Federal officials tell police: Release illegal immigrants
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/ne ... 6046&rfi=6
08/08/2006
Federal officials tell police: Release illegal immigrants
BY ROBERT KALINOWSKI
STAFF WRITER
BUTLER TOWNSHIP — Police said they temporarily detained four illegal immigrants Sunday afternoon on Interstate 80 in Butler Township, but had to let them go.
Federal immigration officials told state troopers they did not wish to take action, and the Mexican nationals had to be released, state police at Hazleton said.
“If they’re not wanted for a crime, sometimes they (immigration officials) don’t want them,” state police Cpl. Richard Verbonitz said.
According to state police, a trooper encountered the four illegal immigrants around 2:55 p.m., when their vehicle broke down along the highway’s westbound lanes near mile marker 262.
The trooper called the regional office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement but was told the agency was not interested in picking up the illegal immigrants, police said.
Police then had to let the illegal immigrants go.
It was unknown from where the group was traveling.
A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said she was not immediately aware of specific details about the Butler Township incident but did say there are times when agency officials have to decide whether or not to respond to a call from police.