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 ?