From Staff Reports

Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower wants state law-enforcement officers to crack down on what he claims are illegal immigrants working at three downtown Asheville construction projects.

In an e-mail dated last Thursday to state Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Del Richburg, Mumpower said that three projects within a one-block radius of each other, including the Buncombe County Parking Garage, are employing non-English speakers.

“As I shared, per observation, direct contact, and discussion with vendors and subcontractors, the majority of the workers on these sites do not speak English,” he wrote in the e-mail.

The other two businesses Mumpower cited are the Carolina First Bank Building and 60 North Market Condominiums.

Mumpower, a Republican who currently is running for Congress, cited a study by the UNC School of Business that he said found that “78 percent of the non-English speaking people in North Carolina are illegal aliens.”

Based on this percentage, he added, “we have 50-plus illegal aliens working within this concentrated area of downtown Asheville.”

This is not the first time Mumpower has raised concerns about allegations that area businesses employ undocumented workers.

In a widely publicized e-mail exchange last October, the councilman cited “rumors of hiring practices with illegal immigrants” by Sonopress, a Weaverville company that manufacturs compact discs.

Joseph M. Mann-Stadt, chief operating officer at Sonopress, responded via e-mail, saying that the company takes seriously its obligation to verify the work eligibility of prospective employees.

He also noted that Sonopress hires seasonal workers through an employment agency that issues “written assurances on a regular basis ... that it complies with all laws relevant to the workers it provides to Sonopress.”

Mumpower seeks to unseat Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, in the 2008 race for the 11th Congressional District. Mumpower has made immigration enforcement a central plank of his campaign.