Thread: CA-More than 1,100 arrested in Cal immigration sweep

WOW! Read the comments at the end of the article here:
http://comments.breitbart.com/d93ghuj08/


I think California is FED UP...

Ah, the sweet sound of IA's being loaded into the paddywagon.

Without further ado:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6zM56Yq000

Originally Posted by CindyB

WOW! Read the comments at the end of the article here:
http://comments.breitbart.com/d93ghuj08/


I think California is FED UP...

WOW! Some of those posts were as shocking as they were entertaining! I didn't see one of them that didn't support ICE!

Originally Posted by CindyB

WOW! Read the comments at the end of the article here:
http://comments.breitbart.com/d93ghuj08/


I think California is FED UP...

Those are very entertaining and yes California is FED UP. But I think too many politicians here work for them and count on illegal votes.

More than 1,100 arrested throughout California in immigration raids
By Denis C. Theriault
Mercury News
Article Last Updated: 09/30/2008 06:43:36 AM PDT


Billing a series of raids as the largest sweep of its kind in California, federal immigration authorities Monday announced more than 1,100 arrests throughout the state this month, part of a three-week effort that saw teams from the Bay Area and beyond knocking on doors in search of fugitive immigrants.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 1,157 men and women — 436 in Northern California — the latest splash in a five-year push targeting immigrants who have ignored deportation orders or returned to the United States illegally after being deported. The sweep, which concluded Saturday, also produced 420 arrests in the Los Angeles area and 301 in the San Diego area. Those arrested came from 34 countries.

And although ICE officials hailed the sweep as a success, particularly because of the number of arrests, they said it was only the scale of the effort that was remarkable.

"This is something we do on a daily basis," said Craig Meyer, ICE's assistant field office director in San Francisco. "This was just a big surge to get as many boots on the ground as we could."

Teams from Northern and Southern California worked together to rove the state, turning up 595 immigrants with outstanding deportation orders and 346 with criminal convictions. In Northern California, which includes the Bay Area, 185 were fugitives and 92 had criminal convictions, ranging from petty theft to more serious crimes. A breakdown of

arrests by municipality and county was not available, Meyer said.

In one case, ICE agents apprehended a Fremont woman who had been ordered deported after convictions for voluntary manslaughter and threatening a witness. The onetime legal resident, whom authorities did not identify, was sent back to her native Portugal shortly after her arrest, officials said.

The sweep marked the first large-scale operation for ICE's months-old San Jose team, one of a handful added this year in California, as ICE continues its five-year crackdown against immigrants who ignore deportation orders. In patrolling Northern California, it joins two teams in San Francisco and one each in Sacramento, Fresno and Bakersfield.

"It spreads us out a little more, gives us a little more reach," Meyer said of the new South Bay crew. "They know the area better and they can get out there quicker and be on the ground more often."

Nationwide, there are now 95 teams in operation, ICE officials said, with more than 100 expected by the end of the year. In 2003, when ICE's Fugitive Operations Program was created, only 17 teams were in place.

That expansion, along with the establishment of a federal investigation center in Vermont, has led to a surge in arrests. Last year there were 30,407 arrests nationwide, nearly double the year before. This year, ICE agents are well on their way to topping that number, with 26, 945 arrests logged as of Aug. 1.

The crackdown has continued to cut into the number of immigrants nationwide who have standing deportation orders. In 2007, for the first time, the suspected number of fugitive immigrants in the United States declined. The backlog is now down to fewer than 560,000, about 34,000 fewer than on Oct. 1, 2007.

But for Basil Robledo, director of programs for the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network in San Jose, the latest arrests are one more step on a disturbing path following last year's failure by Congress to reform the nation's immigration laws.

He said federal officials have instead turned to heavy-handed enforcement — a strategy that Robledo says has led to fear and broken families.

"It is a scary situation for folks in the community," he said. "People keep their kids home from school. It creates less of a willingness to talk to police. They see ICE agents and they see a uniformed person, and that blends into all of law enforcement."

