Marion Roofing Company Investigated by Homeland Security Had Immigration Raid in 2011

The Marion company at the center of a on Tuesday had a job site raided by immigration officials in 2011.

Nine roofers were arrested on April 27, 2011, while working on a house in Hiawatha. Those arrested were found to be illegal immigrants and were employees of the Iowa City-based contractor Xtreme Construction Company, which was hired as a subcontractor for Eastern Iowa Construction and Roofing.

Homeland Security personnel were on site at today as part of an investigation. Questions were referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Attorney's Office, but officials have declined to elaborate.

In an April 2011 article from KCRG, Jeremy Bleeker, president of the construction and roofing company, said the company had passed an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement audit nine months prior to the incident. At the time, federal immigration officials told the Associated Press that if the workers couldn't provide documentation, Bleeker could be held liable.

The Gazette, in a March 2012 article, reports that Samira Zuniga was the owner of Xtreme Construction Company during the arrests and that she pleaded guilty to harboring and transporting an alien and conspiracy to transport, harbor, encourage and induce an alien to live in the United States. A federal judge sentenced her to 18 months in prison in March.

An affidavit of a criminal complaint in that case said a van registered to Zungia and driven by her husband was pulled over in Marion shortly before the arrests.

There were unidentified Hispanic men in the car, according to the Gazette.

Bleeker has not returned phone or email messages, and nobody answered calls at Eastern Iowa Construction and Roofing. The voicemail was not accepting messages. Law enforcement at the scene today would not allow access to the company offices to seek comment.