Police standoff with family facing deportation ends peacefully
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/ ... ation.html
By Rhonda Swan, Ana Ceron

Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

Thursday, February 01, 2007

UPDATED: 2:17 p.m. February 01, 2007

RIVIERA BEACH — A police standoff with a family facing deportation ended peacefully about 9:45 a.m.

Luis Hernando Camelo surrendered to immigration officials along with his wife, Norha Guaza. Their daughter was allowed to stay behind with the family's attorney.p>

Police had blocked off a section of the Thousand Oaks development for several hours as they tried to to persuade the family from Colombia to cooperate with immigration officials.




Agents from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement came to the home at 2114 Oakmont about 6:30 a.m. with orders to remove the family, police said. Camelo answered the door but refused to cooperate. He told the agents his family would not surrender until talking to their lawyer and closed the door.

Camelo is a former Colombian police office. Immigrations officials said they called police for backup as a precaution in case Camelo was armed. Authorities later determined he was not armed.

Some neighbors were evacuated during the standoff but others were told to stay indoors, and the street was blocked to incoming traffic.

In the home with Camelo were his wife, Norha Guaza, and their 9-year-old daughter, police said. The family had been ordered to return to Colombia in 2003 but appealed. A judge ruled against them in July 2004 but they have refused to cooperate, authorities said.