First illegal immigrate arrests made in the state

Illegal immigration was discussed in the national media for much of the year and the Oklahoma legislature passed House Bill1804 in 2007.

HB 1804 is known as the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007, which takes a hard stance on immigration.

The new law restricts the ability of illegal immigrants to obtain legal government identification or public assistance. It also gives police the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. The law also makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to knowingly provide shelter, transportation or employment to illegal immigrants.

After a citizen called the sheriff’s office complaining about suspected illegal immigrants near his home, Sequoyah County Undersheriff Roy Coleman contacted Deputy Greg Cox, who went to the scene and discovered that none of the men spoke English well and only two had identification.

Cox contacted John Bennett, illegal immigration liaison officer with District 27 Drug Task Force and the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office, to come to the scene.

After researching the suspects’ backgrounds, the officers discovered that all the suspects’ state identifications, which were from various states, were fake, Bennett said.

“Every one of them came back illegal,” Bennett said, noting that all the documents looked real. The men had Social Security cards with real numbers, but they didn’t belong to the men. Two of the men had previously been deported, and had criminal histories. One had been previously charged with driving under the influence (DUI) and assault, while the other had been charged with DUI and manslaughter.

The illegal immigrants were detained and later charged and convicted - making Sequoyah County the first in the state to charge someone according to this particular state law. The county was not reimbursed for the suspect’s stay in jail while waiting deportation.

At a meeting in Carol Helm with Immigration Reform for Oklahoma Now (IRON), a citizens grassroots group from Jenks, presented officers and others with plaques in honor of their efforts in a recent case in which eight illegal immigrants were arrested and deported. Helm said IRON has about 2,000 members in Oklahoma, pushed for House Bill 1804.

A grassroots immigration reform group honored law enforcement, jail personal and the district attorney’s office for their part in an illegal immigration case - the first in the state that stemmed from new state immigration legislation.

Helm recognized the Sequoyah County Sheriff, Deputies, Jailers, the Judge, and prosecutors for their part in the case.

“You all will be the poster child for the rest of the state,” Helm said.