Thread: 244 immigrants arrested in four-day sweep across Southern California

244 immigrants arrested in four-day sweep across Southern California

Jorge Field of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations makes his way to the raid to apprehend an immigrant without legal status who may be deportable in Riverside. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say they are relying more than ever on costly manhunts to locate immigrants in the country illegally who have criminal records.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)



By JOSEPH SERNA AND KATE LINTHICUMcontact the reporters


More than 240 people were taken into federal custody last week across Southern California after a four-day sweep for immigrants in the country illegally with criminal records, authorities announced Monday.

The enforcement action ended on Thursday with 244 foreign nationals in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement – the majority of them with at least one felony conviction on their record, authorities said.

It was the most successful four-day sweep of its kind in the region, ICE said.

CAPTIONTracking down deportation targetsIrfan Khan / Los Angeles Times
Federal agents are briefed before going out into the Riverside community to apprehend immigrants who may be deportable. In the past, the agency would simply contact local jails where such immigrants were being detained and ask jail officials to hold them until an ICE van could pick them up, but hundreds of counties across the country stopped honoring such requests after a federal judge last year found that practice unconstitutional.


Among the people captured, 191 were from Mexico and the rest were from 21 other countries including France, Ghana, Peru and Thailand, the agency said. A majority of them had convictions for violent felonies or weapons or sex abuse charges.

The rest had past convictions for “significant or multiple misdemeanors,” ICE said in a news release.

In the past it was easier for ICE agents to locate and deport immigrants who had been convicted of crimes. The agency would contact local jails and ask that such inmates be held until an ICE van could pick them up.

But last year a federal judge found that practice illegal, prompting hundreds of counties to stop honoring the detainer requests. As a result, ICE officials say they have to rely on costly and dangerous manhunts or multi-day sweeps like the one conducted last week.

The sweep was led by the agency’s National Fugitive Operations program, which finds at-large criminals for deportation.

Originally formed to locate immigrants who had failed to comply with a judge's deportation order, the program is increasingly being used to find immigrants with criminal convictions who have recently been let out of jail. Of the more than 27,000 people whom ICE arrested nationwide last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, 2014, about 78% had criminal convictions, according to ICE data.

Among those captured was Vincente Onofre-Ramirez, 35, who authorities say was convicted in 2002 of sexual abuse with force in New York.

In Sunland, authorities arrested a 50-year-old Salvadorian national convicted of two criminal counts of child sex abuse in Los Angeles County; in Upland, a 46-year-old man from Guatemala who previously served 10 years in prison for sexually abusing two children was arrested.

But not everyone arrested in the sweep was a violent felon.

Those who have not been deported before and found to have illegally re-entered the country or aren’t facing new charges will have an administrative hearing with a judge.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...831-story.html

I.C.E. News Release

ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL

08/31/2015


More than 240 arrested in Southland ICE operation targeting criminal aliens and public safety threats

LOS ANGELES – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in the Los Angeles area arrested more than 240 criminals and individuals who pose a threat to public safety last week, a record number for a four-day ICE operation in the Southland.

All 244 of the foreign nationals taken into custody by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers during the enforcement action, which concluded Thursday, had prior criminal convictions. The majority (56 percent) had criminal records that included felony convictions for serious or violent offenses, such as child sex crimes, weapons charges and drug violations. The remaining arrestees had past convictions for significant or multiple misdemeanors.

While the vast majority of those taken into custody are originally from Mexico (191), a total of 21 countries are represented, including Peru, Thailand, France and Ghana.

Of the six Southland counties where arrests occurred, Los Angeles County accounted for the largest number of apprehensions (99), followed by Orange County (55); San Bernardino County (43); Riverside County (24); Santa Barbara County (20); and San Luis Obispo County (3).

Four of those detained during last week’s enforcement action are previously removed criminal individuals who are being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for felony re-entry after removal from the U.S. They include Vincente Onofre-Ramirez, a Mexican national convicted in 2002 in New York of sexual abuse with force. Onofre-Ramirez was removed from the U.S. after serving his sentence. The 35-year-old was taken into custody without incident Aug. 23 at his home in Santa Ana and made his initial appearance in federal court the following day.

