Breaking: INS Documents Contradict Corker's Coverup

The following breaking information seem to indicate that Bob (The Fraud) Corker has been lying about the situation involving his former company hiring illegal immigrants back in the 1980's:

Bob Corker may talk tough on immigration, but the company he owned was investigated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for employing illegal workers on a Memphis construction project in 1988, according to INS documents. INS documents obtained by the Ford campaign show the investigation was opened after two visits by the INS to the construction site on which Corker’s company, Bencor, was the general contractor.

Corker’s company had been put on notice three times – first by a Memphis City Councilman who complained about illegal workers at the site, and twice by the INS during site visits – before a March 1988 raid yielded the arrest of four illegal workers, according to media accounts and INS documents. Reports of 30 to 50 illegal workers had been made publicly while Corker and Bencor officials maintained that they and their subcontractors were all in compliance with the law, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. When the raid occurred, Bencor quickly changed its message about compliance and blamed a subcontractor that the INS subsequently reported as never having employed the illegal workers, according to stories in the Commercial Appeal.

“Bob Corker took the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ approach and broke the law,” said Ford Campaign Senior Advisor Michael Powell. “The fact is that Bob Corker and his company turned their heads even after being put on notice that there were reports of illegal workers at the site. The INS opened an investigation on Bencor, which continued to use illegal workers who were eventually arrested and deported.

“If the immigration bill that Bob Corker says he supports today was the law when this investigation took place, he would be facing a criminal investigation. If the law had been followed in this case, Bob Corker and Bencor officers would have been held liable,” Powell added.

“During the course of this campaign, Bob Corker has said a lot of things about immigration, none of which match his record. He has put hundreds of thousands of dollars behind an ad to cover up and inoculate his candidacy from the truth. The truth, according to INS documents, is that his company was investigated by the INS for employing illegal workers and that he did nothing after being notified repeatedly. Bob Corker has even gone so far during this campaign to state flatly that his company and his subcontractors never employed illegal workers.”

Powell added, “Bob Corker needs to explain this to Tennesseans.”

Bob Corker on Hiring Illegal Workers and Immigration:

"They [Corker's subcontractors] absolutely had checked with everyone that worked with their organization and that no one, no one, was working for an enterprise that was illegally there." (Bob Corker, The Hallerin Hill Show, WNOX Knoxville, April 11, 2006)

"Corker, who built a career in the construction industry and later in commercial real estate, said he was never confronted with the dilemma of needing to hire undocumented workers. The commercial real estate company he owned -- and sold in January -- required statements from employers that the subcontractors and vendors they used did not use illegal immigrant labor, Corker said. When he sold a construction company in 1990, Hispanic labor was not prevalent, he said. ‘You fast-forward now to 2006 and go out to a job site today in construction -- the backgrounds of workers are totally different,’ Corker said.” (Tennessean, 04/25/06)

“Corker, the former Chattanooga mayor, was campaigning door to door in Johnson City on Monday afternoon and said the 1988 incident points to the need for identifying illegal immigrants. “Obviously, this was a subcontractor," Corker said of the situation.” (Bob Corker, Kingsport Times News, 06/06/06)

“Certainly there are people who abuse the laws and those who do certainly need to have stiff penalties, that needs to be a part of what goes on.” (Bob Corker, Tennessee Press Association forum, 02/09/06)

“And so I get back to that first premise of saying to you just enforcing the laws on the book would be a major first step.” (Bob Corker, Washington County forum, 03/18/06)

Bencor’s Flip Flop:

Bencor denied any knowledge of the illegals employment despite the arrests and they refused to accept any responsibility for the incident. Instead, opting to place blame on a subcontractor: “Contacted Wednesday [March 16, 1988] about the arrests, Lowhorn said the problem was not with his company but with a subcontractor. ‘We are totally 100 percent within the boundaries of the law,’ Lowhorn said. ‘Bencor Construction Co. has cooperated 110 percent. There was a subcontractor that there may have been a problem with, but that’s not anything we’re responsible for.’” Commercial Appeal 03/17/88

INS Records, however, indicate that the company Corker is trying to blame was cleared of any wrongdoing

In the end, the INS did not conduct meetings with J&G Framing and cleared them of any wrong doing. Nonetheless, Corker still attempts to place the blame on them: According to INS officials, J&G Framers were not responsible for the employment of the illegals. J&G Framers were not present at these meetings. Several illegals arrested at the site. None were employed by J&G Framers. (INS Investigations Administrative Information Sheet, 1/11/89)

Still Trying to Blame It On Someone Else:

“Corker, the former Chattanooga mayor, was campaigning door to door in Johnson City on Monday afternoon and said the 1988 incident points to the need for identifying illegal immigrants. “Obviously, this was a subcontractor," Corker said of the situation.” (Bob Corker, Kingsport Times News, 06/06/06)

Bob Corker’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Timeline:

January 1988. Story appears in Commercial Appeal about possible illegal workers at Bencor Mud Island site

Feb. 10, 1988. INS receives report "from M&M Construction Co., Memphis, TN" of "approximately 30 to 50 Mexicans working at the Mud Island new building site--north section of Mud Island." Source: INS Memorandum of Investigation.

Feb. 10, 1988. INS conducts "an educational visit at the Mud Island office, Bencor." Subs also attend. Source: INS Memorandum of Investigation.

Feb. 10, 1988. INS opens "employer contact report" on Bencor Corp., with 3 employees on site. Source: ELR Contact Report.

Feb. 10, 1988. INS opens "employer contact report" on J&G Framing, Hockley, TX, with 16 employees on site. Source: ELR Contact Report.

Feb. 24, 1998. INS conducts "additional educational visits" on Mud Island with "subcontractors absent on 2-10-88 meeting." Source: INS Memorandum of Investigation.

Mar. 16, 1988. INS prepares "investigation preliminary worksheet."

Source: INS Investigation Preliminary Worksheet.

Mar. 16, 1988. INS raids Bencor site, arrests 4 & deports. Source:

Commercial Appeal, 3/17/88.

Jan. 11, 1989. INS closes investigative file because "employer is no longer working the local area." Says in synopsis that INS officials held "two meetings with Bencor, Inc. and several of the subcontractors, J&G Framers were not present at these meetings.

Several illegals arrested at the site. None were employed by J&G Framers."

Source: INS Investigations Administrative Information Sheet.