Illegal immigrants stretch police thin
Published: 03/23/2006 09:57 AM
By: Associated Press - Associated Press
DES MOINES, IA - Immigrants in the country illegally have been apprehended in nine incidents around central Iowa since October, stretching thin some police resources, authorities said.

In fiscal year 2005, there were 265 illegal immigrants apprehended in 22 incidents in the area, said Tim Counts, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Just this week in Dallas County, authorities stopped a sport utility vehicle carrying 13 undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Agents said an investigation is underway to determine whether the driver is part of a broader smuggling ring.

The occupants of the SUV may have been traveling to the Phoenix area, Counts said. They are now in federal custody.

Counts said federal authorities have to watch their resources and prioritize which suspects to apprehend. Local officials along Interstate 80 have said they feel burdened by the number of undocumented people traveling through Iowa.

Earlier this month, two men from Mexico were discovered on I-80 with 95 pounds of a substance resembling marijuana. They were released by Cass County authorities who did not want to pay medical bills for one man complaining of back and neck pain. Federal authorities also didn't want to charge the men.

"Why should the county bear responsibility when they could be turned over to the federal authorities?" Cass County Sheriff Bill Sage said. "If someone says that they need a doctor, we're obligated to give them a doctor. We said to the federal authorities, 'You take them to the doctor at your expense, because Cass County cannot afford this. It's a burden on us.' "

Such incidences are a frequent occurrence across the United States, said John Vinson of Americans for Immigration Control, a Virginia-based organization that advocates for restricted levels of immigration.

"It reflects the breakdown of our internal enforcement system," he said, adding that Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers "are overwhelmed."

"I think if we have laws on the books, we ought to enforce them," he said.