ICE confirms arrests of illegal immigrants
By DANIEL LOPEZ
Herald Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 09/13/2008 01:32:34 AM PDT

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials confirmed Friday that 15 undocumented immigrants — 10 men and five women — were arrested in Greenfield on Thursday.

ICE officers with a Fugitive Operations Team were in the area searching for people who had final deportation orders but ignored them and remained in the United States, ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley said.

Six of those arrested Thursday morning had such deportation orders, she said. The other nine were not wanted but were arrested when it was discovered they were in the country illegally.

All of those arrested were from Mexico and all but one had been deported, she said. The man who remained in custody Friday was being held at the ICE office in San Jose. ICE did not identify those arrested.

"These are administrative arrests so we don't give names," Haley said.

One of the people arrested had a prior criminal record, she said. Details of the offense were not released.

Greenfield Police Chief Joe Grebmeier said Thursday that the families of some city residents who were unable to find their relatives called police.

Grebmeier said ICE agents contacted his department but said they were doing surveillance in preparation for issuing search warrants. On Friday, Grebmeier said he still did not know who ICE agents had arrested.

Daniel Lopez can be reached at 646-4494 or dlopez@montereyherald.com.
http://www.montereyherald.com/national/ci_10455227