Spanish-Language Facebook Group Became Hub for Job Ads, Prostitution, and Passport Fraud

The non-Hispanic owner of a Wiscasset cleaning company is running the Spanish-language “Latinos en Maine – Hispanos en Maine” Facebook group, which has more than 2,000 members and is used to advertise short-term blue-collar jobs for immigrants, along with apparent prostitution and passport fraud.

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“This group was created for Hispanics and Latinos living in the state of Maine. If you are one of them, we invite you to join. This page is for selling items and services, sharing information and job posts. Welcome,” says the group’s description.

Nicholas West and Pure Cleaning and Restoration

Nicholas West, owner of Pure Cleaning and Restoration in Wiscasset, first launched the group on March 7, inviting any “Hispanics and Latinos” living in Maine to join the group.

The featured posts on the page are all from West, including two posts in Spanish asking members to share the group with all their friends, and one post looking for workers experienced in working with paver walkways.

He has also used the page to advertise his cleaning business and to recruit laborers.

In one post, he offered what appeared to be a permanent full-time job to a male laborer specifically, while requiring applicants to have proper work authorization papers.

In other posts, however, West was looking for employees to work on the day the posts were published. He notably did not highlight any work-authorization requirements for those short-term gigs.

The Maine Wire reached out to West and spoke with him about the page over the phone.

“I mean, so we run that, but not for anyone that’s illegal. That’s only for legal people,” said West, when asked why he was running the page.

Nothing in the group’s description or West’s posts inviting people to join in any way indicates that the group is intended only for legal immigrants.

The Maine Wire asked how he ensures that only legal immigrants use it, and he explained that he does not.

“We can’t personally ensure that, but that’s the intention behind it,” he said.

He claimed that, even when he posted asking for day laborers, he intended to properly vet applicants for work authorization “because when we do taxes, we have to make sure that anyone that we hire is working legally.”

The Maine Wire asked West whether he was concerned about the apparent illegal activity happening on the page, and offered to provide specific examples of suspicious advertisements.

West responded by claiming that he started the group because “there’s not any locals in Maine that really want to work.”

He also claimed that he does the best that he can to “filter out bad stuff” from the group, and reaffirmed that he has no intention of hiring any illegal immigrants.

“We originally started it because there’s no one, there’s not any locals in Maine that really want to work. If you were a business owner you probably would understand. So we try to find people that can work legally and that are here legally. And so as far as like trying to filter out bad stuff, we definitely do the best that we can. But there’s definitely no ill intention of trying to hire anyone that’s illegal. You know, every business should be doing the best to vet that,” said West.

Despite his claim that he works to filter out the “bad stuff,” the page has advertisements for numerous illicit activities, including apparent prostitution ads that have been up for weeks or months. Even a day after The Maine Wire spoke with West, those posts remained visible on the page.

West, as the page’s administrator, has the ability to remove posts.

“I’m a Republican, so you know I’m not dumb to the situation. Just so you’re aware of that,” West said during the interview.

Before the end of the call, West argued that it was not suspicious that he, a non-Hispanic white business owner, was operating and advertising jobs on the Spanish-language page, and that he believes Mainers do not want to work.

“The only point of doing that is because if you were to be a main business trying to hire people that want to work, you were not going to find anybody willing to work, which is why everybody is hiring ads out, because Maine has the oldest population in the country, with more and more people that are the working age moving out, and you guys sit here and say that just because we’re trying to hire people that were here legally to work-that somehow it’s bad,” he said.

“Now I’m all for getting rid of illegals, but don’t forget that you know this country was built on immigration, and that is kind of there’s an in-between there,” he added

One Maine worker, who goes by the name BlueCollarRoofer on X, had a different perspective than West and accused groups like West’s of driving native Mainers out of work.

“Its getting quite grim. Sell my company and admit they won, or pray it resolves. If they were held to the same standards, they would lose all of their work just based off quality alone… Yet money talks… Scumbag Americans are hiring them so they can get their Lamborghinis like Grant Cardone talks about or whatever… God help us…,” said BlueCollarRoofer.

There is no trace of West’s involvement in the group on his personal Facebook page, and his status as its administrator can only be found through the group itself.

While he quietly advertises jobs on his Spanish-language Facebook group, his business boasts on its website that its work crews communicate clearly with customers.

Update: After the publication of this article West and his company were removed as administrators of the Facebook group and replaced with a Facebook user by the name Margoth Tiban.

The Rest of the Group

West’s efforts to draw in new members proved successful, and in just a few short months, the group has turned into an active hub of Spanish-language posts advertising numerous jobs, both short- and long-term.

“I need females for house cleaning jobs. Experience required, availability Monday-Friday and drivers license. Interested ladies can message me,” said user Sulamita Martins, translated from Spanish by Facebook.

“I have painting, flooring, and construction work available. I need workers. Anyone want to work today or tomorrow,” said Mahira Athar, translated from Spanish.

Perez Construction claimed to be posting its job listing with explicit permission from West.

“Good evening with permission from admin I am looking for people to work construction permanent job only serious and responsible people. Jobs will be in the Bangor Maine area keep an eye on the Bangor Maine Area for work (roofing) (painting) (siding) and more,” said Perez.

Interested parties in the comments were instructed to message the account directly.

Another user, Marcos Garcia, was looking for people to help with the electrical work at a data center project in Utah, specifying in the Spanish-language advertisement that “Spanish is spoken,” suggesting that the lucrative jobs, paying $45 per hour, are going to immigrants rather than American citizens.

Many users made their posts, including requests for laborers, anonymously. Their real accounts can be seen by the group’s administrators, but not by other members.

A significant number of posts, including some anonymous ones, are advertising childcare services across the state.

“Childcare in South Portland. For more information, inbox,” said one anonymous user.

The group also hosts numerous offers of legal advice, including one from Malva Mendoza explicitly offering legal help following car crashes, regardless of immigration status.

“Have you been in an accident? No matter your immigration status, you are not alone. We help you for free, with medical care, legal support, and to get a GREAT MONETARY COMPENSATION from anywhere in the country,” she said.

Another woman, Eloisa Estrada, used a suggestive image of herself to advertise her legal help. The vast majority of offers of legal assistance in the group centered on help following vehicle crashes.

Other members of the group use it to advertise what appears to be prostitution under the guise of “at-home massages,” posting from anonymous accounts and using images of scantily clad women.

“Hello loves massage at home cash payment after the service write me for more information,” said one anonymous post including a Maine phone number, translated from Spanish.

“Home massages available 24 hours a day my WhatsApp [number] for the guys,” said another anonymous account.

Apparent prostitution and under-the-table work offers were not the only suspicious activity taking place in the group.

Marvin Antonio Chavez Tinoco offered to obtain Nicaraguan passports on the behalf of any Nicaraguan nationals in Maine and transport them back into the state.

It is clear from his other recent Facebook posts that he is traveling to Nicaragua in person and would thus be trafficking other people’s passports into the U.S.

“Nicaraguans in Maine who want to renew, get or apply for *PASSPORT* of Nicaragua, I bring them in a month, I can help you, write to me,” said Tinoco.

Any Nicaraguan national already living in Maine without a passport would necessarily have entered the country illegally, without the proper documentation.

According to his Facebook page, Tinoco currently lives in Lewiston.

Despite, or perhaps because of, apparent criminal activity and shady job offers in the group, it continues to gain new members at a rapid pace.