Officials: Mexican Immigrants Mistakenly Released

June 7, 2007

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is blaming a communications breakdown for the release of 10 Mexican immigrants who'd been detained at a checkpoint near Algodones.

They were in an SUV that was stopped at a DWI checkpoint last Friday on Interstate 25.

State police said they detained them after determining they didn't have permission to be in the Untied States.

Officers at the scene said they called the customs office in Albuquerque and were told there was no space for the immigrants to be held.

Officer Jose Salazar said he had no choice but to let the immigrants go.

A customs spokeswoman, Leticia Zamarripa, said there was space to detain the immigrants.

She said the agency is taking steps to ensure the incident isn't repeated.

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