Thread: CA-Gangs face new threat: deportation

Gangs face new threat: deportation

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.31.2008
FRESNO, Calif. — In California, Central San Joaquin Valley gang enforcers are using a new weapon: deportation orders.

Officials say the tactic already is a success. Nearly three dozen gang members who were in the U.S. illegally have been sent back to their home countries since the program's first arrests in February.

But the approach has risks. One example is Huron, Calif., where federal agents have helped with a growing gang problem, said Huron Police Chief Frank Steenport.

But the mayor of the tiny southwestern Fresno County town is still steamed about a July raid that included federal agents, which he learned about only after it was over.

Local authorities have welcomed help from federal immigration agents because they are equipped with a powerful weapon: the ability to deport gang members who are in the country illegally. Federal agents also can ensure that lawbreakers get federal prison time.

The idea started with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stationed in Fresno, who offered to help police.

It was part of Operation Community Shield, a program the agency launched three years ago in major metropolitan areas to target violent transnational street gangs — specifically Mara Salvatrucha 13, or MS-13, formed in Los Angeles by immigrants from El Salvador.

ICE agents can take someone into custody for immigration violations, said Brian Poulsen, the resident agent in charge of Fresno's Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.

"Most of these gang members have come into the U.S. illegally," he said. "They have already violated federal law. We don't need a criminal charge."
It started in the central San Joaquin Valley with the Feb. 13 arrest in Mendota of Brian Rivera, a member of MS-13.

Federal agents tracked down Rivera based on information provided by a consortium of gang officers from local agencies. He has since been deported to his native El Salvador.

So far, 35 gang members in the country illegally have been deported from the Valley as part of the Operation Community Shield sweeps.
They have been sent to Mexico, Central America and such Southeast Asian nations as Laos.

ICE often has agents in these countries who keep an eye on the gang members after their return to their native land, federal authorities said.
Authorities say they expect some deported gang members to return. Already, two gang members deported from here have returned and been rearrested. But this time, they face a different outcome. Returning to the U.S. after being deported is a felony.

A conviction can mean a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison, possibly in a distant state where the gang member is unlikely to have any ties with fellow inmates.

That, officials say, is another reason federal prosecutions are more effective than those by the state, which can send convicted gang members to a prison already housing fellow gang members.



http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/255337

With are Porous border what makes you think he won't return? What happen to our double layer fence? Can we really trust our goverment officials to follow through on enforcement of our Immigration laws?

Added to Home PAge
http://www.alipac.us/article3499.html

Huron statistics
Hispanic (98.3%)
Other race (74.8%)
Two or more races (3.0%)
White Non-Hispanic (1.0%)
American Indian (1.0%)
(Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted in other races)

For population 25 years and over in Huron

High school or higher: 21.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 0.0%
Graduate or professional degree: 0.0%
Unemployed: 28.8%
Mean travel time to work: 26.6 minutes

3,387 residents are foreign born (53.2% Latin America).

This city: 53.7%
California: 26.2%

About the Federal investigators who said Deportation program targeting gang members along with the article this part below caught my eye.
"But the approach has risks. One example is Huron, Calif., where federal agents have helped with a growing gang problem, said Huron Police Chief Frank Steenport.

But the mayor of the tiny southwestern Fresno County town is still steamed about a July raid that included federal agents, which he learned about only after it was over. "

It's no wonder they had a problem with the mayor of Huron

There has to be so many of these illegal gang members here they hardly know where to turn first.