MARSHALL COUNTY, AL (WAFF) -
One of the first reported arrests under Alabama's new immigration law appears to be coming out of Marshall County.
The man was picked up Wednesday on a grand jury indictment, and when his immigration status was checked it was determined he was in the country illegally.
28 year old Juan Vargas is now in the Marshall County Jail charged with willful failure to carry alien registration.
Sheriff Scott Walls said a check on his immigration status showed he was in the country illegally from his native country of Guatemala.
The sheriff said Vargas was checked after he was picked up on a grand jury indictment for first degree sexual abuse of a child.
"This is new for all of us and everybody's cooperating and we'd expect the greatest working relationship with our federal partners," said Walls.
Bond for Vargas on the sex charge is set at $10,000.
But because he's being charged under the state's new immigration law, he is being held without bond.
Sheriff Walls said an ice detainer is also being placed on Vargas.
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Juan Vargas (Source: Marshall Co. Sheriff's Department)
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