Other criminal aliens detained during the enforcement action include a 46-year-old Guatemalan national arrested in Upland Aug. 26 who was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing two children. ERO officers also arrested a 50-year-old Salvadoran national in Sunland Aug. 23 who was convicted last year in Los Angeles County of two criminal counts involving child sex abuse.

“This operation exemplifies ICE’s ongoing commitment to prioritizing convicted criminals and public safety threats for apprehension and removal,” said David Jennings, field office director for ERO Los Angeles. “By taking these individuals off our streets and removing them from the country, we are making our communities safer for everyone.”

The foreign nationals detained during the enforcement action who are not being criminally prosecuted will be processed administratively for removal from the United States. Those who have outstanding orders of removal, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country. The remaining individuals are in ICE custody awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, or pending travel arrangements for removal in the near future.

All of the targets in this operation met the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) two top immigration enforcement priorities as established in DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson’s 2014 memorandum. Priority 1 targets include threats to national security, criminal street gang members, convicted felons, and aggravated felons. Priority 2 targets include convictions for three or more misdemeanors or convictions for significant misdemeanors, including DUIs.

Secretary Johnson has directed ICE to prioritize the use of enforcement personnel, detention space, and removal assets to support the Department’s civil immigration enforcement priorities. ICE continues to work with local law enforcement partners to uphold public safety, while taking dangerous criminals out of our communities.

Last week’s enforcement action was spearheaded by ICE’s National Fugitive Operations Program, which locates, arrests and removes at-large criminals. The officers who conducted this operation received substantial assistance from ICE’s National Criminal Alien Targeting Center and from ICE’s Pacific Enforcement Response Center (PERC), located in Laguna Niguel. Established in January of this year, the PERC operates 24/7 to take appropriate enforcement action against criminal aliens and public safety threats who are booked into local law enforcement custody. The PERC shares leads with ERO field offices nationwide, issuing immigration detainers on high-priority and high-risk criminal aliens.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/mo...-public-safety

55 arrested in Orange County during four-day ICE sweep targeting those with criminal records

Aug. 31, 2015
Updated 1:30 p.m.
BY SCOTT SCHWEBKE / STAFF WRITER

Fifty-five people in Orange County with criminal records who are in the U.S. illegally were arrested last week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as part of an operation in six Southern California counties.

The operation began August 23 and concluded Thursday and targeted those with serious felony convictions and multiple misdemeanor convictions, ICE officials said in a statement.

Among those arrested was Vincente Onofre-Ramirez, a Mexican national convicted in 2002 in New York of sexual abuse with force, according to ICE officials.

Onofre-Ramirez, 35, was removed from the U.S. after serving his sentence. He was taken into custody without incident Aug. 23 at his home in Santa Ana and made his initial appearance in federal court the following day, ICE officials said.

ICE’s Pacific Enforcement Response Center, located in Laguna Niguel assisted in last week’s operation.

Established in January, the center operates around the clock operates to take enforcement action against criminal aliens and public safety threats booked into local law enforcement custody.

Los Angeles County accounted for the largest number of arrests with 99, followed by Orange County with 55; San Bernardino County with 43; Riverside County with 24; Santa Barbara County with 20; and San Luis Obispo County with 3, ICE officials said.

While the vast majority of those taken into custody are originally from Mexico, a total of 21 countries are represented, including Peru, Thailand, France and Ghana.

In addition, a 46-year-old Guatemalan national was arrested in Upland on Aug. 26 as part of the raid. He had previously been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing two children, according to ICE officials.

David Marin, deputy field office director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations based in Los Angeles, said Monday similar raids are typically conducted several times a year. Frequently, those who are arrested have been preying on others in immigrant communities, Marin said.

“Our primary role in public safety is by getting them off the street,” he said.

David Jennings, field office director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, described last week’s operation as successful.

“This operation exemplifies ICE’s ongoing commitment to prioritizing convicted criminals and public safety threats for apprehension and removal,” he said in a prepared statement.

