Illegal immigrant apprehended (Pascack Valley Community Life)

Illegal immigrant apprehended
Thursday, July 29, 2010
LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY JULY 29, 2010, 1:21 AM
BY KIMBERLY REDMOND
PASCACK VALLEY COMMUNITY LIFE

A routine traffic stop conducted by Hillsdale police last week resulted in the apprehension of a 34-year-old Brazilian man illegally residing in the United States who had been sought by federal authorities for more than four years, police said.

Hillsdale Police Officer Brian McKeever was patrolling along Hillsdale Avenue Wednesday, July 21 at 8:30 a.m. when he spotted a van, in which the driver and its two passengers were not wearing seatbelts, said Officer Jeff Angermeyer, the department’s spokesman.

The officer quickly initiated a traffic stop of the work van and obtained identification from its three occupants, he said. But during the course of conducting standard computer checks of their identities, McKeever discovered one of the passengers, Gilberto Cassimiro-Ferreira, who was residing in Newark, was the subject of an outstanding warrant issued by the U.S. Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Angermeyer said.

Officer Frank Novakowski arrived on the scene as back-up, and together the two officers transported Cassimiro-Ferreira to the Hillsdale Police Department without incident. Later that morning, he was turned over to the custody of ICE agents, Angermeyer said.

"It was determined that Cassimiro-Ferreira was already deported once before, but re-entered the United States illegally. Subsequent to his presence back on U.S. soil, which is believed to be sometime in 2006, ICE began to work at apprehending him and sending him back to Brazil again," Angermeyer said. "He seemed to disappear for a time and this warrant was the result of a deportation hearing, clearly authorizing his removal from the United States. When he turned up during this routine traffic stop, ICE was finally able to catch up with Cassimiro-Ferreira, whereupon he’ll now face penalties for illegal re-entry."

"I think moments like these are great examples of how our police officers make a difference in the safety of the community here in Hillsdale and even in ways beyond Hillsdale, elsewhere across Bergen County and across New Jersey," Hillsdale Police Chief Chip Stalter said.