State Police Arrest Undocumented Workers at Kanawha County Motel (WOWK-TV)

State Police Arrest Undocumented Workers at Kanawha County Motel
Posted Monday, March 10, 2008 ; 02:22 PM
Troopers responded to motel after fire.

Four undocumented workers were arrested Sunday by State Police during a fire at Smiley’s Motel in Jefferson. Troopers responded to Smiley’s Motel in Jefferson after reports of a fire had broke out at the motel, according to a release from State Police.
Members of the Jefferson Volunteer Fire Department were attempting to extinguish the fire when Hernandez Diaz Belizario, 35, of Mexico, crossed into the taped off area of the fire scene, the release said.
When troopers interacted with Belizario, they discovered that he was in the country from Mexico without the proper documentation. Staying with Belizario were Rosa Elena Barrera-Garcia, 40, Vasquez Carimona Estaban, 32, and Minerva Zamora Lopez, 30, all of Mexico, the release said.
All four were arrested and transported to the South Central Regional Jail where they will remain incarcerated until Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) transports them to York, Pa., for deportation hearings.
The cause of the fire was not related to the arrests or caused by any actions of the illegal aliens. Troopers were told by those arrested that they were working for a company in North Carolina that performs demolition work. These arrests occurred shortly before another State Police trooper stopped a van carrying 10 illegal aliens southbound on Interstate 77 at the 99 mile marker. The van was registered from North Carolina, but troopers do not believe the two incidents are related, the release said.