The illegal workers employed by Specialty, Inc., Wood Products will be placed in removal proceedings for violating U.S. immigration law.

Ten men and three women were taken into custody. Eleven are being held at the Ada County Jail. Two were released on humanitarian grounds while they await an immigration hearing.

ICE agents interviewed each worker to determine if they had any medical, caregiver or other humanitarian issues, ICE spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said.

Of those detained, three had previous orders of deportation and were back in the country illegally, Dankers said. Two others had criminal histories. "One had felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance and probation violations in Canyon County. One had misdemeanor convictions for driving without a license in Valley County and was back in the country committing crime," Dankers said. "These are people who are not only in the country illegally but they are committing crimes in our community."

ICE initiated the investigation after receiving information that illegal aliens might be employed at the wood products company. Further investigation revealed that some of the workers may have secured their employment by using false Social Security numbers and other counterfeit identification.

"We went in looking for worksite violations and we encountered these individuals. For those of us living legally in the country, the idea of having our I.D. compromised is not one we would like to entertain," Dankers said.

The owner of Speciality, Inc., is cooperating with ICE on the investigation, officials said. The investigation is ongoing and investigators haven't determined if they will bring criminal charges against the employer. Knowingly hiring an illegal alien can be a felony conviction. The federal government also has the option to levy fines against the employer, but no decision had been made as of Thursday afternoon if that would happen.

A phone call to the company's president, Edward Leavitt, was not returned Thursday afternoon.

Officers trained in identifying illegal residents went onsite to the company at about 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to Dankers. Those detained were taken back to ICE office where they were fingerprinted and identified.

The names of those detained are not being released because ICE does not release the names of individuals arrested on administrative charges, Dankers said. Administrative immigration arrests generally refer to illegal alien workers who are unlawfully present in the United States.

Worksite enforcement is one of ICE's priorities, officials said. Since its creation in March 2003, the federal agency has enhanced its efforts to combat the unlawful employment of illegal aliens in the U.S.

Administrative arrests have increased almost 7 1/2 times in the past five years. In fiscal year 2002, 484 individuals were arrested on administrative arrests in the U.S. In 2007, that number jumped to 4,077 arrests nationally.