Some of the workers picked up in ICE raid sent back to Mexico (Dallas Morning News)

Some of the workers picked up in ICE raid sent back to Mexico
Of the 49 picked up in sweep, 29 were returned to Mexico, the rest are awaiting charges in jail
12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, April 1, 2008

By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News
jtrahan@dallasnews.com
Liliana Vargas-Lemons of Al Día contributed to this report.

Twenty-nine of 49 people picked up in a weekend Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweep targeting illegal immigrants who were working as state-licensed security guards have been sent back to Mexico, officials said Monday.

The U.S. attorney's office is evaluating what charges to pursue against the others still being held at the Bedford Jail, which ICE contracts to use as a short-term detention facility.

Those returned to Mexico were offered a "voluntary return" because none of them would have faced prosecution for criminal charges, ICE Dallas spokesman Carl Rusnok said. "Voluntary return is offered to noncriminal aliens or low-level criminal aliens" – such as for violations that usually result in a ticket, he said.

Authorities continued Monday to withhold the names of the two security companies that employed those arrested, citing the ongoing investigation.

ICE and other state and local law enforcement agencies conducted raids on 26 Latino nightclubs, restaurants and businesses around Dallas on Saturday night, specifically looking for undocumented immigrants working as security guards. Four detainees were from El Salvador; the rest were from Mexico.

Olga Rodríguez, a bartender at El Palacio on the 4400 block of Maple Ave., one of the businesses raided, said she's concerned the arrests will scare off clients.

"It will affect our business," said Ms. Rodríguez, who has worked at the club for seven years.
She said she feels sorry for the security guard who was hauled off from El Palacio. "All he did was watch the cars and never carried guns or anything like that," she said.

Four pistols were recovered from those who were detained. Federal law prohibits illegal immigrants from possessing firearms.

Five of those arrested were being held at the Dallas County Jail on $250,000 bail each, county officials said. They were Luis Simon Palacios, 57, of Irving; Arturo M. Villegas, also known as Arturo Villegas Mendez, 34, of Dallas; Jose Vicente Alvarado, 34, of Dallas; Gabriel Angel Fierro, 31, of Garland; and Ismael Garcia, also known as Ismael Garcia-Esquivel, 32, of Irving.

All face felony state charges of document tampering in order to get licensed as a security officer and to carry a firearm, said Dallas County district attorney spokeswoman Jamille Bradfield.