Thread: Illegal Immigrants in Maine

Ellsworth: Police detain suspected illegal immigrants
By Eric Russell
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 - Bangor Daily News


ELLSWORTH - For the third time since August, a group of suspected illegal immigrants was detained in the city, this time after a routine traffic stop.

Three men were arrested and taken Sunday to Bangor, where they were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Seven other men will be questioned to determine whether they have committed an administrative immigration violation, according to an ICE spokeswoman in Boston.

"We’ll make a determination about their status, but I can’t speculate as to whether they will be charged," Paula Grenier said Monday by telephone.

The three other men likely will be held in Bangor or Boston until a hearing, at which point they could be deported, she said.

On Sunday afternoon, Ellsworth police Officer Chad Wilmot stopped a van with Pennsylvania plates after noticing a broken window.

The driver produced only a Mexican license for identification, and Wilmot noticed several other men inside the van, police Lt. Harold Page said Monday.

None of the other nine men had proper identification.

The driver and two others were arrested and turned over to customs officials. The rest were instructed to meet with ICE representatives this week, Grenier said.

Page said he didn’t know if the men were living in Maine but they told Wilmot they were working at an area wreath factory.

Police didn’t know which employer or whether the employer would be charged. Neighboring Washington County is a large producer of holiday wreaths.

Grenier said employers are monitored regularly and can face sanctions if they are found to employ illegal immigrants. She declined to comment on any specific investigations.

Ellsworth has seen a rise in the number of illegal immigrants living in or passing through town, Page said.

"It’s not really anything we can keep an extra eye on," he said. "We’re not out there actively looking for them. In this case, they were just driving through town and happened to be stopped."

Nearly the same thing happened in early August when five Mexican migrant workers were arrested after a van carrying them was stopped for not having a license plate.

None of the passengers spoke English, prompting Ellsworth police to call immigration officials.

Later that month, 15 suspected illegal immigrants were found living in a residence on Water Street in Ellsworth.

In that case, fire officials responding to an unpermitted burn spoke with a man who spoke little English.

The conversation led to a search of the house where police found several more Mexican men, none of whom could provide valid identification.


http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/t/h ... zoneid=178

The rest were instructed to meet with ICE representatives this week, Grenier said.

Im sure they will be there. Can the city government sue the fedral gov. If any of those who dont show commit a crime. Seems like pemeditated negligence to me.

Where there are jobs there are illegals. They seem to think they job preference over everyone else.