Federal agents on Wednesday arrested six illegal aliens who possessed security badges allowing them access to restricted areas within the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and onto the tarmac. The illegal aliens were working for T.C. Drywall, Inc., based in Alpharetta, GA according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The aliens were arrested after they were determined to be illegally residing and working in the United States. The arrested men are all citizens of Mexico.

Wednesday’s action is part of ICE’s critical infrastructure worksite enforcement operation. ICE works closely with facilities, such as airports, power plants, oil refineries and military bases, to protect against the risk of terrorism posed by unauthorized individuals working in secure areas.

“ICE is aggressively pursing illegal aliens at the places where they work,” said Kenneth Smith, special agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Atlanta.

“Areas of critical infrastructure, such as airports, are especially important to national security. Hartsfield-Jackson International is one of the busiest airports in the country. These facilities must know that the people who have access to their sensitive areas are entitled to such access.” Smith oversees a three-state region that includes: Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

The aliens arrested today will be quickly processed and ultimately returned to Mexico.

Knowingly hiring illegal aliens is a violation of immigration law. ICE aggressively pursues criminal charges against employers who egregiously violate theses laws, according to government officials.  During fiscal year 2006, ICE arrested 718 individuals on criminal charges in worksite investigations and apprehended another 3,667 illegal workers on immigration violations, more than a three-fold increase over 2005.

This worksite enforcement operation is part of the Secure Border Initiative (SBI), a comprehensive multi-year plan by the Department of Homeland Security to secure America’s borders and reduce illegal migration. Under SBI, Homeland Security seeks to gain operational control of both the northern and southern borders, while re-engineering the detention and removal system to ensure that illegal aliens are removed from the country quickly and efficiently.

SBI also involves strong interior enforcement efforts, including enhanced worksite enforcement investigations and intensified efforts to track down and remove illegal aliens from within this country.

The operation was conducted with the assistance of the Hartsfield Department of Aviation and the Atlanta Police Department and coordinated with the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration.