According to the Boston Globe’s Boston.com, dozens of the stadium’s would-be snow removers were detained on Wednesday after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency pulled over a van and detained numerous individuals thought to be unauthorized workers. The enforcement action has caused great concern in the Guatemalan immigrant population of Boston as those who were detained must demonstrate their legal right to be in the United States or face deportation.
Meanwhile, the operators of Gillette Stadium are passing any blame of possible wrongdoing onto the company that it subcontracted to remove the snow from the stadium. A spokesperson for the Patriots and Gilette Stadium is quoted as saying, “We go through a vendor and pay for a workforce to provide a service,’’ he said. “We expect them to vet all employees.’’ The spokesperson may want to do research about a certain big box retail store chain that claimed the same thing when its cleaning subcontractors were found to be hiring undocumented workers.