posted 07-18-2002 03:28 PM            

TULSA -- Sheriff's deputies detained then released 18 suspected illegal immigrants Wednesday at the request of federal immigration authorities, the department said.
A deputy stopped a van about 3:30 a.m. along Interstate 244 near downtown Tulsa for a missing taillight and found the immigrants from Mexico inside, Capt. Bill Bass said.

Two of the immigrants, including one who had a Texas driver's license but said he was an illegal alien, were driving the other 16 Mexican nationals from Houston to New York or Chicago, Bass said.

"They had no documentation whatsoever," Bass said. "They all admitted they didn't have green cards."

Bass said deputies contacted the Immigration and Naturalization Service, who told them to detain all 18. After two hours, the INS asked the department to let them all go, Bass said.

"They said they didn't want them and asked us to release them," Bass said, adding that he was dissatisfied with the INS explanation.

The INS regional office in Dallas did not immediately return a phone call.

Bass said deputies "have no clue" where the immigrants, all males including three juveniles, went after their release. The 16 allegedly being transported told deputies they had been in the country about 24 hours, he said.

Bass said one of the immigrants had a Maryland driver's license, but it had been suspended long ago and was held together with tape.

The department will present its findings to the U.S. Attorney's office in hopes of initiating an investigation, he said.

posted 08-25-2002 09:31 PM            

Flight Of The Phoenix -
From Vietnam To Homeland Security

An Open Letter To Maj. Gen. Bruce Lawlor,
Office Of Homeland Security