Illegal-immigrant gang members nabbed in sweeps


By Dan Laidman
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

June 7, 2007

LOS ANGELES – With Congress debating a controversial immigration bill that's a top priority of the Bush administration, federal authorities announced yesterday that they have apprehended 124 illegal-immigrant gang members during several months of sweeps in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties.
Prosecutors and immigration authorities touted the arrests and indictments as precedent-setting examples of local collaboration against immigrant gangsters. But critics suggested the announcement's timing could be linked to the debate in Washington, where the president is seeking to sway conservative opponents of the bill who want a greater focus on border enforcement.

“There is certainly a political grandstanding behind this,â€