If you are an illegal alien with a criminal record hiding in a small rural Nevada town it might not be a great idea to serve alcohol at a party to under aged high school girls.
At least that is what several men now awaiting deportation found out last week in Ely.
“The arrests weren’t part of any I.C.E. program,” explained White Pine county Under Sheriff Scott Henroid. “Actually we called in Immigration. We were noticing a distinct up tick in minor crimes and violations such as driving without a license not carrying insurance and the most troubling to a lot of us, there was a noticeable increase of under aged girls being given alcohol.
We and the other agencies in the joint task force (Shoshone Tribal Police and the NHP) decided to nip this in the bud. We did the preliminary work and then called in Immigration. The operation went smoothly and quietly.”
Situated at the crossroads of US 93 and US 50, Ely has long been a way station for contraband such as drugs and stolen goods for criminals seeking to avoid the more heavily patrolled inter-states.
“A lot of people think they have a better chance of not getting caught by not traveling on the interstate,” said one law enforcement source who declined to be identified. ”They think by sticking to the secondary roads and small towns they can avoid big city cops. They might be right if they are just passing through. On the other hand if they do stick around for any length of time they stick out like sore thumbs. Small town cops know everyone and strangers with no visible means of support are bound to raise some eye brows.”
According to White Pine County Sheriff Dan Watts ICE agents and local law enforcement detained about a dozen men identified as illegal aliens: Edward Aguilar; Urbano Aguilar; Mario A. Flores- Gonzalez; Yilmar Lopez- Hernandez ; Alber L. Lopez-Herrera; Roy Rosas-Montes; Marcos Robles-Partida; Francis Hurtado-Ramirez; Pedro Robles; Fernando Marquez-Roman; Luis Ramos-Roman; Isreal Topete. Most were Mexican nationals, Watts said.
The stealth arrests differed markedly from last July’s full scale raid in Wendover where about a dozen I.C.E. agents armed with military assault rifles backed up by police and sheriff’s deputies and helicopter spent descended on the Nevada/Utah border town.
For 13 hours I.C.E. made its presence obvious in Wendover, conducting impromptu road blocks, raiding local businesses and homes all the while its helicopter circled the town from sun up to sun down.
Just by the numbers Wendover’s raid was far less successful than the Ely operation.
Despite being more than double the population of ely and having an illegal alien population number near 1,000 I.C.E. arrested just eight men, all of whom have since been deported.
Conducted on a Saturday this June, the raid also disrupted one of the busiest tourist weekends of the year in a year when the gaming industry was suffering one of its worst years in recent history.
“If I was illegal and I woke up to an I.C.E. helicopter circling my house or saw men armed with assault rifles patrolling my street I would not go to work that day or even leave my house,” said one lawman who declined to be identified. “Heck even if I was legal I would have taken the day off.”