Thread: Illegal Immigration Hits Close to Home

http://www.wtap.com/news/headlines/7808737.html

It's an issue with no clear solution, and one that has divided a nation. And now, illegal immigration has a local impact.

"I mean there's proper ways to get a pass to come in here, but at the same time if I lived in Mexico, and I wanted to better myself, then I'd probably do anything I ever could to get into the United States," says Gene Butler, owner of the Roadhouse Steakhouse.

Saturday morning, Wood County Sheriffs Deputies received a call from the Department of Labor, located in Charleston.

"They wanted to investigate the new Holiday Inn Express going in out at Mineral Wells, they had received a tip and had information that there were possible workers there, that were illegal immigrants into our country," says Sgt. Dave Westfall of the Wood County Sheriffs Department.

What the officers found were five men believed to be illegal immigrants, working what they say were 16 hour days, seven days a week to build the Holiday Inn Express.

Three of the men were apprehended at the site, but two - 31-year-old Fransisco Cartageha and 33-year-old Jorge Caruajal - ran.

"First off, these are normally not violent people, they're more afraid of us than anything they ran just cause they were scared, and we understand that. The two that fled ran from the building across the interstate, we chased them on foot they went through the truck stop and were apprehended behind the truck stop, back in the wooded area. Once I found where they were at in the woods, we put a perimeter around that area and basically I just walked in and they surrendered to me without saying anything," says Westfall.

Butler says he understands the plight of the two men, but like many Americans, he has trouble offering a solution to a growing problem.

"It's not like a big crime was created here, I mean but at the same time we've got people on welfare, that need jobs and whatnot, but at the same time, too, its me as being an employer, I have a hard time getting employees to work. Its a, a who wins, you know?" he says.

Both Cartageha and Caruajal are out on bond tonight. They are facing charges of fleeing police and obstructing officers. The other three men at the site were taken into custody by the Department of Labor.

Butler says he understands the plight of the two men

Time to check out Roadhouse Steakhouse, ICE.

Both Cartageha and Caruajal are out on bond tonight. They are facing charges of fleeing police and obstructing officers. The other three men at the site were taken into custody by the Department of Labor.

What's the DL going to do with them? Turn them loose just like the sheriff's department?