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Van full of illegals nabbed |
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Tuesday, 29 April 2008 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Staff Writer
WAYNESFIELD — Ten illegal immigrants were transported out of Auglaize County after a routine traffic stop Saturday night by officers with the Waynesfield Police Department.
The men, ranging in age from 20 to 39, were from El Salvador, Mexico and Honduras, and were traveling through the area from Lima, where they were doing roof work, to Indian Lake, where they were staying until the contract job was complete. They all listed residences in the Columbus area.
Waynesfield Police Lt. Nathan Motter said he had seen the van they were driving, which had no tail lights go through town previously when he was off duty. When he stopped it at 10:40 p.m. Saturday in the 300 block of Wapakoneta Street he got suspicious when the driver of the vehicle and passenger handed him international identification from the same country that looked completely different.
Five of the men were in the van that Motter stopped. A Honda Civic following, with another five men inside, also stopped.
After conversations with Immigration Custom Enforcement officials out of Cleveland (ICE) Motter said all 10 men were determined to be illegal aliens and were transported with the assistance of deputies from the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office to the Auglaize County Jail, where they remained until Monday morning.
Holders were placed on them so they would not be released until immigration officials could arrive, Motter said.
Auglaize County Sheriff Al Solomon said checks also were made to make sure the men were not wanted in connection with any crimes.
“We don’t get illegal immigrants here a lot,” Solomon said. “We deal with it some, but ICE handles most of it.”
Motter said the individuals involved were all very cooperative and courteous.
“They were somewhat confused,” Motter said. “Most of them thought they were here legally on work permits, but some of those had expired. Some of the men had been here several years illegally, others were here just a couple of months illegally.”
Motter said the man who hired the men also believed they were in the U.S. legally as they had identification and tax numbers.
Both vehicles also were registered through the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Motter said in addition to international licenses, several of the men also had motor vehicle operator’s licenses from different states, including Colorado and Florida.
Five of the men were from El Salvador, three from Mexico and two from Honduras, but Motter said that was not necessarily what was reflected on their identification.
“This is the first time I’ve ever run into this situation,” Motter said. “You typically don’t encounter this type of problem in Waynesfield. With two state routes going through, it wouldn’t surprise me, but this is the first time we’ve encountered it.” |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 05 May 2008 )
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