Foreign nationals detained during the enforcement action who are not being criminally prosecuted will be processed administratively for removal from the United States, according to ICE officials.

Those who have outstanding orders of removal, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country.

The remaining individuals are in ICE custody awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, or pending travel arrangements for removal in the near future.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/i...officials.html

UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS: Sixty-seven Inland residents jailed in federal sweep

BY BRIAN ROKOS / STAFF WRITER
Published: Aug. 31, 2015 Updated: 5:19 p.m.

INLAND ARRESTS

The apprehension of 67 undocumented immigrants with serious convictions living in the Inland Empire by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement included these totals from selected cities:

City of San Bernardino: 11
Rancho Cucamonga: 6
Fontana: 6
Moreno Valley: 5
City of Riverside: 4
Bloomington: 3


ON ICE

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehended 244 people in a sweep of undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records. The arrests by county:
Los Angeles: 99
Orange: 55
San Bernardino: 43
Riverside: 24
Santa Barbara: 20
San Luis Obispo: 3

Immigration officers rid Southern California of 244 of the worst criminals among its undocumented immigrants in a wide-ranging sweep that included 67 offenders living in the Inland Empire.

Murderers, rapists, child molesters, spousal abusers and gun runners from 21 countries are being prepared for deportation after a four-day operation, officials announced Monday, Aug. 31.

Others were arrested in Orange, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

All 244 had criminal convictions. Slightly more than half had records that included felony convictions for serious or violent offenses such as child sex crimes, weapons charges and drug violations. The remaining had convictions for significant or multiple misdemeanors.Those convictions give them priority to be deported.
Most, 191, were from Mexico. In all, they were from 21 countries, including Peru, Thailand, France and Ghana. Four are being prosecuted for felony re-entry into the U.S.

Those who had re-entered the U.S. or had orders to be removed can be deported immediately. Those who are not being prosecuted will be processed for deportation, and most of the rest are awaiting a hearing before an administrative judge.

Among the 43 arrested in San Bernardino County and 24 arrested in Riverside County last week were a 46-year-old Guatemalan national taken into custody in Upland on Aug. 26 who was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing two children.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said Monday that the unidentified man was taken to Adelanto Detention Facility to prepare him for deportation.

ICE provided details on three of the others apprehended in the Inland Empire during the sweep. All are awaiting deportation.

A 43-year-old Cambodian man was arrested in San Bernardino on Aug. 25. He had been convicted in 1991 of murder while armed with a firearm and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A 55-year-old Mexican man was arrested in Beaumont on Aug. 24. He has two convictions for spousal abuse and has additional arrests in California for battery, driving under the influence and cruelty to animals.

A 30-year-old Mexican man was arrested in Riverside on Aug. 23. He had been sentenced to eight years in prison for possession for sale of a controlled substance. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

The Inland Empire is no more a haven for violent undocumented immigrants than other areas, Kice said.

Anyone could be their victims, she said.

"In many cases, the individual being victimized by foreign nationals are other members of the immigrant community," Kice said. But the threat is to the entire community, she added.

http://www.pe.com/articles/arrested-...ocumented.html

244 Immigrants Arrested In LA As Part Of ICE's 'Ongoing Commitment To Prioritizing Convicted Criminals’

By Cedar Attanasio | Aug 31 2015, 05:44PM EDT

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested hundreds of convicted criminals living in the U.S. illegally in Southern California . ICE agents launched the four-day roundup of immigrants wanted for deportation last week, the agency announced on Monday. The arrested netting convicts and wanted individuals from 21 countries. ICE Field Office Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations David Jennings said in a statement that the sting was part of the Obama administration’s efforts to focus on potentially dangerous individuals rather than going after every-day immigrants that are in the country illegally but don’t pose a public safety risk.

“This operation exemplifies ICE’s ongoing commitment to prioritizing convicted criminals and public safety threats for apprehension and removal,” Jennings said. “By taking these individuals off our streets and removing them from the country, we are making our communities safer for everyone.”

