Twenty illegal aliens are pulled over on 1-470 Tuesday morning. After running checks on them, the Belmont County Sheriffs Department contacts an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer and the twenty men, here illegally, are let go.

Why they were let go is not so clear. According to ICE officials, Belmont County Deputies let them go on their own accord.

"Belmont apparently refused to let the ICE agent interview each alien, and decided upon themselves to release the aliens. All 20," said Greg Palmore, an ICE official.

But Sheriff Fred Thompson said that isn't the case. He said ICE officials did ask to interview the aliens, but his deputies didnt have the means to do so.

"At that point we had no facilities to do it, we couldn't transport them to let them do live telephone interviews," Sheriff Thompson said.

According to the Sheriff, after telling ICE officials they couldn't physically do the interviews, they were told to release the 20 illegal aliens.

That move has one local congressman upset.

"When they call the federal government and they say we have in our possession right now, 20 illegals, and then the federal government turns around and says let them go, it is very clear cut, this is all smoke and mirrors from the federal government. INS is not doing its job," said Congressman Bob Ney, (R) Ohio.

This story is starting to gain national attention. Sheriff Thompson is doing an interview with national media in New York Thursday morning, and will do an interview with a TV station in Dallas.

And around the Ohio Valley, a lot of people are talking.

"If somebody were pulled over for drugs or something, would they just let them go? I don't see this any different," said Shana Lawrence, of Belmont County.

Congressman Ney said he will talk with ICE officials in the coming days, and get to the bottom of what happened on I-470.

John Paul, NEWS9