Thread: CA: 24 arrested in raids in valley

24 arrested in raids in valley

Nicole C. Brambila
The Desert Sun
May 8, 2007

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 24 people in the valley today, many in Cathedral City.

It’s part of a nationwide initiative with more than 24,000 arrested since May 2006. I.C.E. officials said the program was part of an “ongoing operation in the desert” expected to run through the week.

If you have more information about the raids or were involved, please let us know at The Desert Sun.

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.d ... e=printart

24 arrested in immigration sweep
Some advocates question the legality of agents' tactics


To date, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested 23,745 undocumented immigrants nationwide since beginning the fugitive program a year ago.
60 percent of those arrested were targeted by officials.
17 percent were criminal immigrants.

Nicole C. Brambila
The Desert Sun
May 9, 2007

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Plain-clothed immigration agents knocked on apartment doors in the Coachella Valley early Tuesday morning and arrested 24 undocumented immigrants.
"This is a nationwide initiative," said Lori Haley, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "We know who these people are. These are not random people."

The raids targeted those who failed to comply with a judge's final order to deport, she said.

The desert roundup is expected to continue through the week, as reported on thedesertsun.com.

In most high-profile cases, officials target work sites. In this case, agents knocked on doors, saying they were selling goods, and then arrested families, including children, witnesses said.

Officers executed administrative warrants for specific people, Haley said.

Typically, a judge orders deportation if an immigrant fails to appear in court. An immigration attorney was outraged by Tuesday's sweep.

"It's absolutely illegal," said Nora Milner, an immigration attorney with an office in Indian Wells.

An arrest warrant is specific, Milner said. It lists who agents can arrest and where they can go.


"They can't just sweep a neighborhood," she said. "It doesn't work that way.
"This is completely unauthorized."

Immigration experts called the tactics unusual.

"It is a massive cover-up to look good in the public eye," said Karan Kler, executive director of Coachella Valley Immigration Service Assistance, a nonprofit immigration counseling agency.

"This reminds me of Germany. They used to knock on doors to say 'Show me your pass.'

"This was basically a raid."

Her agency helps immigrants become U.S. citizens and also provides other services.

The roundup is part of a national program, "Return to Sender," that has resulted in nearly 24,000 arrests in May 2006. About 1,500 of those arrests came from the Los Angeles area, including the valley, officials said.

In January, federal immigration officials arrested more than 750 undocumented immigrant fugitives in the five-county Los Angeles region, one of the biggest sweeps in U.S. history.

In the valley, many of those arrested lived in Cathedral City, where just last week about 100 people marched for immigration reform. Another roughly 500 marched in Indio and Palm Desert.

The immigration agents dressed in suits with ties and drove unmarked vans, said Cathedral City resident Blanca Santos, 22. Agents arrested her boyfriend of four years, Alonso Delgadillo, about 6:30 a.m.

"I think it's really unfair," said Santos, a College of the Desert student. "I know that he's in the country illegally, but that doesn't mean he's a bad person."

Delgadillo, who has lived in the United States for 12 years, paid his taxes and had not been in trouble with the law, Santos said.

Those arrested were taken to the Immigration Subdistrict Office in San Bernardino. Santos expects Delgadillo to be deported to Mexacali, Mexico.

Delgadillo, 31, who worked in the roofing industry, will be barred from the United States for 10 years, Kler said.

Officials did not disclose how many agents worked the roundup.

Shortly after the agents began knocking on doors about 5 a.m., news spread quickly via cell phones in the Latino community.

Sostenos Alvaros got the warning call.

"When this happens, everybody calls each other and says, 'Please don't open the doors,'" said Alvaros, a Mexican immigrant who recently became a U.S. citizen.

ICE officials did not say in which other cities those arrested lived.

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.d ... 90308/1006

When ICE arrives in uniform "POLICE" they complain it scares the children
now when ICE comes in suits and tie with unmarked cars the complain.

