Thread: IA: Busy Season for Illegals on I-35

Busy Season for Illegals on I-35

by Anthony Welsch
Apr 19, 2007
KIMT NewsChannel 3
Tis' the season for the Iowa State Patrol to nab illegal immigrants along

I-35 in North Iowa.

Wednesday, the State Patrol took 14 undocumented immigrants to the Clear Lake Police Department where Immigrations and Customs Enforcement took them into custody.

"It looked like 4 people going down the interstate," Lt. Bill Hon of the Iowa State Patrol said.

Once the patrolmen approached the vehicle, it was a different story.

Inside, seats were removed and the inside of the van was stuffed with people.

Lt. Bill Hon, of the Iowa State Patrol says they were traveling in a 1999 Green Plymouth Voyageur "all crammed in there". All 14 people inside the van, including the driver said they were headed north from Tennessee. They were all idenfied as Mexicans by the Iowa State Patrol.

"On any given day you can find three or four vehicle loads, but somedays you don't see any," Hon, with Mason City's Post 8 said.

He says this time of year they see a spike in the number of illegal aliens passing through North Iowa into Southern Minnesota. He believes it's related to agricultural jobs.

The group in the Green mini-van isn't the only bust they've had this week.

Tuesday, the State Patrol got a call from a traveler on I-35 near the mile

193 mile marker. The traveler saw a taxi-cab with Kansas license plates that they felt looked suspicious.

The State Patrol pulled the cab over. Inside, they found a legal driver who was hired by undocumented workers to take them north.

The six undocumented aliens were released, ICE officials didn't make the trip from Des Moines to take them into custody.

"If we can give them 8-10, that's typically how they like them," Hon said.

He believes the pipeline runs through Nashville, TN and uses the interstate system to get into Minnesota. Each undocumented worker is paying roughtly $2-3000 to travel across the country, according to Hon.

http://www.kimt.com/news/local/7090906.html

The six undocumented aliens were released, ICE officials didn't make the trip from Des Moines to take them into custody.

Why aren't the people in Iowa raising hell about this?

ICE claims they're too busy tracking down illegals that have committed greater crimes than just crossing our border illegally.