Minutemen report illegal contractors

The founder of the Herndon Minutemen said yesterday that he has turned over to authorities the names and addresses of at least 16 unlicensed contractors who regularly hire immigrants and illegal aliens outside a 7-Eleven in town.

George Taplin said he reported the contractors for tax fraud and business-licensing and zoning violations to agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Virginia Employment Commission, and Virginia taxation and professional and occupational regulation departments.

Mr. Taplin said his group found that only five of the 16 contractors work in Herndon. The others work in the Sterling, Ashburn, Leesburg, Falls Church and Manassas areas of Virginia and in the District, he said.

“Why are we … providing government services from the town of Herndon to support all the communities in the area that don’t pay taxes in Herndon?” Mr. Taplin said at a press conference held at the site of the town’s new day-laborer center.

The center is scheduled to open at 6 a.m. tomorrow.

Herndon Mayor Michael O’Reilly, who did not attend the press conference, said the Herndon Minutemen are missing the point. He said taxpayer money is already spent on day laborers every day through police calls and other enforcement.

“Whether the contractors are taking the employees and working [elsewhere] is really not the issue,” the mayor said. “The issue is we’ve got men standing on the corner now and what can we do to impose some regulation and clean up the area.”

In the summer, Herndon officials approved the establishment of a day-laborer center, which would be funded partly with taxpayer money. As a result, six Herndon residents, including Mr. Taplin, sued the town to bar use of taxpayer funds for the project.

A hearing in the case has been scheduled for Friday.

The day-laborer center will be run by Project Hope and Harmony, a group of churches and community leaders who sought the town’s approval for the center.

The Minutemen identified the contractors by videotaping and photographing their vehicle logos and license plates, following them to work sites and researching their business practices online, Mr. Taplin said.

The group has photographed more than 150 potential contractors, Mr. Taplin said, adding that it will further investigate the contractors before reporting to authorities.

Mr. Taplin said he would not identify the contractors until the agencies complete their investigation.

Most of the agencies could not be reached for comment yesterday. The IRS recently declined to comment on the matter, citing disclosure laws and privacy regulations.

In October, Mr. Taplin and about 125 members of the Herndon Minutemen set out to remove illegal aliens from Herndon by drying up the job market.

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