On Tuesday at approximately 6:00 a.m., five undocumented aliens, all adult men, were taken into custody by agents of the U.S. Border Patrol.
Officials are transporting the men to Orlando where they will be processed for removal from the United States.
Two Border Patrol agents and four officers of the Fellsmere Police Department located the men at two addresses in the city of Fellsmere.
The addresses are 39 N. Pine Street, and 96 N. Orange Street.
The Fellsmere Police Department requested Border Patrol assistance at these locations because of constant and ongoing issues at both.
During the past calendar year for example (5/14/16 to 5/14/17), Fellsmere officers responded to 17 calls for service at 39 N. Pine Street and 42 calls for service at 96 N. Orange Street.
As a result of these calls, officers believed that both homes may have been illegally converted into rooming homes in violation of City Code, housed undocumented aliens on a temporary or ongoing basis, and served as a location for prostitution and other crimes.
The following men were taken into custody by Border Patrol agents:
- BAUTISTA-Perez, Efraen
- DELIZ-Vasquez, Ciro
- GOMEZ-Sanchez, Nicholas
- PATRICIO-Rosales, Luis
- SALAS-Hernandez, Martin
While it is not known what, if any illegal activity the five men participated in while at those locations, all were determined to be in the United States unlawfully and were detained.
In addition, Luis Patricio-Rosales already had an outstanding “Order of Removal,” on file by an immigration judge and requires no hearing prior to removal. He was apprehended when he drove to 96 N. Orange Street to pick up a resident to go to work.
Officers took photographs of the suspected illegal conversions and forwarded them to the City of Fellsmere Community Director for review and action.
In addition, the possibility of fire and health code violations at these locations will be explored, and the appropriate agencies will be contacted.