An illegal alien under a deportation order was arrested by federal authorities while he was transporting minors to a high school field trip in Michigan, according to reports.
On Wednesday, details about the May 20 bust were published by the Detroit Free Press.
Local police executed a traffic stop on a vehicle in Rockwood, a city on the outskirts of the Detroit metro region.
Officials say the 18-year-old driver was initially pulled over for tailgating a Rockwood patrol car, but officers discovered he was driving without a license and only spoke Spanish.
Rockwood police alerted U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) and agents confirmed the driver was a citizen of Colombia who was in the country illegally.
“An illegal alien with a final deportation order was arrested while driving high school students on a field trip near Rockwood, Michigan,” a Customs and Border Protection spokesman told the Free Press.
“Rockwood Police pulled over the vehicle and found the driver had no license — only a City of Detroit ID. Border Patrol confirmed he was in the country illegally, having ignored a judge’s removal order and lost his appeal.”
Four passengers in the vehicle were identified as fellow students at Western International High School.
The Colombian was arrested and later transferred to custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
He is being held at Chippewa County Correctional Facility on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula pending removal proceedings.
One day prior to the Colombian’s arrest, authorities in neighboring Ohio apprehended a 24-year-old Venezuelan illegal who was posing as a minor to attend high school in Perrysburg.