WSBTV.com

Cops Forced To Release Illegals After Traffic Stop

POSTED: 9:49 am EST March 8, 2007
UPDATED: 10:08 am EST March 8, 2007

MORGANTON, N.C. -- Police knew they were breaking the law, but were forced Wednesday to release 11 illegal immigrants pulled over during a traffic stop.

Burke County, N.C. authorities pulled over a sport utility vehicle packed with immigrants on I-40.

A deputy pulled the vehicle over because he couldn't read the license tag. Inside he found 11 immigrants, including a one month old baby.

The Hispanics said they were going to New York from Arizona to look for work. The group had been traveling for 10 days, barely stopping. Deputies found bottles filled with urine in the back of the SUV. The only identification they carried were voter registration cards from Mexico. They told the deputy they are in the country illegally.

Deputy Brandon Crotts says he alerted immigration officials, but was told to let them all go because they didn't have agents available to propery check the people's immigration status.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Richard Rocha said deputies in the Burke County Sheriff's Office haven't been properly trained to determine anyone's immigration status. He said only ICE agents or officers who have received ICE training can make that determination.

So the immigrants were simply released and allowed to continue on their journey.

"I understand the constraints of the criminal justice system -- everybody can't be taken care of, but I at least made my attempts and contacted the proper agencies and let them take care of the matter from there," Crotts said.

Mecklenburg County has a program in place to deport captured illegal immigrants. Sheriff's deputies at the jail are trained to identify illegal immigrants and start the deportation process.

More than 1,000 illegal immigrants have already been deported through the program. Gaston County started the same program last month.

Burke County is not using the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program. Deputies say they have enough problems finding room for inmates. They say the jail is almost always at capacity, forcing inmates to sleep on the floor.

A county panel is trying to find ways to increase capacity. Experts say crowded jails increase the risk for violence, escape attempts and inmate deaths.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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