ICE agents reported in Moniteau County after investigation at motel
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The California Missouri Police Department requested the help of Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a call was made over the weekend about someone allegedly trying to “self-deport,” an email from Police Chief Scott John.
California police announced in a Sunday social media post “there were a few ICE agents from Kansas City in California for a few hours.”
“The ICE agents were not here to complete random immigration status checks or neighborhood sweeps,” the post went on to say.
John wrote in the email to ABC 17 News that the investigation involved people staying at a motel on Highway 50. John wrote police received information that caused law enforcement “to suspect criminal activity within the group he was with.”
“Since the entire group (18 people) were non-English speaking and we had reservations about what was reported to us, we requested the resources of ICE. Four representatives of ICE responded and arrived here just before midnight on Saturday, staying for a few hours to assist,” John wrote.
Three men were detained on suspicion of fraud, John wrote. ICE told police agents were heading to the jail to pick up the three men on Sunday and an additional man who was detained earlier in the week, the email says.