Thread: ESCONDIDO, CA : ENFORCEMENT CONTINUES : by EDWARD SIFUENTES

Enforcement effort continues against illegal immigrants

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer

ESCONDIDO ---- At about 9 p.m. Wednesday, there was a knock at the home of Gerardo Felipe Acosta in northeastern Escondido.

A young girl answered the door. When Acosta came to see who it was, he was arrested by immigration agents and the sound of his two children crying began to spill from the home.

Acosta was one of seven people arrested by a team of nearly a dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that day in an enforcement effort called Operation Return to Sender. Officials say the specialized teams focus on arresting people with criminal records and those who have been ordered deported by an immigration judge.

"These are people that have gone before an immigration judge. They've had their day in court, the judge ordered them removed from the country and they've ignored the judge's orders," said Robin Baker, San Diego field office director for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE.

Operation Return to Sender was launched years ago, but went largely unfunded, officials said. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when national attention turned to homeland security, Congress increased funding for the program, which is now part of the National Fugitive Operations Program.

Critics, including immigration advocates and human rights groups, say the program is a symptom of the nation's broken immigration system. They say the operations are inhumane and break up families whose main crime may be entering the country illegally.

Baker said the agency tries to keep families together, including leaving a parent ---- usually the mother ---- behind to care for the children when no other family members are available.

Dragnet or focused strategy?

Agency officials said Operation Return to Sender netted more than 17,817 fugitive illegal immigrants throughout the nation last year. More than 650 illegal immigrants have been arrested in San Diego County since October, said Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The number caught last year made up only a fraction of the total number of fugitive illegal immigrants believed to be living in the country.

Nationwide, there are more than 650,000 illegal immigrants who have been ordered deported, according to agency statistics. There are 61 Fugitive Operations Teams, including two working in San Diego and Imperial counties, whose job is to find, arrest and deport wanted illegal immigrants.

But not everyone arrested in the stings is a hardened criminal or wanted for deportation. In fact, about half of the people arrested in San Diego County during the stings were not the people the agents were looking for.

Some immigrant rights advocates say the program amounts to a dragnet, because agents have arrested illegal immigrants who happen to be in the home but who are not the targets of the investigation.

In the past, agents have entered homes looking for an individual but found other illegal immigrants and arrested them. Agents are authorized to arrest any suspected illegal immigrant they find, officials said.

They are what the agency calls "collaterals" and they number about half the people arrested in the county, about a third nationwide, under the program.

"The issue raises the question of the real purpose of these raids and if this is a strategy that they've been using," said Pedro Rios, San Diego director of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker human rights organization.

No collaterals were arrested Wednesday.

More to come

Immigrant rights advocates, who had been urging Congress to pass an immigration reform law this year legalizing an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, said the arrests and the families' heartache are likely to continue without immigration reform.

Their efforts were frustrated Thursday, when Senate leaders announced an immigration reform bill failed to garner enough votes.

The Senate bill, backed by President Bush, would have increased border enforcement, established a guest-worker program and created a path to legalize millions of illegal immigrants.

"I think we are going to see more raids and more crackdowns on employers," said Angela Kelly, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, which supported the Senate bill. "We can't enforce our way out of this problem, but until we wake up to that reality, that is going to be the status quo."

Opponents of the bill said legalizing illegal immigrants amounted to rewarding people who broke the law.

Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates for stricter immigration policies, said enforcement measures such as Operation Return to Sender are not the answer. But they are part of the solution.

"It's the punishment for their crime," Mehlman said. But "it has to be part of an integrated, rational plan. And that's the problem: The government doesn't have a plan."

Immigration officials said the task of finding and deporting more than half a million individuals is daunting, but they are streamlining their efforts to target the most pressing cases. Baker, the agency's field office director, said they focus on catching the most dangerous criminals, followed by those who failed to leave the country.

"We have to prioritize our work like any other organization and we've determined that these individuals who have ignored a judge's orders of removal, these are the type of people that we want to spend our resources towards finding," Baker said.

The agency received nearly $6 million this fiscal year to detain and deport fugitive illegal immigrants. Officials said their efforts are paying off.

The number of wanted illegal immigrants was growing by an average of 5,682 a month from September 2003 to September 2006, according to the agency. Through their efforts, the total number of fugitive illegal immigrants leveled off and began dropping by more than 500 names in the last two months, officials said.

The arrest

On Wednesday afternoon, a team of agents in San Diego prepared to go after eight individuals by going over their profiles, a few pieces of paper stapled together with a black and white photo and basic biographical information.

There were Russian, Iranian and Mexican nationals on the list. Some of them had robbery, driving under the influence, domestic abuse or child molestation charges in their criminal records.

The team then traveled in unmarked, inconspicuous vehicles. Forward agents told the team whether the fugitive was likely to be home. The team can turn on a dime, depending on information, choosing one address over another.

When they arrived at the address, the agents, dressed in black flak jackets marked "police" and khaki cargo pants, fanned out. They knocked on the door and asked to enter. Sometimes they have to talk their way in, and in others they have to chase after fugitives, one agent said.

In Escondido, the two people arrested Wednesday gave up peacefully.

"I don't understand what's happening, he even had an attorney. He was applying for residency," said Guadalupe Felipe Frausto, Acosta's father, who arrived at the Escondido home shortly before the van that carried his son sped away.

His 28-year-old son arrived in the U.S. more than 10 years ago and worked in construction, his father said. He was married, had a U.S.-born child, bought a home and had never been in trouble with the law, he said.

Before dawn Thursday, Acosta was deported to Tijuana, his father said.

