(La Porte County, IN) - A suspected drunk driver is the 34th person booked into the La Porte County Jail and ordered held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for potentially being in the country illegally.
Victor Choc Cruz, 29, now faces possible deportation.
La Porte County Police Capt. Derek Allen said 25 of those individuals have already been picked up by authorities from the ICE regional office in Chicago. The nine others remaining in the jail are waiting to be taken into custody by ICE.
Allen said just two of the inmates released to ICE were booked into the jail last year.
In comparison, Allen said ICE placed holds on just two suspected illegal alien inmates from the jail in 2024.
ICE has been more aggressively enforcing U.S. immigration laws under the direction of President Donald Trump, who’s following through on his promise of mass deportations since taking office on January 20.
In following standard procedure, Allen said the sheriff’s office notifies ICE whenever an arrest is made of an individual believed to be “undocumented and possibly been in the country not legally.”
He said it’s then up to ICE to decide whether to place a hold on and later pick up each individual inmate to investigate their legal status in the country.
“ICE makes that determination,” Allen said.
Cruz was living in South Bend when stopped Sunday afternoon for traveling 74 in a 55 mile per hour zone in a 2008 Dodge Charger on Indiana 2 just west of Rolling Prairie, according to La Porte County Police.
Police said Cruz handed the officer an international driver’s license along with an identification card from the Guatemalan consulate.
His alleged blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit was .185 percent, police said.,
Cruz is charged in La Porte Superior Court 3 with Class A misdemeanor operating while intoxicated and Class C misdemeanor never obtaining a valid driver’s license.
Allen said there was one hold placed by ICE on a jail offender in 2023 and 2022 and none in 2021.
