Hang time

With the crackdown against illegal aliens in the United States (US), jittery migrants are lying low to avoid immigration authorities. Some, however, resist arrest when caught.

When agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) chanced upon Honduran Christian Valladares-Sierra outside the Mecklenburg County Courthouse in Charlotte, North Carolina on 15 May, they tried to accost the foreigner, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The shirtless Valladares-Sierra ran away and three ICE officers gave chase. When the Honduran reached a nearby park, he jumped into a waist-deep duck pond, New York Post (NYP) reports.

The ICE agents surrounded the pond as shown in a footage captured by WBTV.

“He screamed profanity at officers and refused to exit the pond. Officers had to get in the pond to safely apply handcuffs, place him under arrest and escort him out of the water,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told NYP.

In Texas, a traffic stop by ICE prompted Guatemalan immigrant Raul Ical, 29, to flee into the backyard of a house in San Antonio on 29 April, NYP reports.

Ical went to a place that ICE agents could not reach him at around 10 a.m. Unable to negotiate with the Guatemalan, authorities simply did the most practical thing: wait.

After nine hours of perching, Ical, who is facing charges of illegally reentering the US, finally came down from the tree.

“You can run, but you can’t hide,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said while sharing news of the bizarre escape bid, according to NYP. “Whether in a tree or harbored in an activist judge’s house, if you are here illegally, ICE will find you, arrest you, and you will be deported.”