U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has apparently turned its attention to Rock County.
ICE appears to be deporting a Beloit man who served 20 days in the Rock County Jail diversion program for second offense operating while intoxicated.
According to report from the Rock County Sheriff’s Office, just before 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday deputies were dispatched to 33-year-old Lorenzo Barrios’ home on Keeler Avenue in Beloit.
Barrios was scheduled to be released from custody after serving his time on the local charges, however the Sheriff’s Office took him to the jail on a 48 hour detainer on ICE’s request.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement website, ICE issues detainers against people who have been convicted of burglaries and robberies, kidnapping, homicide, sexual assault, weapons offenses, drug trafficking, and human trafficking. A far cry from the drunken driving offense Barrios was convicted of.
Sheriff Curtis Fell confirmed Friday that ICE came and got Barrios and took him to an unknown location.
Fell previously told Big Radio it’s not often that ICE taps his sheriff’s office for help detaining an immigrant. Fell says in those cases, ICE typically does not share with local law enforcement the reason or reasons why they’ve requested a person to be detained.
ICE says it typically requests such detentions when the immigrant in question is a violent felon and they’re known to present an immediate risk to the public.
Big Radio has reached out to ICE to inquire if Barrios is accused of anything other than being in the country illegally.
