Federal law enforcement officers say they have arrested several illegal immigrants following traffic stops in Macomb County’s two largest cities this month.
According to the U.S. Border Patrol Marysville Station, four illegal aliens were arrested Jan. 13 in Sterling Heights.
The arrests were made during a targeted law enforcement action, agents said in a social media post.
Two of the arrested individuals had past driving under the influence convictions, according to federal agents. The two Mexicans and two Guatemalans are being processed for deportation.
Charges include being an alien without admission and not having a Visa.
The Sterling Heights arrests follow a recent verbal brouhaha involving Mayor Michael Taylor, who said during a city council meeting that he wanted the city’s police department to sever ties with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to change traffic stop procedures.
In response to Taylor’s comments, Sterling Heights Police Department spokesman Capt. Mario Bastianelli told The Detroit News: “That’s not going to happen”
Mayor Michael Taylor
(FILE PHOTO)
“We’ve had the same policy for dealing with people we stop who don’t have authorization to be in this country, and nothing will change,” Bastianelli said.
Taylor later said his speech at the Jan. 20 council meeting that he realized his stance on ICE may not be supported by other council members. Without the votes of four of the councilmembers directing the police department, the city’s policies on traffic stops won’t change.
During the council meeting, Taylor blasted President Donald Trump’s program to deport people who are in the United States illegally. He called ICE agents “monsters” who have been terrorizing people, and he criticized the recent fatal shootings of protesters Alex Pretti and Renee Good in separate incidents in Minneapolis.
Four Sterling Heights officers have been assigned to work with the FBI or the Drug Enforcement Agency or other federal agencies, Taylor said. “I want those officers back in Sterling Heights. I want those partnerships ended, terminated,” he said at the council session.
Meanwhile, U.S. Border Patrol Detroit Station agents arrested two people labeled special interest aliens (SIA) from Venezuela in Warren in partnership with Warren police.
The arrests were made Jan. 18 during a traffic stop in Warren, officials said Thursday in a social media post.
“SIAs are illegal aliens from countries deemed to present an enhanced national security threat to the United States,” the post stated.
In a separate incident, agents arrested an illegal alien from Mexico during a traffic stop. The individual has multiple convictions for drunken driving as well as a prior removal order that makes the re-entry a felony charge.
The Border Patrol said all three of the arrested individuals are being processed for deportation.