Guatemalan's detention sparks terrorist rumor on I-80

GRASS VALLEY - A 36-year-old Guatemalan national was detained near the California-Nevada border on Interstate 80, sparking mistaken fears that he might have links to terrorist groups.

The reason for the confusion may have stemmed from the fact that the man, whose name was not made public Monday, was detained on a warrant issued by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It is an arm of the federal Department of Homeland Security, which monitors and keeps tabs on such activity.

The Guatemalan truck driver was detained on a day in which the terrorist alert was orange, the second-highest alert level since the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

California Highway Patrol officer Chris Sahagun said the truck driver, who lives in Southern California, was stopped at 12:15 p.m. Monday during a randomly selected routine inspection of his tractor-trailer as he drove westbound on Interstate 80 through a CHP weigh station.

Sharon Rummery, director of public affairs for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, said the man had an outstanding administrative warrant ordering him to be deported to his native Guatemala. He was detained Monday because he had not yet complied with the Department of Justice's order to return to the Central American country, she said.

His detainment is not criminal, and Rummery said the man posed no terrorist threat, despite the wild rumors traveling both sides of the Donner Pass.

The Reno office of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, where the Guatemalan national will be processed, weekly picks up about a half-dozen so-called "absconders," those who fail to comply with deportation orders, Rummery said.

"This isn't unusual," she added.

Rummery said she didn't know if the truck the deportee was in had other passengers or cargo, or where it was headed.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement office will now arrange with the Guatemalan consulate a time for the Guatemalan national to be returned, Rummery said.

Contact David Mirhadi at davidm@theunion.com