As local union workers continue to complain about the hiring practices of German steel maker ThyssenKrupp and its subcontractors at the site of the future steel mill in Calvert, Ala, local politicians are doing whatever they can to help the local tradesmen.

And, after hearing reports in the media that indicated he might be asked to call for a congressional hearing, Congressman Jo Bonner says he contacted TK officials to see what was going on.

“I have been in constant contact with ThyssenKrupp officials, and I told them ‘We know you’re aware of these allegations, but if they are true, then you all need to be very aggressive in responding to them. And if they’re not true, then we need to make sure that the facts are on the table and not just allegations,’” Bonner recalled.

On the matter of calling for a congressional hearing, Bonner says he’s simply unable.

“As you know, a congressional office doesn’t have the constitutional authority. We don’t have law enforcement, no one in my office has a badge or handcuffs and I don’t have the authority to break down a door,” Bonner said. “But when an allegation is made and is brought to our attention, we can contact the offices of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor and Immigration Customs Enforcement.”

Bonner says he has been in contact with ICE, and while the agency is unable to report on pending investigations, ICE officials have assured his office of their presence on the TK site. Bonner says he was told ICE officials had been to the TK site, “at least twice to inspect and they are aware of some of these allegations, but they are looking — like any responsible person would — for concrete evidence.”

Construction Trades Council secretary Donald Adams has a different story. Adams has addressed Mobile’s city council twice since April 21 of this year and says he’s collected plenty of evidence.

“I’ve been down there around the (construction) site at five in the morning. There are (illegal workers) there. All you have to do is ask them. They’ll tell you.”

Even if TK isn’t hiring illegal immigrants directly, they know their subcontractors are, according to Adams. “They know what’s going on,” Adams said. They’re standing on the assurances of contractors.”

He says without requiring E-verify, an electronic document checking program, all subcontractors have to request is an I-9 form and two forms of I.D. with one bearing a photo. There’s currently a healthy business in providing fake forms and identification cards, according to Adams.

Still, Adams remains adamant about fixing this problem for the future.

“The horse is out of the barn on this one,” Adams said, “but this isn’t the last project to be built in Mobile.” Of the construction workers who are here and allegedly being employed by subcontractors illegally, Adams says, many are being paid $20 an hour under the table and not paying taxes.

With all the incentives paid to ThyssenKrupp by the city of Mobile, the county and the state — $117 million from the city and county alone — Adams asked, “Why can’t tax paying citizens work?”

Scott Posey, ThyssenKrupp’s director of communications, says the German steel manufacturer goes up and above legal immigration requirements with training sessions for site contractors where the company addresses the importance of I-9 forms and how they are used. He also said they send letters to each subcontractor they use reminding them of their legal requirements and the requirements of ThyssenKrupp.

“From what I can understand that is more than what most companies do — that is more than what most governments do,” Posey said. “Our process is not unusual except in the respect that we take two or three extra steps that most companies don’t take.”

Posey says he’s not been provided with any evidence and that makes the issue difficult to address. “I talked to a city councilperson the other day and I said ‘If you have any evidence that causes you concern, let me know so that we can look into it,’” Posey said. “But they’ve been provided no evidence other than these figures and they don’t know where they’ve (the figures) come from. On top of that we’re trying to build a facility here and were using our resources to look into this matter. We’re under some pretty strict deadlines here.”

Posey also mentioned that while those deadlines signaled the end of construction projects, they also represented new rounds of hiring.

“We did not move to the state of Alabama for a construction project. It was to build a company. A manufacturing operation that would be in operation for many, many, many years and hopefully employ many generations of people,” Posey said. “The benefits of this project are long term.”