19 Illegal Immigrants Found In Back Of Pickup Truck
Sallisaw Officer Detains Mexican Citizens During Routine Traffic Stop
2005
SALLISAW, Okla. -- A Sallisaw police officer found 19 illegal immigrants in the back of a pickup truck Wednesday morning during a routine traffic stop.
The officer stopped the truck on Interstate 40 after seeing it pull onto the highway without stopping. After speaking to four people in the cab, the officer discovered 15 people lying shoulder-to-shoulder and on top of each other under a tarp inside the truck bed.
Sallisaw Police Chief Shaloa Edwards said the officer immediately suspected that the people has entered the U.S. illegally.
"There's a lot of smugglers that go along Interstate 40," Edwards said. "It's a major pipeline for drugs and also for illegals."
All 19 people were taken to the Sallisaw Police Department. Edwards said the men and women were exhausted and hungry.
"We got them water and let them rest," he said.
Silvia McGee, a translator, was brought in to help communicate with the people who were found in the truck. McGee said the men and women tell her that they are from Mexico and were traveling from Arizona to Tennessee to find work.
"They're desperate," McGee said. "They want to find a means for their families."
Federal agents said all 19 are illegal immigrants. They are now in the custody of Immigration Customs Enforcement officials in Oklahoma City.
Agents said that if all 19 admit to being in the country illegally, they will be sent to Mexico on voluntary departure. Those who do not admit to being in the country illegally will be required to plead their cases before an immigration judge, officials said.
http://www.thehometownchannel.com/news/4481481/detail.html
Sallisaw Officer Detains Mexican Citizens During Routine Traffic Stop
2005
SALLISAW, Okla. -- A Sallisaw police officer found 19 illegal immigrants in the back of a pickup truck Wednesday morning during a routine traffic stop.
The officer stopped the truck on Interstate 40 after seeing it pull onto the highway without stopping. After speaking to four people in the cab, the officer discovered 15 people lying shoulder-to-shoulder and on top of each other under a tarp inside the truck bed.
Sallisaw Police Chief Shaloa Edwards said the officer immediately suspected that the people has entered the U.S. illegally.
"There's a lot of smugglers that go along Interstate 40," Edwards said. "It's a major pipeline for drugs and also for illegals."
All 19 people were taken to the Sallisaw Police Department. Edwards said the men and women were exhausted and hungry.
"We got them water and let them rest," he said.
Silvia McGee, a translator, was brought in to help communicate with the people who were found in the truck. McGee said the men and women tell her that they are from Mexico and were traveling from Arizona to Tennessee to find work.
"They're desperate," McGee said. "They want to find a means for their families."
Federal agents said all 19 are illegal immigrants. They are now in the custody of Immigration Customs Enforcement officials in Oklahoma City.
Agents said that if all 19 admit to being in the country illegally, they will be sent to Mexico on voluntary departure. Those who do not admit to being in the country illegally will be required to plead their cases before an immigration judge, officials said.
http://www.thehometownchannel.com/news/4481481/detail.html