The general manager of a business in unincorporated El Cajon was charged Friday on suspicion of harboring undocumented immigrants who worked there following a three-year federal investigation into the company’s hiring practices, officials said.
John Washburn and three other employees were arrested following a raid on the business Thursday at BJS & T Enterprises, which does business under the name San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings and is located on Magnolia Avenue near Airport Drive.
The family-owned company completes metal coatings and has multiple federal government contracts, including work for projects on military and government vehicles.
Washburn was charged with conspiracy to harbor aliens after investigators reported finding a room in the warehouse that they said he had allowed undocumented immigrants to live in illegally. The other three employees were charged with using false documents to work in the United States, federal investigators said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major set the bond for Washburn at $5,000, investigators said.
Court records did not indicate if Washburn had an attorney to speak on his behalf Friday.
The criminal complaint filed Friday reveals new details about the raid, which included armed law enforcement officers in bulletproof vests handcuffing individuals and lining them up in the industrial area.
According to federal prosecutors, the company made a living area for at least three undocumented workers in a warehouse that housed at least two military projects and equipment.
The room, according to the criminal complaint, had a bed, cot, pad on the floor with blankets, television, refrigerator, microwave and racks of clothing. On a whiteboard in the room was a list of words written in English and Spanish.
One of the men living inside the room, listed as a material witness in the case, told investigators that Washburn had given him permission to live inside the room, the complaint reads. Other material witnesses said Washburn or other members of the company’s leadership knew some of their workers did not have documents to work legally in the U.S., and that they were using fake names, identifying documents and Social Security numbers, according to the complaint.
Investigators said government contractors are required to electronically verify their employees’ identifying documents, but the agents believe the company did not.
The complaint says investigators believe that of the 50 people present on company grounds Thursday, about 15 were allegedly working without legal authorization.
Thursday’s raid stemmed from a multiyear investigation that began with federal agents looking into possible drug traffickers in San Diego. At least one of the suspects has been crossing the U.S.-Mexico border with a visa but without work authorization, and his vehicle was spotted by agents parked in front of the company’s building in 2022, according to a search warrant affidavit unsealed in San Diego federal court Thursday.
A hidden video camera worn by a cooperating source — who was an undocumented immigrant working at the company — secretly recorded a conversation with Washburn. During the conversation, the general manager allegedly implied that he knew the source’s name and paperwork were fake and that a large portion of his workers were undocumented, according to the affidavit.
On March 19, an undercover agent with Homeland Security Investigations, an agency under U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, was hired at the company despite using fake identification paperwork, the affidavit says. While working there, the agent was informed by other employees about the upstairs living quarters.
The warrant carried out Thursday allowed special agents to enter the company’s facilities and seize personnel files, internal communications, payroll records, shift schedules, job appointments and information about the company’s business contracts.
It was not immediately clear how many people were detained at the facility.
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