ICE frees immigrant workers held captive
Hayward man allegedly forced laborers to live in squalid conditions, work without pay
HAYWARD >> More than a dozen immigrant workers were freed Tuesday by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from a Hayward home and an industrial building where they were being held in squalid conditions with no running water, according to police.
The workers were forced to work on construction projects without pay elsewhere in the Bay Area by Job Torres Hernandez, a 47-year-old Hayward resident, according to federal prosecutors and Hayward police.
Hernandez was indicted Aug. 23 by a federal grand jury for harboring illegal immigrants for commercial advantage or private financial gain and was arrested Tuesday. The indictment lists the five immigrants as victims, however, a city of Hayward statement said more than a dozen immigrant workers were freed from Hernandez.
Hernandez appeared in court Tuesday and Wednesday and remains in custody. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if found guilty.
In court, federal prosecutors alleged Hernandez locked the warehouse where many of the workers lived. They also alleged that Hernandez paid below minimum wage to workers, saying seven were recovered from the warehouse during the execution of a search warrant.
ICE agents carried out the search and arrest warrants at several locations in Hayward in connection with an ongoing forced-labor and human-trafficking investigation. Victim’s assistance workers were on hand to connect freed workers to nonprofit service groups if they wanted the help. The workers who were rescued were free to go, according to Hayward officials.
At Hernandez’s Hayward property in an industrial area, one of his employees and tenants, who rents a trailer on his property, said he was handcuffed for two hours after the early morning Tuesday raid.
Ernesto, who declined to give his last name, said the allegations of Hernandez locking in his employees and providing no running water in squalid conditions was false.
“There’s a bathroom with a shower. I even use that shower,” he said. “There’s refrigerators with food.”
He pointed to the warehouse and showed how two large warehouse doors were open and he said it was impossible to lock the warehouse even if he wanted to. Ernesto said the employees were all from the same Mexico town as Hernandez and traveled to and from the property with no restraints.
Another man, who declined to give his name, said he worked with Hernandez in the past as both of their businesses built decorative pieces for commercial buildings and built cabinets. He said Hernandez had questionable business practices, but never knew him forcefully keeping his employees.
A source familiar with the investigation said Hernandez and his employees were working on a Marriott Hotel project in San Francisco and the Silvery Towers project in San Jose at the time of his arrest.
Francisco Parga, who works as a mechanic across the street from Hernandez’s ramshackle network of buildings, said he saw around 10 employees working on cabinets in the back warehouse area.
“I am really surprised with (his charges). I never expected that,” Parga said.
The Hayward property, encircled by a cyclone fence, included a trailer, a house, several cargo containers full of tools, numerous vehicles, a showroom and a large warehouse in the back where the employees allegedly were kept.
The search and arrest warrants were carried out by the Homeland Security Investigations division of ICE, which focuses on serious criminal activity, not immigration law enforcement.
“We are grateful to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for providing timely information in advance and following the operation,” Hayward Police Chief Mark Koller said in a statement.
“This kind of communication is vital to the ability of our police department to protect the public while maintaining the trust and cooperation of our community,” he said.
Police did not provide any additional information.