Meyer acknowledged the complaints his agency receives, particularly those concerning children and families, stressing that "when children are involved, we're very careful with that."

Still, he said, "these are the laws that are in place. And we're just following through, doing our job."

http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_10595942

added to homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article3586.html

I.C.E. News Release

September 29, 2008

ICE arrests more than 1,150 in largest special operation yet targeting criminal aliens and illegal alien fugitives in California

Three-week enforcement surge results in 301 arrests in San Diego and Imperial counties

SAN DIEGO - More than 1,150 criminal aliens, immigration fugitives, and immigration violators have been removed from the United States or are facing deportation today following the largest special enforcement operation ever carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Fugitive Operations Teams in California.

During the three-week enforcement surge, which concluded Saturday, ICE officers located and arrested a total of 1,157 immigration violators throughout the state, including 301 here in San Diego and Imperial counties. Of those arrested locally, a total of 102 were immigration fugitives, aliens who have ignored final orders of deportation or who returned to the United States illegally after being removed. More than 40 percent of the aliens taken into custody in this area had criminal histories in addition to being in the country illegally.

"The deployment of more Fugitive Operations Teams, together with enhancements in our ability to track leads in these cases, have resulted in the arrest of record numbers of immigration fugitives this year and we expect that trend to continue," said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Julie L. Myers, who oversees ICE. "Individuals who defy immigration court orders to leave the country need to understand there are consequences for willfully disregarding the law. ICE is committed to enforcing these outstanding deportation orders and strengthening the integrity of our nation's immigration system."

Among those arrested by the Fugitive Operations Teams locally was Francisco Javier Esquivel-Tristan, a 72-year-old legal resident who was taken into ICE custody outside his residence last week. As part of a coordinated effort with local police, Esquivel-Tristan was turned over to officers with the San Diego Police Department's sex crimes and child abuse unit. Esquivel-Tristan has been charged by the San Diego Police Department with 52 counts of lewd acts involving a child under 14. He was booked into the San Diego County Central jail where he is being held on $2.7 million bond.

Following his release by local authorities, Esquivel will be returned to ICE custody and placed in removal proceedings based upon his criminal record.

In addition to the local Fugitive Operations Teams, ICE officers from the agency's teams in San Francisco and Los Angeles were temporarily deployed to the area to assist with this enforcement action.

ICE's Fugitive Operations Teams are tasked with identifying and arresting foreign nationals who have ignored final orders of deportation or have returned to the United States illegally after being removed. The teams prioritize cases involving immigration violators who pose a threat to national security and community safety. These include child sexual exploiters, suspected gang members, and those who have convictions for any violent crimes.

Since many of these individuals have already been ordered deported, they are subject to immediate removal from the country. The remaining aliens are in ICE custody and are awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, or pending travel arrangements for removal in the near future.

The Fugitive Operations Program was established in 2003 to eliminate the nation's backlog of immigration fugitives. Today, ICE has 95 teams in place across the country, including 17 here in California.

As a result of the efforts of the Fugitive Operations Teams, the nation's fugitive alien population continues to decline. Estimates now place the number of immigration fugitives in the United States at slightly under 560,000, a decrease of more than 34,000 since October 2007.

ICE's Fugitive Operations Program is an integral part of the comprehensive multi-year plan launched by the Department of Homeland Security to secure America's borders and reduce illegal migration. That strategy seeks to gain operational control of both the northern and southern borders, while re-engineering the detention and removal system to ensure that illegal aliens are removed from the country quickly and efficiently.

EDITOR'S NOTE: DVDs featuring ICE b-roll of this latest operation are available. The footage was shot in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. In addition, Robin Baker, the field office director for ICE Detention and Removal Operations in San Diego, will be available for follow-up interviews today from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. To schedule an interview or obtain a copy of the b-roll DVD, call ICE public affairs at (619) 557-6485.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

Last Modified: Tuesday, September 30, 2008
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080929sandiego.htm

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080929losangeles.htm

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0809/080929sanfrancisco.htm

A small start but welcome nonetheless. This will have to continue for a long time for our immigration system to regain even a modicum of credibility.