RECENT FORKS HIGH HONOR GRADUATE HELD AS ILLEGAL ALIEN

By Chris Cook - Forks Forum editor

In February, Edgar Ayala made it to post-season competition as a Spartan wrestler.

In June Forks High School senior Ayala graduated with honors.

Last week Ayala was being held at the Northwest DetentionCenter in Tacoma, charged with being an illegal alien by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

A media officer with ICE confirmed the arrest of Ayala to the Forks Forum. The report said Ayala was taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol in Forks on Wednesday, Aug. 20.

Local sources said he was arrested while traveling in a van with other men in Forks.

The Forks man may soon be out on bail of $1,000, reportedly being raised by his family in Forks.

The recent Forks High graduate had plans to join the Armed Forces.

A spokesperson for the Border Patrol’s office in Port Angeles said Ayala has three options if it is determined he is illegally residing in the United States. He can request to be voluntarily returned to Mexico, where reportedly his father now lives; he can seek political asylum in the United States; or he can plead his case before an immigration judge.

Ayala’s arrest comes as the Border Patrol began to step-up enforcement of immigration laws in Forks and elsewhere on the Olympic Peninsula.

A checkpoint set up near the Hood Canal Bridge on Friday resulted in arrests.
 
The Border Patrol also announced that a checkpoint will be set up north of Forks by mid-September. Six months ago a similar checkpoint, usually set up at a point where vehicles can easily pull off of Highway 101, resulted in the arrest of six illegal aliens.

ICE officials say the checkpoints aim at the arrest of terrorists, as well as illegal aliens and the spotting of illegal activities.