ELYRIA — Two suspected illegal aliens were taken off a Chicago-bound Greyhound bus at the bus stop on Third Street in Elyria.

Although one of those arrested eventually was released after a paperwork review determined she was in the country legally, the other was a Mexican national who said he had been in the country for three years and was living in Richmond, Va.

The check of every passenger on the bus was the first of its kind in Elyria by U.S. Border Patrol agents stationed at an office in Sandusky that opened in February, said Chris Grogan, public information officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“We’re just trying to get a tighter grip on border security,” Grogan said.

Random checks like the one in Elyria are part of how the agents will be enforcing immigration and other laws. Buses are one way illegal immigrants move around and have drawn closer scrutiny in recent years, Grogan said.

“You don’t see too much up here, but you never know,” he said.

Agents checking the bus Friday declined to comment, but the Mexican, who said his name was Hugo Leon, said he had been arrested once before for sneaking into the country illegally.
The woman who was released said she came to the United States from the African nation of Benin about eight years ago.

She said she was returning to her Chicago home from a shopping trip in New York but didn’t have her green card with her.

Lorain County Sheriff’s Capt. Dennis Cavanaugh, who commands the county’s Drug Task Force and Terrorism Task Force, said local law enforcement welcomed the addition of the Border Patrol office in Sandusky.

“It certainly helps. There’s a lot of open area and a lot of shared intel, which is vital,” he said.

Already the Border Patrol has worked closely with local officers on operations, including the Northern Border Initiative, Cavanaugh said.

Crogan said the Detroit border district that supervises the Sandusky office is the largest in the United States and covers 863 miles of international border and 3,000 miles of shoreline that run from the tip of Lake Superior into Lake Erie.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

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