Thread: 406 arrested since May in Escondido, CA. ICE program

406 arrested since May in Escondido, ICE program

By Michelle Breier
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 6:34 p.m.

ESCONDIDO — More than 400 criminal illegal immigrants arrested in Escondido have been deported since May, when a joint effort was launched between the Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to numbers released this week.

Under the pilot program, police officers can call upon one of the three ICE agents based at Escondido police headquarters to assist when a person who is detained cannot produce proper identification or is known to the officer as prior criminal deportee, Lt. Craig Carter said.

The ICE agent will run an immediate check and determine whether the person should be arrested on an immigration violation.

The pilot project in Escondido is the first of its kind in the state and perhaps the country. The program targets criminals. Undocumented immigrants with no criminal history or deportation order have nothing to fear, Carter said. ICE agents routinely come in contact with undocumented residents who are not detained, Police Chief Jim Maher said.

Among the 406 undocumented immigrants arrested since May, 53 have drug convictions; 35 have assault convictions; 11 have sexual assault convictions; 103 have DUI convictions; and 11 have gang-related convictions, police said.

In February, a man stopped for a vehicle code violation was found to be a convicted child molester and two-time deportee.

Maher said the program is an efficient way to catch criminal deportees. Previously, it might take days to get information on a suspect after contacting ICE, and then officers and agents would have to track down the person.

“These are people who would have been cited and released otherwise,â€

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