ICE agents have been collaborating with local police to enforce immigration laws.
On Tuesday, more than two dozen employees working at a construction site at Mount Nittany Hospital in Centre County, Pennsylvania did not show up to work. They were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The ICE agents pulled over and detained at least 26 men in two separate stops. One of the stops was on Interstate 99 in Bellefonte and the other was on Route 220 near the Milesburg exit, according to the Centre County Rapid Response Network.
Video footage shows ICE officers detaining the men on the side of the highway.
On Thursday, a coworker of those arrested said he picked up some of the men from a hotel and took them to a gas station for coffee. They were pulled over near the exit to Mount Nittany Hospital.
“A passenger van immediately pulled directly in front of us, and another silver Ford Expedition unmarked behind us. They took my ID, gave it back and proceeded to the other side to pull guys out one by one,” said the coworker at a press conference.
The ICE agents took the men’s phones, asked about their work permits, and then took them away in their vehicles.
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Police said that ICE notified state police of the operation and a trooper stopped to check on one of the stops. State police were not involved in the operation.
Restaurant raids and traffic stops have led to multiple arrests in the Pittsburgh region. Last Sunday, ICE made several arrests outside the Pittsburgh Gun Show at the Monroeville Convention Center.
Federal agents have collaborated with local law enforcement in making arrests and discovering illegal immigrants residing in the state.
At least 30 Pennsylvania agencies have joined the 287(g) program, which allows ICE to deputize local officers. In the Pittsburgh region, Robinson Township Police Department and constable’s offices in Monroeville and Sewickley have joined.
In Pennsylvania, federal data shows at least 583 people in the western part of the state have been taken into custody by ICE.
Throughout the state, ICE has arrested more than 3,250 individuals. This is three times the number detained during the same period last year, according to federal data.
The increasing number of arrests comes as President Trump is working to prioritize border security and immigration enforcement across the country.
