were timed with the release of a new book entitled, "No Crime But Prejudice – Fischer Homes, the Immigration Fiasco and Extra-judicial Prosecution."
The author is Jon Entine of the American Enterprise Institute.
The raids resulted in the arrest of 76 people, 15 of them at Fischer job sites.
Six Fischer employees were ultimately accused of violating federal immigration law, but the charges were later dropped.
However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob McBride says they can still be refiled, since the statute of limitations runs for five years.
"The company is always concerned about that," said David Futscher, an attorney with Parry Deering Futscher & Sparks, who has been representing Fischer homes. "We know from our own review of the records that there is no case to bring up."
McBride said that while he has not seen or read the book, he is aware of it’s general content.
"There is no factual basis for the allegations," he said from his office in Lexington. "This was a long-term investigation that involved a series of prosecutions against many companies and individuals."
For example, subcontractor Robert Pratt was convicted on immigration charges, as was his son, daughter and sister.
Spectrum Interiors was convicted and fined as a corporation on similar counts along with several top executives.
Fischer said agreed to do the book to protect his company’s reputation. He said most of the harm happened during the first year.
"I think we have a reputation that outlasted the government’s abuse otherwise," he said. "The only reason for doing this is to bring more to the light of day the problems in our federal justice system."
He refused to put an exact dollar figure on how much he’s spent on attorney fees and lost business. However, he added it’s more than $1 million.
In the book’s foreward the company founder said the legal and financial risks were too great to tell the firm’s story as the events were unfolding.
"It has now been three years since the federal government raided Fischer Homes and tried to ruin the company I founded and the lives of many Fischer Homes associates," Fischer wrote. "While there will never be a time when releasing this story is risk-free from government retaliation, I now believe the need to get the Fischer Homes side of the story out to our customers and our friends outweighs the risks."
Chapter One is called "The Sting" – detailing the events of May 9, 2006. Police swarmed over apartment complexes known to house Hispanic families. SWAT teams swarmed through home construction sites overseen by Fischer homes.
"Anyone with a Spanish accent appeared at risk," Entwine writes. Also, four Fischer construction superintendents were "handcuffed at their homes in front of friends and family and dragged off to jail."
The company headquarters in Crestview Hills was locked down as agents "grilled frightened employees and carted off company records."
At the time Dean Boyd, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the action was not a random roundup of illegal aliens.
"We don’t randomly pick companies," Boyd is quoted as saying. "We follow evidence and go where it leads."
The superintendents were charged with harboring illegal aliens for commercial or private financial gain, but the government later dismissed the charges.
"The only thing missing from these inflammatory allegations were the facts," the book continues. "Although the media was slow to report it, none of the Mexicans arrested that day were employed by Fischer Homes."
As Chapter One draws to a close Entine writes, "An endless stream of print and electronic media reports erroneously excoriated the company for hiring illegal workers and flouting U.S. immigration laws."
Questions are raised about why Fischer Homes found itself under the criminal microscope.
"What has been the consequence from the raid and subsequent high profile prosecution effort orchestrated for the media on Fischer Homes, its executives, associates, their families and the local community?" Entine wonders.
The key issue, according to Entine, is the Politics of Prosecution – how and why the government targets individuals and corporations, sometimes recklessly, taking an enormous human toll in the process.
The chapter concludes with the words, "It’s a story of David vs. Goliath of the government – and surprisingly, once again, how David prevailed."
Entine said his research never showed any evidence of why Fischer Homes was targeted.
"If it was anything other than political motivation – if it was based on the facts – we haven’t seen the facts," he said.
The author admitted he tried, but wasn’t successful at talking to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
"Everyone from the government refused to talk to me because they said and continue to maintain that it is an ongoing investigation and they will not comment on an ongoing investigation," he added.
While admitting that he didn’t attend court hearing in the case or speak to deportees or subcontractors in the case, he said he examined every document he could.
