St Louis - 5 arrested in illegal-immigrant sweep

04/22/2008

ST. LOUIS -- Federal investigators early this morning swept through a 24-hour professional cleaning service company and found five people who agents say were working and living in St. Louis illegally.

The workers at the cleaning service were working at 24-hour fitness centers in the overnight hours, said Carl Rusnok, spokesman for the Immigration and Customs Enforment agency (known as ICE).

The agents took the five adults ranging in age from 34 and 48 years old into federal custody and conducted interviews of managers and other employees at the cleaning service, Rusnok said.

The five are from Mexico and in the country illegally, Rusnok said.

The next step for the five is to await a hearing before a federal judge.

"They've been processed for a hearing before a federal immigration judge," Rusnok said this afternoon.