Maybe we should tell them they won tickets to a George Lopez Concert,
pick them up in a limo ( a stretch 62 Chevy) and then deport them. :P

Immigration raids enter day two
Undisclosed number of arrests made Wednesday, 24 on Tuesday

Nicole C. Brambila
The Desert Sun
May 10, 2007

Immigration officers arrested an unspecified number of undocumented immigrants Wednesday as part of an ongoing sting in the Coachella Valley.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials would not disclose the number of arrests nor where they occurred, the nationality of the immigrants or how many of those arrested were immigrants accused of crimes.

"We're targeting people from all nationalities and all countries," said Jim Hayes, field officer director for the Los Angeles area, which includes Riverside County.

"We're picking up individuals who are immigrant fugitives and who have been ordered removed."

Agents Tuesday arrested 24 undocumented immigrants in the valley, many from Cathedral City, where just last week about 100 people marched for immigration reform. Another 500 marched in Indio and Palm Desert.

Witnesses said they spotted agents in Palm Springs and Palm Desert on Wednesday. Some reported random stops along Cook Street and Monterey Avenue, an area where day laborers are known to gather. Hayes would not confirm any locations.

Some, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have criticized how the agents carry out their orders.

"The raids are definitely not the way to go, especially when they're casting such a wide net," said Nora Preciado, a staff attorney with the ACLU in Los Angeles.

"It's not right because people deserve to have privacy in their own homes," said Rosalio Plata, president of Club Michoacan, a community civics organization.

"(Immigrants) contribute a lot to the economy of the county." Plata said.

The Immigration and Nationality Act permits any officer, without a warrant, "to interrogate any alien or person believed to be an alien as to his right to be or to remain in the United States."

"Anyone who's here in the country illegally faces the risk that they could be arrested," Hayes said.

Operation began in 2006
In January, federal immigration officials arrested more than 750 undocumented immigrant fugitives in the five-county Los Angeles region, one of the biggest sweeps in U.S. history. Of those arrested, a little more than 15 percent had deportation warrants, Preciado said.

The roundup is part of a national program, "Return to Sender," that has resulted in nearly 24,000 arrests since May 2006. About 1,500 of those arrests came from the Los Angeles area, including the Coachella Valley, officials said.

Officials estimated about 40,000 to 45,000 fugitive immigrants live in the L.A. area. Hayes did not have any estimates for the Coachella Valley.

Karan Kler, executive director of Coachella Valley Immigration Service Assistance, said about 200, or 10 percent, of his clients have a pending judge's deportation order.

His group, a nonprofit counseling agency in Palm Springs, offers citizenship and immigration defense.

Witnesses told The Desert Sun on Tuesday that plain-clothed immigration agents in unmarked cars knocked on doors purporting to be selling items and then asked for documentation.

On Wednesday, witnesses said that agents wore vests indicating they were immigration and customs officers.

Protocol requires agents to identify themselves, Hayes said.

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.d ... 00331/1006

This is great news! With every sweep it will send a message to self-deport!

"I think it's really unfair," said Santos, a College of the Desert student. "I know that he's in the country illegally, but that doesn't mean he's a bad person."

This kind of logic is nonsense. The good thief is still a thief!

Their complete refusal to admit their crime is absolutely sickening!

"It's not right because people deserve to have privacy in their own homes," said Rosalio Plata, president of Club Michoacan, a community civics organization.

The right to privacy in your home, is a right outlined in the AMERICAN Constitution, written by AMERICANS, for AMERICANS. It does not apply to ILLEGAL aliens.

I'm so sick and tired of hearing about the "rights" of illegal aliens. As far as I'm concerned, the only right they have, is to go back to their country of origin.

Immigration raids shake the valley; ICE responds


Nicole C. Brambila
The Desert Sun
May 10, 2007

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Since Tuesday, immigration officers have rounded up an unspecified number of undocumented immigrants as part of a weeklong Coachella Valley sting.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials would not discuss the number of executed warrants, the nationality of the immigrants apprehended or how many of those arrested were criminal aliens.

But witnesses have spotted plain-clothed agents at businesses in Cathedral City and conducting random stops along Cooke Street and Monterey Avenue, an area where day laborers are said to gather.

Immigration attorneys The Desert Sun has spoken with have called the sweeps disturbing and illegal.

“This stinks of racial profiling,â€