"The children cried until 2 in the morning for their father," said the elder man, who is a U.S. citizen. "We don't know what we are going to do."

Mack, the ICE spokeswoman, said Acosta signed a voluntary deportation order in 2005 and filed many appeals hoping to overturn his deportation order, but was denied several times. She said he had no other crimes on his record.

Agents said they found about 15 other people in the Escondido home but did not question them about their legal status. Mack said the agency is trying to focus its attention on those who have been ordered deported.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.


http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/07 ... _30_07.txt

Agents said they found about 15 other people in the Escondido home but did not question them about their legal status. Mack said the agency is trying to focus its attention on those who have been ordered deported.

Originally Posted by Skip

Agents said they found about 15 other people in the Escondido home but did not question them about their legal status. Mack said the agency is trying to focus its attention on those who have been ordered deported.

Can we file a lawsuit about this? , Thats what its gonna take .

Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff.

Your comment has been posted!

The Truth wrote on Jun 30, 2007 11:35 PM:" Praise the God of Heaven. This may be the smallest bit of help to the legal American person. Don't fog the truth with talk of tears and cyring, that is what Mexico has done to its people not the United States. I am sick and tired of hearing what the US is doing to protect itself and how much it violages the rights of people. If I go into any country in the world illegally, I could be at the least arrested and deported at worst thrown in prison or murdered. There is no immigration issue at hand. It is the invasion of a foreign people into a land they do not belong. "

Tears At Home wrote on Jul 1, 2007 1:11 AM:" Parents, spouses and children in the home country also cried when the illegals came here leaving behind loved ones. ENFORCE THE IMMIGRATIOM LAWS! The author should spend some time in family court. Alot of tearful stories there too! "

Perfect illustration wrote on Jul 1, 2007 3:14 AM:" of what we are trying to remedy. #1 What kind of people allow a young girl to answer the door at 9PM? #2 What kind of person would put their child in this position? #3 How large was this home for it to house 16 or 17 people? #4 What kind of city turns a blind eye to situations such as this? #5 What kind of fair-minded journalistic organization puts out such one-sided crap on such a consistent basis? Maybe the new publisher will allow the other side of the story to be told. How about it, Peter York? Will you be a pawn or will you be a player??? "

It makes me cry wrote on Jul 1, 2007 3:41 AM:" to know that more raids are not done daily. "

Reviewing wrote on Jul 1, 2007 5:37 AM:" "Never been in trouble with the Law"... Let's see, entered the country illegally, got caught, went to court, promised the court he'd leave then promptly filed a series of appeals, lost them, refused to leave anyway... If that's not 'trouble with the law', what is? What about that Iranian, Eddie? Think there might be a story there? "

Give Us A Break wrote on Jul 1, 2007 6:20 AM:" We are sick of these sob stories. The people that are here illegally put their kids in this situation not the American people. What about the immigrants waiting in line to come here legally? Controlled legal immigration keeps this country more diverse without an uncontrollable influx that eats up our resources. Enforce the laws by going after businesses and you'll soon see attrition through enforcement. The revolving door at our borders must be secured first. Ask your leaders why the 700 mile fence isn't completed yet! Congessmen Hunter says he would have the fence completed in 6 months. We are American Citizens with Latino blood and will not vote for anyone that is for amnesty. The only democrats that might get our vote are those that are against amnesty. If you want to come here then do it legally. Feinstein and Boxer need to go. Thank you Congressmen Hunter, Bilbray, Issa,Rohrabacher,State Senator Wyland and those that are fighting to secure the borders and enforce our immigration laws. If you can afford to pay a coyotee you can afford to get in line. Respect for the law is what will keep this country great. We already have 7-8 guest worker programs that need fixing so why do we need one more! We are already generous enough to let in 1.5 to 2 million legal immigrants in each and every year. The borders are a war zone and need to be dealt with. Support our border patrol and ask your leaders why Compean and Ramos are still in prison. "

Mike wrote on Jul 1, 2007 6:38 AM:" Sounds like the same old story, with a new set of words. Imagine we'll have the same comments as well. "

you said it wrote on Jul 1, 2007 6:43 AM:" right on ..."the truth". Why is the US the only place people can do this ? Because THEY CAN!! Enough!! We need some leaders who are not afraid to say what the public knows= ENOUGH!! There's going to be a revolution at some point. "

Mike wrote on Jul 1, 2007 6:51 AM:" Eddy, I hate to break the news to you. American families are broken apart daily whenever a family member is imprisoned for a crime. Ilegal aliens in our country don't get a get out of jail free card. "

Tori wrote on Jul 1, 2007 7:13 AM:" The comments from "The Truth", are right on point. The good old sob stories of tears and crying are suppose to make an impact? We have heard it all before. We need to protect our country, and the people who belong here; our legal citizens. The people who came here by breaking our laws should leave and take their wives, children, and all illegal relatives with them. They are lawbreakers. Come to United States the right way as all the legal immigrants have done. "

Enforcement effort continues against illegal immigrants wrote on Jul 1, 2007 7:27 AM:" As it should. "

uncle.saltee wrote on Jul 1, 2007 7:31 AM:" we dont need new laws, just more enforcement of existing ones, keep up the good work boys. "

THIS IS THE PROBLEM!!!!!!! wrote on Jul 1, 2007 7:46 AM:" "15 other people in the Escondido homeâ€

There were Russian, Iranian and Mexican nationals on the list.

Oh, but it's all about the illegal alien Mexicans.....we are just picking on them.... According to the Chicano groups, we just ignore white illegals. Of course they would say we are racist and hated Russians and Iranians!