8/20/2008 1:22:00 PM

In this Dec. 12, 2007 file photo, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., listens during the Des Moines Register Republican Presidential Debate in Johnston, Iowa. (File photo by Charlie Neibergall/AP)

Tancredo: Immigration stop points out system's woes

By Adam Goldstein
The Aurora Sentinel

AURORA | An incident early this month where Aurora police let 13 suspected illegal immigrants go because federal authorities wouldn't pick the suspects up illustrates an inadequate immigration system, according to a local congressman.

"This happens all the time," T.Q. Houlton, a spokesman for U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo, said of the Aug. 6 incident on Interstate 70. "It just shows that we have a broken immigration system that needs to be fixed."

Police say that the incident started at about 9:20 a.m. on I-70 near Tower Road.

An Aurora police officer pulled over a red Dodge minivan for speeding and, according to the police report, the officer found a driver and 13 passengers in the van.

All 13 told police they were picked up in Mexico two days earlier by a man offering to get them work in Kansas.

Officers arrested the driver, Valente Cantoral-Herrera, 33, on suspicion of human smuggling and assault charges for allegedly injuring one of the Aurora officers who tried to take him into custody.

But when police tried to get federal authorities to pick up the passengers, they didn't have any luck.

Officers at the scene called the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to come pick up the suspected illegal immigrants, but were told the federal agency didn't have the resources to respond.

Carl Rusnok, a spokesman for the agency, said federal authorities couldn't respond because they had other tasks they were working on.

"They couldn't pull those people off in order to take care of that," he said.

Rusnok said incidents like this happen rarely, though he couldn't say how often because he does not track those numbers.

"ICE works very hard to respond to all of the calls we get from local law enforcement," he said.

Officer Javen Harper said in his report that after it was clear ICE wasn't going to respond, he tried to contact the Colorado State Patrol's immigration unit. The unit, which launched in July 2007, has 22 members statewide who are tasked with working in conjunction with ICE to crackdown on human smuggling in Colorado.

But like with ICE, Harper had no luck with CSP.

"I then inquired about the CSP task force that was formed for this issue," Harper wrote in his report. "They only act as a type of liaison between police and ICE."

Sgt. John Hahn, a State Patrol spokesman, said the state patrol didn't have the resources to respond to the call.

"This is a problem for all of us in law enforcement. If we responded to every call, it would require resources we don't have," he said.

Eventually, Aurora police had to let the group go.

They were last seen walking south, away from I-70.

"It's certainly our position we want to work with (ICE). But, as a local agency, we are not in the business of enforcing immigration law," said Aurora police spokesman Detective Bob Friel.

Houlton said Tancredo would support local jurisdictions changing their laws so they can have more of an impact on illegal immigration.

"At the same time, it needs to be followed up by a federal presence to prosecute them," he said.

The best solution, Houlton said, is for the federal government to pass tougher immigration laws.

"Unfortunately," he said, "we have a federal government that doesn't seem completely interested in enforcing immigration laws."

KMGH-Channel 7 contributed to this report.



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