Authorities crack down on immigration fugitives
By Tim Buckley
Deseret Morning News
Published: December 4, 2007
In its inaugural year, a federal team netted 240 arrests of immigration fugitives in Utah, including 44 who had criminal records, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported today.
Salt Lake's Fugitive Operations Team, which formed last September, is now among 75 across the country that target foreign nationals with outstanding orders of removal. Nationwide, those teams made 30,408 arrests in the budget year ending Sept. 30, 2007.

The team's top priority has been in removing absconders with criminal records, said Steven Branch, field office director for ICE detention and removal in Salt Lake.

Among those is Mapele Sike, a Tongan national with a prior conviction for aggravated robbery. Sike, who had ignored a 2004 order to leave the country, was arrested in August and deported in October.

"The concern is removing these people from the community," Branch said. "They not only prey on U.S. citizens, but on aliens as well."

This is the first year that the nation's immigration fugitive population declined, ICE reports. The agency estimates there are some 38,000 fewer immigration fugitives in the nation than on Oct. 1, as fugitives were arrested, left on their own, managed to adjust their status, or died.

However, even though the efforts are putting a dent in the number of immigration fugitives, there are still nearly 595,000 in the United States, according to ICE estimates.

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