October 4, 2007


Man arrested by Scotts Valley police to be deported
By JENNIFER SQUIRES
Sentinel staff writer


A Salvadorian man arrested by Scotts Valley police in late September will be deported, according to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Police stopped Jorge Alberto Monroy, 26, on Sept. 26 because the brake lights in the 1987 Toyota he was driving weren’t working properly. Monroy didn't have a driver's license or insurance, but when police ran his name through the national crime database, an ICE warrant popped up that required officers detain him for 38 hours, according to Lt. John Hohmann.

"He had previously been ordered removed by a judge," ICE spokesman Mike Gilhooly said.

When Monroy failed to leave the United States on his own, a federal warrant for his arrest and final order of removal was issued, according to ICE officials.

"Not every individual who is in immigration proceedings is in custody," Gilhooly said, explaining some illegal immigrants are given a window of time to leave the country and some, like Monroy, don't comply.

However, Monroy's arrest is unusual, according to authorities.

"It's a first for me under these circumstances," Hohmann said.

Monroy was not cited or arrested for an local crimes, which is usually required before someone is held for an immigration violation.

"Local law enforcement officers do not have the legal authority to enforce immigration law," said Virginia Kice, an ICE spokeswoman, explaining that local police only get involved in immigration violations when an ICE hold surfaces after someone has been booked into jail on other charges. "The hold tells the agency 'Don’t let this person go before you call us.'"

Then an ICE agent reviews the inmate’s history to determine if that person is in the country illegally and should be deported, Kice said.

In Monroy's case, a final deportation order already had been issued because he failed to leave the U.S. on his own, according to Gilhooly. That order acts like a warrant and local police must take the person into custody, he said.

Monroy was booked into County Jail and an ICE agent from the agency's San Francisco office came to Santa Cruz late last week to pick up him up. Monroy was taken to an undisclosed ICE facility and will be removed from the U.S. without appearing before an immigration judge because he has already exhausted his due process, Gilhooly said.

Details on Monroy's history, including how long he’d been in the United States, how he was first picked up by ICE and any criminal history were not available.

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