Arrests of foreigners sparks concerns of anti-illegal immigration groups

Aug 21, 2007 6:58 PM (38 mins ago)
by Kathleen Miller, The Examiner

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - High-profile arrests of people from other countries, some of unclear immigration status, are fueling anti-illegal immigration group concerns that the Washington region is a haven for illegal immigrants. Pro-immigrant activists, meanwhile, say the claims are transparent attempts to link immigrants to crime.

Last week, Manuel De Jesus Gonzalez-Geronimo, a 31-year-old Guatemalan who said he was residing in Hyattsville without papers turned himself in for a hit-and-run crash on Route 29 in Burtonsville that killed two construction workers and injured three others.

Last Saturday, two Hispanic suspects in the grisly New Jersey schoolyard murders of three people and wounding of a fourth were arrested in the Washington area.

On Tuesday, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Mike Gilhooly said he could not confirm the immigration status of one of them, a 16-year-old arrested in Woodbridge, but that ICE is working with local authorities on it.

“My comment is that Maryland in particular is becoming a sanctuary,â€