Illegal immigration an issue for local citizens

By Michael Brooks

Staff Writer

    Imagine hearing a commotion and when you look out your window you see someone fighting with an officer. Scenes like this are normal in movies, but for some residents in the county, law enforcement and illegal immigrants on their property are a fact of life.

    “I was getting dressed for church when I heard the siren,” Sandra Green said. “I looked out the window and I saw the car crash. The officer went to the car and ended up wrestling with one of the men in the car. I called 911 and was directing them.”

    Green’s front yard became the starting point for a manhunt that lasted all day on Sunday, Nov. 4. As DPS officer Drew Alexander was scuffling with one person from the vehicle, eight others ran.

    “[DPS]Officer Alexander, one of our local troopers, keyed on the vehicle. He tried to stop the vehicle and it took off and ended up taking the CR 2501 exit just before Ganado,” Jackson County Chief Deputy Rick Boone said. “It is basically a private road. They hit a barbed wire fence and got stuck in the mud. Alexander ran up to the vehicle and they got into a scuffle.

    “There were nine people in total. The first two we apprehended. The first one just voluntarily walked out right after we put a perimeter up at the boat ramp. Later on we ended up catching another.”

    With so many people on the run, a lot of departments were called in to assist.

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