$7 million in federal stimulus money to create jobs for unemployed Oregonians went to 254 foreign workers, a federal investigation concluded.
$7 million in federal stimulus money to create jobs for unemployed Oregonians went to 254 foreign workers, a federal investigation concluded.
The money was for forest clean-up jobs in central Oregon where thousands of experienced workers were idle. When the contracts were announced in 2009, Oregon had the third-highest unemployment rate in the nation at 11.1 percent, with rates in the state’s rural forest counties nearly 15 percent and higher.
Even so, the contractors told federal regulators they could not find enough local workers for the jobs.
In a report on the investigation this week, the Department of Labor’s Inspector General found that contractors who brought in foreign workers violated no laws or regulations, but used legal loopholes to hire foreign workers.
Read more at OregonLive.com.
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