Aurora man is among 225 people nabbed on immigration violations

February 27, 2008
By MATT HANLEY mhanley@scn1.com
A 32-year-old Aurora man who has been avoiding federal deportation hearings since 2000, was one of 225 fugitives picked up in a recent nationwide sweep of illegal immigrants.

Carlos Espinoza, a Mexican native also known as Carlos Espinoza-Delgado, was arrested Saturday in his home, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE officials say the federal government started Espinoza's deportation hearings in July 1999 for entering the U.S. illegally. One year later, a federal immigration judge issued a deportation order for Espinoza, but he failed to comply, ICE said.

At that point, Espinoza became a "fugitive alien" because he failed to appear for future deportation hearings.

Over the last four days, ICE Fugitive Operation Teams made 225 arrests in seven states, including 30 suspected fugitive aliens in Chicago. Other Illinois cities where arrests were made were Buffalo Grove, Cicero, Glendale Heights, Melrose Park, Niles, Skokie and Tinley Park.

The suspects came from Cuba, Guatemala, India, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Syria, Ukraine and Yugoslavia, ICE said.

"Our teams ... sent a strong message to those who choose to disregard our nation's laws," said Julie Myers, Homeland Security assistance secretary for ICE. "If you ignore a judge's order of removal, ICE will find you, arrest you, and you will be returned to your home country."

ICE spokesman Gail Montenegro said since ICE was started in 2003, the fugitive alien population has dropped from more than 600,000 to around 585,000.

ICE also created a Fugitive Operations Support Center in Vermont, which aids in gathering and analyzing information on fugitive cases across the country, ICE said. The center has since handled more than 150,000 case leads since opening last year.



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