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Posted on Mon, May. 15, 2006


Citizenship service nabs suspected criminals, felons

BY MIAMI HERALD STAFF
dadenews@MiamiHerald.com

Dozens of felons and suspected criminals in South Florida who are not U.S. citizens have been arrested as part of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' pledge to protect the country's borders, officials said Monday.

The individuals, who were not identified, were convicted felons or are wanted for murder, sexual battery on a child, drug trafficking and domestic violence, among other crimes, USCIS said in a press release.

''At USCIS, we take our national security and public safety responsibilities seriously,'' USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez said. ``We have the tools to identify egregious criminals and when we become aware of them, we will act in cooperation with our partner agencies to ensure these individuals are held accountable for their crimes.''

The ''criminal aliens,'' USCIS said, were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents.

''These criminal aliens were then processed by ICE special agents for removal from the United States or for hearings in immigration court,'' USCIS stated.

Their countries of origin include: Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Great Britain, Honduras, Jamaica, Romania, and Trinidad and Tobago.

USCIS would not detail the procedures for identifying the people with criminal records, insisting that would compromise the agency's future operations.

The agency receives between six million and eight million applications and petitions every year, said USCIS' Miami spokeswoman Ana Santiago, who added that ``these checks are conducted on every individual who applies to USCIS for an immigration benefit.''