This doesn't bode well for Healy's census challenge....

Quote:

Okay, I'll bite. Why does it make any difference that it is right by a school?

man, right by a school, too.

Just one of many my friends, just one of many.

Raids at two Jersey City homes find 30 Chinese immigrant men living in "firetrap" conditions, and owners are issued summonses
Friday, February 11, 2011
By VISHAL PERSAUD
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Authorities raided two Jersey City homes over the past two days and found more than two dozen Chinese immigrants - supposedly working for the Chinese government - living illegally in cramped "firetraps," authorities said yesterday.

At a one-family home at 210 Pavonia Ave. authorities found 15 Chinese men and 28 beds Wednesday. Yesterday, at a two-family home at 354 Wayne St., authorities found 15 more Chinese men and 32 beds in a messy home with makeshift clotheslines strung across rooms.

At each building, Jersey City Fire Director Armando Roman said, the door was padlocked each night and one man held the key.

"They were definitely firetraps," Roman said. "If there was ever a fire there at night, it would have been a disaster."

The immigrants, who told city officials their passports are being withheld from them, seemed to take the early morning raid in stride. Members of the Mayor's Task Force, Police and Fire departments, and city housing code officials took part in the raid yesterday morning.

City officials said they believe the men are in the country legally. They were told the men work for a construction company operated by the Chinese Consuate in New York. No one could be reached at the consulate yesterday.

"This is one of the bigger task force finds in many years," said Mark Redfield, head of the Mayor's Task Force.

The men, who do not speak English, were questioned with the help of a translator and then told they could no longer stay at the Wayne Street home. They all got into a gray, Ford E-350 van and told officials they were being taken to the Chinese Consulate, officials at the scene said.

At the Pavonia Avenue home, authorities allowed seven of the men to stay in the house and the eight other men were taken in by the Chinese Consulate, Redfield said.

The owners of 210 Pavonia Ave., identified by authorities as Lawrence and Maria Cyran, were issued summonses for fire, housing and zoning violations, authorities said.

Owners of the house on Wayne Street, identified as Peterbit Chiu and Ching Wai, as well as the China Rilin Construction Corp. - which leased the two properties - also received summonses for violations.

Authorities said they were alerted to the illegal living conditions at 210 Pavonia Ave., by neighbors who saw numerous people coming in and out of the house. Police said they became aware of the Wayne Street home when one of the men interviewed at 210 Pavonia Ave., showed them his driver's license with that address.

Lawrence and Maria Cyran refused to comment yesterday. Their municipal court hearing is set for March 3. The owners of the house on Wayne Street as well at representatives of the construction company could not be reached for comment.

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerse ... 29740914961260.xml&coll=3