JEFFERSON CITY- Gov. Matt Blunt today announced responsible police work and attention to detail is helping to fight illegal immigration and led to ten illegal immigrants being detained awaiting deportation over the weekend.

"I am very pleased that we were once again able to assist in a law enforcement operation to enforce our laws against illegal immigration," Blunt said. "I have introduced tough new directives to curb illegal immigration, and I applaud the Highway Patrol and our local law enforcement community for their responsible police work that complements these ongoing efforts. As I have said, we will make every effort, implement every tool, and take every step to ensure the laws against illegal immigration are enforced."

Over the weekend a Highway Patrolman stopped a vehicle in Warren County for following too close to the vehicle in front of them. The driver attempted to produce a fictitious Mexican driver license and the Trooper immediately recognized the identification as false. The nine other passengers in the vehicle either did not show ID or showed false ID. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was contacted and confirmed all ten individuals were illegally in the United States. Currently all individuals are being detained and awaiting deportation.

Gov. Blunt has directed state law enforcement agencies to verify the immigration status of every criminal presented for incarceration. The governor's administration is also working with ICE for authority under Section 287g of the Immigration and Nationality Act that would deputize state law enforcement officers to enforce federal laws and protect Missourians against illegal immigration. The agreement will allow select troopers, Capitol Police, and water patrol officers to help enforce immigration laws. Gov. Blunt sent a letter earlier this month asking Missouri’s Congressional Delegation to support and help expedite his request.

Gov. Blunt has offered his support to local law enforcement and prosecutors in their efforts in the fight against illegal immigration and reminds prosecutors that state law makes the receipt of tax credits by employers of illegal aliens ineligible for state tax credits, tax abatements, or loans a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in prison.

In addition he took significant steps to shield taxpayers' money from supporting building projects that employ illegal workers including:

• Conducting random on-site inspections of all projects accompanied by the tax credit recipient to monitor and retrieve documentation regarding the legal status of all workers on the job. The inspections will include direct employees of the tax credit recipient, contracted or subcontracted agents and both general contractors and their subcontractors.
• Performing a Compliance By Written Demand action for all tax credit recipients that requires all workers' proof of legal status including contractors and subcontractors to be submitted within 30 days of the date of the receipt of the written request.

Gov. Blunt is a strong advocate for protecting Missouri from illegal activity. He has issued a letter to the Missouri Housing Development Commission outlining principles for the commission to consider regarding illegal immigration that include possible sanctions of up to a lifetime ban of contractors and developers who knowingly employ illegal immigrants in violation of federal law.

Earlier this year Gov. Blunt ousted Sam's Janitorial Services, a now former state contractor whose 60-person workforce included 22 illegal workers. A law enforcement action initiated by the governor's administration in coordination with ICE resulted in the arrest of 22 suspected illegal immigrants. Of the 22 arrested, seven were immediately deported, 11 were charged and the status of the remaining four is pending the conclusion of an investigation.

Immediately following this action, Gov. Blunt canceled the state's contract with Sam's Janitorial Services and barred them from doing further business with the state. He also ordered state agencies to enact a no tolerance policy through tough new contract protections.

Gov. Blunt also authored the state’s first directive to audit all state contractors to ensure that the contract employees are legally eligible to work in the U.S. and to terminate contracts if it is determined a contractor employs illegal immigrants. He added tough provisions in state contracts to allow the state to immediately cancel contracts if it determines the contractor knowingly has employees not eligible to work in the U.S. and to require contractors to certify that all their employees meet state and federal employment eligibility requirements.