Bus driver error results in detention of 50 Mexican immigrants at Canadian border

on July 26, 2013 at 7:01 PM, updated July 26, 2013 at 7:15 PM
By Gus Burns
mlive.com

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The Ambassador Bridge (File Photo | The Associated Press)

DETROIT — The bus driver made a mistake; there was no turning back.

Fifty Mexican immigrants, none of them documented citizens and only three with Green Cards, were on a bus from the Hispanic Center in Grand Rapids destined for the Mexican Consulate in Detroit Thursday when they found themselves unexpectedly under the scrutiny of Canadian border officials.

Ariel Moutsatsos, the minister of press for the Embassy of Mexico in Washington D.C., says the bus driver "made the wrong decision" and inadvertently took the highway onto the the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit to Windsor, Ontario. Once on the bridge, vehicles must cross over to Canada Customs.

Fourty-seven of the 50 passengers were detained temporarily but have since been released, said Moutsatsos. Forty-one, 10 of them minors, received notices to appear for migratory status hearings in the U.S. and could face deportation, he said.

Three others remained jailed due to criminal records. One of the detained had a warrant for a previous attempt to enter the U.S. without proper documentation.

Moutsatsos did not know the previous crimes of the other two jailed immigrants.

They are being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and an Mexico Embassy-provided attorneys plans to meet with them Monday, said Moutsatsos.

He said the bus was a service provided by the Grand Rapids agency and the passengers were headed to the Mexican Consulate to tend to various documentation needs.

MLive Detroit was unable to reach the Canadian Border Services Agency, Mexican Consulate or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment Friday afternoon.

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