Eight found in Lake Geneva house could be deported
LAKE GENEVA — Eight people are facing deportation after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and Lake Geneva police found 42 people in a house under construction.
A neighbor in the Stone Ridge subdivision on the city’s northeast side called police about 9:30 p.m. July 29 because she saw seven vehicles drive up to the house on South Stone Ridge Drive.
“It was odd because the house is under construction,” said Marsella Aguilar. “They kept fiddling with the keypad on the garage door. I thought maybe they belonged there because they got in.”
According to police reports:
When police arrived, they noticed the door to the basement of the house was ajar. In the kitchen, they found a family praying.
Police also found people in each of the bedrooms.
Police counted 42 people in the house with sleeping bags, blankets, pillows and their belongings in plastic bags. The people all appeared to be Hispanic.
The Rev. Rogelio Gonzalez, 41, Arlington Heights, Ill., identified himself as the leader of the group and the pastor of their church.
He told police he brought the people to the house “because God told him to.”
Gonzalez told police the group previously had been at Silver Lake and that “there was a calling from God” that took them to the house. He said he got into the house because “his wife had the Bible, and the Bible told her to page through (it) and gave her the combination to the garage …”
The group only planned to stay for the night and leave in the morning, Gonzalez told police.
He told police he knew it was wrong to be in the house but that “this was God’s plan.”
Police contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because they had suspicions about Gonzalez’s story. They thought it might have been an immigration, transportation or smuggling situation.
Immigration officials arrived about 12:15 a.m. July 30 and interviewed each member of the group.
“We interviewed everybody, and most of the people were in the U.S. legally,” said ICE spokesman Tim Counts.
“They were either citizens or had green cards.”
But officials identified eight people whose immigration status was questionable.
Lake Geneva police cited Gonzalez for trespassing, and Walworth County sheriff’s deputies escorted the group to the Illinois state line.
Neighbors were curious about the situation.
“It was odd that they picked that house,” Aguilar said. “It’s not like they were wandering around the neighborhood. They went straight to that house.”
Counts said the situation was a little strange.
“We can’t vouch as to the veracity of the claim that they got the combination to get in from God,” he said, “but it looks like it was a retreat that had gone awry or off track or was waylaid.”
Jan 31, 2009 at 4:58 a.m.
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one of them probably worked at the house for a contractor and new the code to get in.we need to be more interested in what goes on around us.watch out for our neighbors and ship the illegal aliens back to the border.
Jan 30, 2009 at 1:21 p.m.
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have a hand gun handy? are you kidding me. WOW!
Jan 30, 2009 at 12:52 p.m.
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Just another very good reason to have a hand gun handy, these people contribute to more than 1/2 the crime in this area when are we going to wake up.
Oct 10, 2008 at 5:48 a.m.
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IS THERE A REALLY A GOD .
Oct 10, 2008 at 12:59 a.m.
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"Found the code to the garage in the bible." This is why you limit the number of sub-contactors building your house to know your garage code, and you frequently change it as the different trades move through. Anyone who has ever worked in the construction industry knows the top 3 common numbers selected as temporary garage codes.
Oct 9, 2008 at 6:47 p.m.
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You may wish to visit this site to help You understand how big a problem We have with our current immigration policy.
http://www.numbersusa.com/content/
Oct 9, 2008 at 4 p.m.
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People are whacked out of their minds. God made me do it, blah, blah, blah. You suppose God looks down and people when he hears this and just laughs his #$%# off? I bet he does.
Aug 25, 2008 at 9:10 p.m.
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42 people trespassing in a house and only 1 person receives a ticket? I wonder if me and 41 of my friends broke into a home, trespassed and gave the line "because God...." would only 1 of us get a ticket and a free police escort to the state line??? I know where this house is located and its at least a $450K house! But you know how it is in Wisconsin, ya gotta be nice to the "tourists"...
Aug 23, 2008 at 11:06 p.m.
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I think that in reality, they are just undocumented owners of the house they were in.
Aug 23, 2008 at 9:45 p.m.
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it couldnt have been god that told em. he wears #8 for the brewers and as far as i know mr braun does not speak spanish...
Aug 23, 2008 at 8:28 p.m.
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sarahb if you carry a state issued id or your social security card your status would not be questioned
Aug 23, 2008 at 5:06 p.m.
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Truecitizen: Read it again (or maybe you are trying to be funny and/or racist?). Most of the 42 were in the United States legally; immigration status on the other eight was questionable. That's another way to say they did not have proper identification on them. How many of us carry our citizenship papers on us at all times? For most of us that would mean our birth certificates. I know I don't. How about you?
Aug 23, 2008 at 5 p.m.
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I think "God's telling me" to have the good reverend deported with the rest of them. Deporting 8, I thought there was 42 of them!?
Aug 23, 2008 at 3:53 p.m.
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And how long will it be until the "activists" come out of the woodwork claiming that the ONLY reason they were singled out is because we just don't understand how they are really law-abiding people that are just mis-understood. Oh...and that it's wrong to deport them...we should, instead, give them a house and money so that they can stay. <roll eyes>
Aug 23, 2008 at 3:39 p.m.
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"...Lake Geneva police cited Gonzalez for trespassing, and Walworth County sheriff’s deputies escorted the group to the Illinois state line." YES! Send them back to IL! LOL
Aug 23, 2008 at 3:28 p.m.
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8 down 11 million to go.........
Aug 23, 2008 at 1:20 p.m.
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What I'd like to know is what the owner(s) of the house thought about all of this. This is a really strange story.
Aug 23, 2008 at 12:33 p.m.
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Good one, garyprimer! LOL!!
Aug 23, 2008 at 12:23 p.m.
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"They're not gonna catch us. We're on a mission from God." -- Elwood Blues.
Aug 23, 2008 at 12:14 p.m.
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Spunkmeyer: Because God only gives those numbers to me!
Aug 23, 2008 at 12:09 p.m.
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Why couldn't God talk to me and tell me where to find lottery numbers in the Bible?
Aug 23, 2008 at 11:56 a.m.
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Luckyducky: You're not even close to being funny.
Aug 23, 2008 at 10:47 a.m.
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they 'can’t vouch as to the veracity of the claim that they got the combination to get in from God' :) thats funny.
Aug 23, 2008 at 10:13 a.m.
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Breaking and entering?
Aug 23, 2008 at 1:20 a.m.
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Strange story.
Aug 23, 2008 at 1:04 a.m.
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Very strange. If most of them were legal, maybe it was more of a cult situation.
Aug 23, 2008 at 1:04 a.m.
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42? That's all?
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