More than a dozen arrested by Border Patrol in western North Dakota

By April Baumgarten Today at 4:50 p.m.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended more than a dozen on suspicion of being in the country illegally earlier this week in western North Dakota.

Border Patrol agents from the Grand Forks Sector took 15 people into custody between Sunday and Tuesday in several North Dakota cities, including Arnegard, Battleview, New Town and Watford City, Border Patrol spokesman Ryan Gilberg wrote in an email. He said the agency could not release the identities of the subjects but confirmed they were Mexican nationals that did not have "the proper immigration documents that would allow them to enter, live in or work in the United States legally."

"The U.S. Border Patrol and local law enforcement agencies routinely work together to secure the border and keep our communities safe," he wrote, adding not all of the subjects were arrested during the same encounter.


The Border Patrol transported the immigrants to the Grand Forks County Correctional Center, where they were booked early Tuesday morning. The subjects were eventually turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Gilberg said.


The 15 are Ignacio Estrada-Reyes, 56, Luis Rodriguez-Aguado, 19, Martin Cervantes-Alvarez, 18, Jesus Salas-Ortiz, 21, Sergio Jose-Antonio, 29, Luis Enrique Briones-Salas, 18, Jose Sanchez-Arredondo, 19, Ramiro Alonzo-Garcia, 35, Juan Villela-Briones, 22, Guillermo Rodriguez-Aguado, 22, Benjamin Sanchez-Lopez, 32, Jose De Jesus Araiza-Rodriguez, 22, Victor Alvarez-Arteaga, 21, Juan Luis Arce-Rios, 21, and Angel Sanchez-Castellon, 34.


An intake list for the Grand Forks County Corrections Center shows the Border Patrol also apprehended Eduardo Alvarez-Sanchez, 19, and Francisco Retiz-Guzman, 28, both whom were booked around 3 p.m. Monday on illegal immigration charges. ICE also booked Ernesto Delacruz-Jimenez, 46, around 6 p.m. Monday into the jail.


None of the suspects except Retiz-Guzman had been charged with illegal immigration as of 2 p.m. Thursday. Retiz-Guzman was arrested Sunday in Battleview after officers responded to a noise complaint in Evergreens Trailer Park, according to court records. Several other subjects were apprehended on suspicion of illegal immigration, but court records did not identify them.


It's not typical to apprehend so many immigrants in North Dakota who are in the U.S. illegally, Gilberg said.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/news...n-north-dakota