Dozens arrested in immigration sweep face deportation or criminal charges

UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM
3:40 p.m. July 22, 2008

SAN DIEGO – More than 80 foreign nationals arrested in a recent multi-agency operation in San Diego County face federal and state criminal charges or deportation, federal officials said Tuesday.
The arrests were made in an operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement agencies aimed at cracking down on violent street gangs in the area.

Last Monday, immigration agents arrested 38 gang members or gang associates and 43 criminal illegal immigrants in Operation Community Shield. Of those arrested, six have been charged in federal court for crossing back into the U.S. after being deported – a felony.

The five men and a woman are all Mexican nationals who had been previously deported with convictions for drug offenses and violent crimes, officials said. They face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Nine others arrested face criminal charges in state court, including drug offenses, burglary, robbery and violating a gang injunction, officials said. Most of those arrested were taken into custody because of administrative immigration violations.

Last year, immigration agents in San Diego arrested 61 foreign national gang members in a similar multi-agency operation that lasted two weeks.

Operation Community Shield is an ongoing initiative in which immigration agents work with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to address public safety issues posed by gangs.

Since the operation was launched in February 2005, agents across the country have made about 9,600 arrests. In the San Diego region, more than 400 arrests have been made, and officials said they have dismantled cross-border drug smuggling organizations that are connected to street gangs.
http://oneoldvet.com/?p=7358
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metr ... 22ice.html