ICE op blindsides local store (Montrose Daily Press)

ICE op blindsides local store
By Robert Allen and Katharhynn Heidelberg
Daily Press Writers
Published/Last Modified on Saturday, March 8, 2008 4:13 AM MST

MONTROSE — Three were arrested during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation Thursday — an operation Raul Pallares said left him and others at the Carneceria Payares feeling “kind of harassed.”

“They didn’t even have any search warrants, you know. The bad thing about this deal was they said they were looking for drugs and fake IDs and they didn’t show us any search warrants or anything, and they searched the store for all that stuff,” Pallares, 23, alleged.

He identified himself as the son of the carneceria’s owner. “They didn’t find anything because we’re clean.We didn’t want any problems. We felt scared to tell them not to do it.”

ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok said in a phone interview that an enforcement action took place Thursday morning, but he could not divulge what led agents to the Mexican-specialty market on East Main Street.

“It was targeted at a few individuals,” Rusnok said.

One of the individuals was connected to the establishment; Rusnok thought that person was the owner, but Pallares said that person was not taken.

Rusnok said an employee and a customer were also scooped up in ICE’s net, after they were asked for ID.

He declined to identify those arrested, saying ICE does not release that information, due to Department of Homeland Security privacy policies.

Rusnok further said the enforcement action targeted other individuals, too, but they could not be located at the time.

He said he could not discuss how ICE came to focus on its identified targets.

Pallares said ICE showed up to check people’s papers.

“We had a girl here that we took her application in good faith. I guess when they checked her ID and her papers, she was illegal, so they took her,” he said.

He said other officers were outside and nabbed two men who came to buy telephone cards, after asking for their papers.

Rusnok said ICE does not conduct random sweeps. “It’s important to emphasize all of our operations are targeted. We don’t go randomly into neighborhoods, or stores, or any sort of location and randomly ask for ID.”

He also said racial profiling “is not part of our means of operating, either. ... We enforce immigration and customs laws throughout the country.”

Pallares said word of the ICE operation spread quickly.

“I mean, all the people here, they didn’t believe that it happened because every year there’s rumors about it that there’s raids going on (but) nothing happened,” Pallares said.

“We felt kind of harassed.”

Pallares said ICE hadn’t previously targeted the carneceria, which has been in business for nine years.

“I hope they never do it again.”