20 arrested on immigration charges


First published: Tuesday, March 13, 2007

COLONIE -- Twenty suspected illegal immigrants from Central America were arrested by Albany County sheriff's officials on Monday following a traffic stop on Central Avenue.

Law enforcement officials said the men, most of whom are from Honduras, have been working at a construction site near Fuller Road for the past several weeks. The men told police they are paid $8 per hour by a Georgia construction firm.

The arrests took place after a sheriff's investigator on his way home in an unmarked vehicle stopped a car with Georgia plates about 4 p.m. near the Northway. It's not clear what led to the stop. The investigator discovered the driver and four passengers had identification that appeared to be forged, authorities said.

The men were questioned and investigators then went to a nearby motel -- Best Value Inn -- where they arrested more than a dozen other immigrants, an official said.

The group is being processed by federal immigration agents in Latham, and sheriff's deputies said they expected most of the men to be detained at Albany County jail pending deportation proceedings.

The car being driven by one of the men had been purchased in Georgia for cash, authorities said.

Additional details were not available late Monday.

-- Brendan Lyons

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/st ... =3/13/2007