ICE officials say that only the more serious criminals were arrested, including those convicted of felonies (Level 1 offenders) or three or more “significant misdemeanors,” (Level 2) which include domestic violence, sexual abuse, sexual, burglary, firearms violations, drug dealing, drunk driving, or any offence that results in a jail sentence of more than 90 days.

Fifty-seven percent of the those arrested were Level 1 offenders, while the remaining 43 percent were Level 2 offenders, according to an ICE spokesperson. Some of the arrestees are non-violent offenders who have not been deported before. They are will be able to challenge their deportations, according to the L.A. Times .

The agency cited four cases of men from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador who had reentered the U.S. illegally after being deported following sexual abuse convictions. While the vast majority of the immigrants detained were from Mexico (191), a sizeable chunk were from Central American countries (32) and other countries (21).

Below, we’ve listed the numbers of criminals arrested in the sweep.

Mexico – 191
El Salvador – 18
Guatemala – 10
Honduras – 4
Columbia – 2
Peru – 2
Philippines – 2
Thailand – 2
Cambodia – 1
China – 1
Ecuador – 1
France – 1
Ghana – 1
Iran – 1
Iraq – 1
Italy – 1
Jordan – 1
South Korea – 1
Romania – 1
Venezuela – 1
Vietnam – 1

http://www.latintimes.com/244-immigr...nvicted-337602

20 arrested in Santa Barbara County during 4-day immigration sting

2 hours ago •
Abby Hamblin ahamblin@leecentralcoastnews.com
(0) Comments

Immigration agents arrested 20 people in Santa Barbara County as part of a four-day sting that resulted in 244 total arrests in California, authorities said Monday.

Slightly more than half of the 244 people arrested last week had felony convictions and the rest had significant or multiple misdemeanor convictions, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Seven subjects arrested in Santa Barbara County had convictions for domestic violence; six others had one or more DUI convictions; and five had serious drug-related convictions.

The agency said those numbers underscore an emphasis on deporting immigrants who commit crimes in the United States or pose a public safety threat.

One such example occurred Aug. 26, when a 38-year-old Mexican male was arrested in Santa Maria, according to Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Lori Haley. The subject has prior convictions for participating in a criminal street gang, possession of a controlled substance for sale, felony spouse abuse, writing false checks, resisting a public officer and being under the influence of a controlled substance. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Those who aren't criminally prosecuted were to be placed in deportation proceedings.

Nearly eight of 10 arrested were from Mexico, with the rest from 20 other countries. Los Angeles County accounted for the largest number of arrests with 99, followed by Orange County at 55, San Bernardino County with 43, Riverside County with 24, Santa Barbara County with 20 and San Luis Obispo County with three.

Fifteen of the 20 people arrested in Santa Barbara County during the Cross Check Operation were arrested in Santa Maria. The other arrests in Santa Barbara County were made in Mission Hills, Lompoc and Guadalupe.

The sting, which ended Thursday, comes as the federal government meets resistance from local law enforcement agencies to cooperate on immigration enforcement, a trend that captured widespread attention after a 32-year-old woman was fatally shot in San Francisco by a man with an extensive criminal and immigration history.

ICE removed 102,224 people from the interior of the county during the 2014 fiscal year — a 24-percent decline from the previous year — and those numbers are expected to drop again in 2015. ICE said its numbers fell last year partly because state and local law enforcement agencies were refusing to hold people when immigration authorities asked.

ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said all 244 arrested last week were arrested in the community, as opposed to being held by local law enforcement at ICE's request. The agency didn't offer a detailed account of their criminal records in a press release but said one had been convicted in 2002 of sexual abuse with force and another had been sentenced to prison for child sexual abuse.

http://lompocrecord.com/news/local/a...7ab9dac45.html

now that you pick up 244 immigrants what do you do with them?

Originally Posted by southBronx

now that you pick up 244 immigrants what do you do with them?

The foreign nationals detained during the enforcement action who are not being criminally prosecuted will be processed administratively for removal from the United States. Those who have outstanding orders of removal, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country.

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This is making quite the news in our sanctuary state. Must feel good for the ICE agents to be able to do something.