Agents bust 68 illegal immigrants in downtown hotel

May 31, 2007 05:09 PM PDT

EL PASO, Tx. - Federal agents busted dozens of undocumented immigrants staying in a Downtown hotel.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials descended on the Gateway Hotel at 104 South Stanton around 12:30 this afternoon.

ICE Spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa tells ABC-7 that agents received a tip Thursday morning that more than 50 illegal immigrants were staying at the hotel. A short time later, agents with the Border Enforcement and Security Taskforce (BEST) arrived and led several men and women into the back of immigration vans.

BEST is made up of agents and officers from The Border Patrol, ICE, and the El Paso County Sheriff's Department.

Initially, officials stated they found around 50 immigrants, however, the number eventually totaled 68.

ABC-7 has learned most of the immigrants are Mexican. Two of the immigrants were from Nicaragua and three were under the age of 18.

ICE officials believe many of them were waiting to be transported to the interior of the United States.

Zamarripa tells ABC-7, "This is traditionally the time of year where we see a lot of illegal aliens crossing the border...as the summer approaches our agents get really busy with this type of activity."

According to ABC-7 archives, this is the third time ICE agents have found undocumented immigrants at that hotel in the last 15 months. In total, 200 immigrants have been found at the hotel.

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