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Four family members also tested positive but are not contagious
GEORGIA -- The Mexican day laborer jailed in Gwinnett County for refusing tuberculosis treatment is an illegal immigrant alien and officials have begun the deportation process, officials said Wednesday.
Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway said Francisco Santos acknowledged to agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that he is in this country illegally.
Conway said federal immigration agents placed a "detainer" on the 17-year-old Santos, meaning he will be held and that the deportation process begins. But he said Santos' condition and his status as a minor could complicate a process that can take months.
Because of Santos' age, officials would have to make sure before his return that he has family in Mexico or that the Mexican government would take a role.
Gwinnett County health officials jailed Santos Friday after he refused treatment for an active, contagious case of tuberculosis and threatened to flee to his native Mexico. Santos, who lives in Duluth, has since started taking medicine, but will remain in jail at least until a Sept. 5 hearing in Gwinnett Superior Court on his isolation.
Posted by tyne at August 30, 2007