Thread: Illegal Immigrants Arrested in Ohio County, WV

Illegal Immigrants Arrested in Ohio County, WV
Posted Thursday, March 8, 2007 ; 12:42 PM
Updated Thursday, March 8, 2007 ; 01:22 PM

Ohio County Sheriff's deputies arrest three illegal immigrants.

http://www.wtrf.com:80/story.cfm?func=v ... ryid=21061
Story by Stacy Rich Email | Bio

WHEELING, WV -- Three illegal immigrants were arrested late Wednesday at the Target store at the Highlands.

The suspects, who were working the graveyard shift, were cleaning the store when one accidentally tripped an alarm. That's when Ohio County Sheriff's deputies discovered several illegal immigrants, none of whom spoke English.

Ohio County Sheriff Tom Burgoyne said police in the county have encountered 93 illegal immigrants in the last 20 months. One of the people arrested told an officer who is fluent in Spanish that they had come from Mexico and paid $2,000 for the trip to Washington, Pa. While there, they were employed by Prestige Maintenance.

Deputies said they were from Guatemala, but had come the U.S. via Mexico.

Cases like these are why Burgoyne said he is pleased with progress of an undocumented worker's bill working its way through the state Legislature. The bill carries tougher penalties for companies that employ illegals.

Burgoyne said the first offense would be a misdemeanor. The second offense would be a felony and would carry a fine of up to $10,000 dollars. The bill also states that anybody who supplies false information concerning their employees could also be fined.

Currently, the law only allows a fine of $1,000 per illegal worker.

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So. why doesn't the sheriff turn his evidence over to ICE ?

I called the Sheriff's office. They did report this to ICE and turned over the illegal aliens IDs. The deputy didn't know if the employer was to be inverstigated by ICE, but the Dept. of Labor was to visit the company today.

Does anyone know which ICE office covers Wheeling, WV ?

Originally Posted by magyart

I called the Sheriff's office. They did report this to ICE and turned over the illegal aliens IDs. The deputy didn't know if the employer was to be inverstigated by ICE, but the Dept. of Labor was to visit the company today.

Does anyone know which ICE office covers Wheeling, WV ?

Thems my old stoppin grounds, but I don't know the answer to your question.

I spoke with my chief of police to find out what the protocol is with ICE. He said that ICE informed him that they are so overwhelmed that they do not want to be contacted about illegals unless a felony is committed. And even then, they won't respond most often.

Nice huh?

Originally Posted by anniealone

Originally Posted by magyart

I called the Sheriff's office. They did report this to ICE and turned over the illegal aliens IDs. The deputy didn't know if the employer was to be inverstigated by ICE, but the Dept. of Labor was to visit the company today.

Does anyone know which ICE office covers Wheeling, WV ?

Thems my old stoppin grounds, but I don't know the answer to your question.

I spoke with my chief of police to find out what the protocol is with ICE. He said that ICE informed him that they are so overwhelmed that they do not want to be contacted about illegals unless a felony is committed. And even then, they won't respond most often.

Nice huh?

I not as concerned about ICE following up with the illegal aliens as with the employer. The employer needs prosecuted. Target should fire them and audit the rest of their stores.

So, I wonder if ICE is too overwhelmed to follow up with the employer ?

maygart wrote:

I called the Sheriff's office. They did report this to ICE and turned over the illegal aliens IDs. The deputy didn't know if the employer was to be inverstigated by ICE, but the Dept. of Labor was to visit the company today.

A lot of good that will do.

Ice probably is overwhelmed, that's why local law enforcement needs to get involved! Getting involved means a little more than just taking their ID cards. They should have locked these folks up until ICE could respond. Local law enforcement agencies can demand ICE pickup of criminal aliens. If ICE were to refuse, wouldn't that be the same as aiding and abetting illegal aliens?

Are we to assume these ID cards were issued by the Mexican Consulate? They weren't legal driver's licenses were they?