Email names subcontractors impacted by illegal immigration raid

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - FOX10 News has obtained an email naming the subcontractors connected to last month’s illegal immigration raid at the Gulf Shores High School construction site.

For weeks, we’ve been pressing for answers after federal agents arrested 36 undocumented workers at the taxpayer funded project, which is overseen by Rabren General Contractors.

During a city council meeting on July 7, Councilman Phillip Harris showed a list highlighting all those arrested.

“Here’s a breakdown of what their job descriptions were,” Harris said. “And what subs were employed by drywallers, electrician, laborers and cleaners.”

After seeing that, I asked the city for a copy of the list and the names of the subcontractors involved, something Rabren has refused to provide.

The city gave me this email, which was sent to city leaders from Volkert, the company that’s managing the project.

The email says they “are continuing to work with Rabren to first ensure all steps are taken to prevent an incident like this from happening in the future, and to secure critical information to further clarify the integrity of our construction.”

The email goes on to say quote, “The most important aspect of note is that none of the structural trades, concrete and steel, had any issues or arrests in the raid.”

This comes after a Homeland Security Investigator raised concerns over the building standards at the school, citing the raid and the collapse of the athletic facility back in January.

“That raises the very safety questions that we all probably are asking ourselves right now of what is the standard that is being applied by these individuals,” said Steven Schrank, special agent in charge for HSI in Alabama and Georgia. “Many of whom who do not speak our language and do not have the necessary skills and certifications that we would expect, especially in such an important building where our children are going to grow up and be educated.”

The email from Volkert then names eight sub-contractors that were impacted by the raid:

1. FL Crane – Framing and Drywall – 16 personnel detained – general laborers/cleaners
2. Barts Electric – Electrician – 7 personnel detained – general labor/gopher/cleaners
3. Performance Waterproofing – 1 person detained – waterproofing painter
4. Eagle Exteriors – Siding Installation – 3 personnel detained – siding hangers
5. Specialty Finishes – Painters – 3 personnel detained – interior/exterior painters
6. Roofing Solutions – Sheetmetal Façade – 4 personnel detained – metal siding hangers
7. Lloyd Roofing – Roof Installation – 2 personnel detained – insulation/membrane rollers
8. AGX – Site/Civil Works – 1 person detained – general labor/ditch digger

After reaching out to all of these companies, I got this response from Jonathan Heering, risk manager for F.L. Crane & Sons:

I also spoke with Kevin Strange, vice president of Lloyd Roofing, another company listed in the email.

A representative from Bart’s Electric called me to say the same, claiming nobody from their company was arrested either.

Someone from AGX, another company named, told me they’ll be in touch and the other companies haven’t responded.

I’ve been reaching out to Rabren General Contractors basically every day to their headquarters in Opelika, and they will not talk.

I’ll keep asking until they give us some answers.

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