Feds release illegal alien suspected of welfare fraud in Pennsylvania

May 9th, 2011 5:15 pm ET

By Dave Gibson
Immigration Reform Examiner

On Monday, state and local officials in Pennsylvania held a press conference to announce their displeasure with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), after the agency failed to issue a detainer on an illegal alien arrested last week by Beaver Meadows Police Chief Mike Morresi.

The suspect, Oswaldo Tlamis-Perez, 30, was pulled over by Chief Morresi on Route 93 for speeding. When asked for his identification, the driver presented a Mexican voter registration card and ACCESS welfare benefit cards from two different states.

Tlamis-Perez admitted to being in the country illegally for the past six years, and charged with speeding and driving without a license.

When Chief Morresi contacted ICE, he was told to release the illegal alien.

State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-122, said he and the other local officials are not happy with the way Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials handled the arrest of a man stopped last week by Beaver Meadows police for speeding and found to be an illegal alien.

Following news of the incident, Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) wrote the following note to ICE officials: “Please tell me what policy, if any, ICE uses to determine how to detain illegal aliens who have violated the law and are in our country illegally. If the illegal immigrant does not possess a valid U.S. address, how does ICE account for their whereabouts if they refuse to respond to the charges that are filed? Furthermore, if an illegal immigrant is in the country illegally and taking advantage of public benefits, is ICE required to notify the proper governmental agencies?â€