California topped the list of states included in the sweep, with 722 arrests, including 81 arrested in San Francisco and 47 in Los Angeles.

Nationwide, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement picked up more than 2,100 fugitive criminals, gang members, and illegal immigrants in the two-week sweep.


In San Diego, officers arrested 402 people in late-night and early morning raids starting May 30, according to ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack.

"This is unprecedented operation in terms of the number of people they encountered and arrested," Mack said.

All those arrested in San Diego were Mexican or Guatemalan nationals and were deported to their home countries, she said. They included 166 with criminal records, several for sex crimes against children, she said.

One of the people arrested, Mexican national Martin Castro-Liera, 41, was convicted in 2003 for molesting a teenage niece. Arrested June 5, it was his third deportation in 18 months, Mack said.

Nationally, more than half of the 2,179 people who were arrested in the operation, dubbed Return to Sender, had criminal records for crimes that included sexual assault, drug trafficking, robbery and abduction, according to Julie Myers, assistant secretary for ICE.

More than 360 were members or associates of violent gangs, including the notorious Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, she said.

San Diego had the most arrests of any city in part because officers arrested illegal immigrants they encountered during raids whether or not they were on the target list, Mack said. Two were arrested after they rear-ended an ICE vehicle during the operation in an accident unrelated to any raid.

There are more than 5,400 people currently facing deportation orders in San Diego, Mack said.

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