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Border Patrol agents arrest 11
By LANCE BENZEL
Of The Gazette Staff
U.S. Border Patrol agents in Billings on Thursday netted 11 Mexican nationals suspected of working illegally in Montana, federal officials said.
The group was arrested about 2 p.m. outside Golden Corral, 570 S. 24th St. W., as agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Billings station were on patrol, said Alex Harrington, a spokesman for the agency based in Havre.
The men - ranging in age from 18 to 33 - are being held at the county jail pending deportation.
The agents stopped to investigate after seeing a group of seven Hispanic men getting out of a minivan with out-of-state plates, Harrington said. The men identified themselves as Mexican nationals and said they were members of a construction crew working on a new medical facility in the area. As the agents investigated, a second group of men pulled into the parking lot. The agents interviewed the four and determined that they, too, were in Billings illegally. They said they worked on a painting crew.
"It was just a good day for our Border Patrol," Harrington said.
Another agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, will likely investigate to determine if local businesses hired the workers knowing they were in the U.S. illegally.
Johnny Walker, resident agent in charge at the ICE Office of Investigations in Great Falls, said on Friday that he had not yet been notified about the arrests.
"That's a fairly good-sized group for Montana," he said. "I'd say that's kind of rare."
The Havre Sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection encompasses Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and parts of Idaho. Most Border Patrol agents are detailed to the borders, though agents are posted in two substations: one in Billings and one in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Border Patrol agents arrest 11
By LANCE BENZEL
Of The Gazette Staff
U.S. Border Patrol agents in Billings on Thursday netted 11 Mexican nationals suspected of working illegally in Montana, federal officials said.
The group was arrested about 2 p.m. outside Golden Corral, 570 S. 24th St. W., as agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Billings station were on patrol, said Alex Harrington, a spokesman for the agency based in Havre.
The men - ranging in age from 18 to 33 - are being held at the county jail pending deportation.
The agents stopped to investigate after seeing a group of seven Hispanic men getting out of a minivan with out-of-state plates, Harrington said. The men identified themselves as Mexican nationals and said they were members of a construction crew working on a new medical facility in the area. As the agents investigated, a second group of men pulled into the parking lot. The agents interviewed the four and determined that they, too, were in Billings illegally. They said they worked on a painting crew.
"It was just a good day for our Border Patrol," Harrington said.
Another agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, will likely investigate to determine if local businesses hired the workers knowing they were in the U.S. illegally.
Johnny Walker, resident agent in charge at the ICE Office of Investigations in Great Falls, said on Friday that he had not yet been notified about the arrests.
"That's a fairly good-sized group for Montana," he said. "I'd say that's kind of rare."
The Havre Sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection encompasses Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and parts of Idaho. Most Border Patrol agents are detailed to the borders, though agents are posted in two substations: one in Billings and one in Twin Falls, Idaho.