Four undocumented workers were arrested this week at Hill Air Force Base after they could not provide appropriate identification to gain access to the base.
The workers were hired under local contracting agreements to provide construction services in unsecured areas of the base, Hill officials said.
Jon Lines, resident agent in charge of the Ogden Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office, said Tuesday's arrests stem from a probe into base contractors. Some 21 illegal immigrants have been arrested at the base's gate in the past three months.
Col. Scott Chambers, commander of the 75th Air Base Wing at Hill, said he expects more workers will be arrested.
"This is a national issue, not just a Team Hill issue," he said. He added that the situation will continue as long as undocumented workers are trying to get work, and the arrests will continue if they try to come on base.
Lines said construction contractors at the base employed "quite a few illegal aliens," which led to an ongoing investigation into base contractors. He declined to discuss details of that investigation.
The Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 113 had apparently been aware of illegal immigrants, arrested on criminal charges off-base, who had claimed to be employed on construction crews, Lines said.
The Air Force investigators "were concerned there was a security breach," Lines said. "Anybody who works under false identity is a serious security concern."
Chambers said he doesn't expect any changes to the way security passes are granted to contractors.
At any given time, there may be 6,000 contractors working on the base, he said.
Currently, workers provide necessary documentation — a driver's license, Social Security card, or birth certificate — to a contractor, who is supposed to verify that documentation, Chambers said. But he acknowledged some contractors might not verify the documents.
The contractor then must apply for a base pass to Hill on behalf of the workers, Chambers said. Passes, which are designed to be difficult to counterfeit, allow different levels of access to the base. The four people who were arrested Tuesday were in a fenced area doing construction work on a housing unit and a fitness center.
Other areas of the base, including communications areas or the flight line, are more tightly controlled, Chambers said.
Lines said the four workers arrested Tuesday were illegal immigrants who had been using fraudulent documents. He said they would undergo deportation hearings.
Two other individuals were detained Tuesday but were later released after providing identification, according to a base news release.
Last year, the Air Force Audit Agency said Hill Air Force Base lacked proof that it conducted background checks on many contractors who obtained long-term access passes. Two reports criticized oversight of controlled area badges by Hill's Ogden Air Logistics Center Maintenance Directorate, and another report found fault with the 388th Fighter Wing.
Chambers said he was unaware of the audits but said the base has implemented security features to the gates, including a new driveway with concrete S-shaped walls that would stop a vehicle from trying to speed through the gates in either direction. He said the base used to issue security badges for each level of access a person was granted. Those badges have been replaced by a badge with a common design that is easily identifiable and difficult to counterfeit.