Thread: 60 Immigrants, Some Illegal,Arrested as Officials Target Hub

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articl ... _violence/


60 immigrants arrested as officials target Hub violence
By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff |
March 17, 2006

During a two-day sweep through the city this week, federal officials arrested 60 immigrants, nearly all with records of arrests or convictions, in what they said was an effort to rid the streets of potential offenders and stem the recent violence that has gripped Boston's neighborhoods.

Of the immigrants arrested, 57 had been convicted or charged with crimes ranging from drug-related offenses to rape, kidnapping, and attempted murder, said Matthew J. Etre, acting special agent-in-charge of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New England.

The sweep marked the largest raid on immigrants with records in New England since the agency was formed three years ago, he said. Forty-three were legal residents, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but legal immigrants are subject to deportation if they have been convicted of a felony.

Advocates for immigrants criticized the arrests, which were mostly of men living in Dorchester, East Boston, and Mattapan, saying that authorities had targeted people of color and gave too few details about the charges.

The sweep, dubbed Operation Avalanche, was launched Tuesday and finished Wednesday, about three months after city and federal law enforcement officials pledged to pinpoint the most dangerous parts of Boston and crack down on people with arrest warrants or immigration violations, or both. The goal was to locate and arrest immigrants whom law enforcement authorities saw as threats to the city, Etre said. Some had been here illegally, while others had been legal residents but were still on the streets despite orders to leave the country after they served prison time.

''We were able to arrest people who had been wreaking havoc in our neighborhoods," Etre said.

But advocates for immigrants said that by listing the countries of origin of those arrested in charts, federal authorities stigmatized people of color.

''If the government is going to go as far as graphically displaying the countries of origin, what's the purpose there?" asked Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.

''ICE's role is to enforce immigration law," Noorani said. ''The role is not to have a public display of communities that are already under enormous pressure and higher standards of behavior."

The immigrants arrested came from 21 countries, including Vietnam, the United Kingdom, and Greece.

But more than half came from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador, according to charts the agency released to reporters before a press conference called to announce the results of the sweep. Others came from Cape Verde.

Asked if federal agents had focused on Central American and Caribbean countries, Etre said: ''We do not target any one ethnic group. We are targeting those individuals who are committing crimes in our neighborhoods, and violent crimes at that."

Nearly 60 percent of the arrests took place in one of Boston's crime ''hot spots," 10 sections of the city where more than 20 percent of the 75 killings in 2005 occurred, said Etre and Boston police Superintendent Paul Joyce.

''That's going to be an impact and send a very strong message," Joyce said of the arrests.

Those arrested are in ICE custody and are being held in various state and county jails. The cases of the 57 immigrants with records of arrests or convictions will be heard before a federal immigration court to determine whether they should be deported, said Paula Grenier, an agency spokeswoman. The three other immigrants were arrested on outstanding warrants of deportation and are being held pending their removal from the country, she said.

Grenier declined to release the names of the immigrants.

In addition to immigration violations, alleged crimes also included armed robbery, assault and battery on a child with injuries, and armed assault with intent to murder. But agency officials did not release a full list of the crimes the immigrants have been convicted of or been charged with committing.

Noorani, of MIRA, said he was concerned that so little information had been released on the arrested immigrants. Under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, any immigrant convicted of an ''aggravated felony," a crime that under the law carries a year or more in prison, would be subject to deportation.

''From an advocate's point of view, if it's a violent crime, it's a no brainer, it's inexcusable," Noorani said. ''If it's an aggravated felony under immigration law, but it's just shoplifting, [an arrest] doesn't make sense."

''If it's an aggravated felony under immigration law, but it's just shoplifting, [an arrest] doesn't make sense."

Does that mean I can go down to Wal-Mart and shoplift? NO!

I'd get arrested, you'd get arrested, but don't arrest an illegal alien!

I'd better close before I start cussing!

Operation Avalanche

I like the sound of it!

But advocates for immigrants said that by listing the countries of origin of those arrested in charts, federal authorities stigmatized people of color.

Illegal immigration is colorless. The key word is "illegal".

''We do not target any one ethnic group. We are targeting those individuals who are committing crimes in our neighborhoods, and violent crimes at that."

Senator Kennedy's state has problems also. Will the people of MA continue to send him to congress?

Originally Posted by Newmexican

Senator Kennedy's state has problems also. Will the people of MA continue to send him to congress?

Lets hope NOT! Is he up for re-election?