Thread: I.C.E. arrest almost 2,000 L.A.-area gang members

I.C.E. News Release

January 23, 2009

ICE Los Angeles-area gang arrests reach nearly 2,000 in 2008

Agency credits expanded jail screenings and partnerships with local law enforcement Agency credits expanded jail screenings and partnerships with local law enforcement

LOS ANGELES - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested nearly 2,000 gang members and gang associates in the Los Angeles area in 2008 as part of the agency's ongoing national anti-gang effort known as Operation Community Shield.

Of the 1,970 gang members taken into custody here by ICE in the last year, more than 850 were prosecuted criminally on state or federal charges, ranging from re-entry after deportation to weapons violations. The remaining targets were foreign national gang members who were arrested on administrative immigration violations and placed in deportation proceedings. The statistics include ICE gang arrests in seven Southland counties - Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

ICE attributes the agency's rising local gang arrests to several factors, among them the expanded screening of criminal aliens incarcerated in area jails and ICE's increased cooperative efforts with local law enforcement agencies to attack and dismantle transnational streets gangs.

Targeting gang members is a priority for ICE's two primary enforcement divisions, the Office of Investigations and the Office of Detention and Removal Operations. As its name implies, the Office of Investigations conducts criminal investigations into ongoing gang activity while the Office of Detention and Removal Operations focuses on identifying deportable gang members in the area's jails and proactively tracking down fugitive gang members who have ignored court orders of deportation and continue to menace the community.

"These arrest statistics are further proof of ICE's major role in combating gang-related crime in Los Angeles," said Robert Schoch, special agent in charge for the ICE Office of Investigations in Los Angeles. "Our immigration and customs authorities are proving to be powerful weapons in this effort and we'll continue working closely with local law enforcement to attack and dismantle the gangs that have terrorized our communities. Now, it's the gang members who have something to fear."

Recently, an ICE investigation led to the arrest of a 30-year-old Salvadoran national with ties to the Westside Criminals street gang who had been previously deported from the United States. Wilmar “Smileyâ€Â

WOW!
Now there's some news that bears repeating!
THANK YOU I.C.E.!

This must be why LA is saying it's crime rates are dropping.

..........of course, I forget, they put 'em in jail and they're out a few months later.

Originally Posted by ShockedinCalifornia

WOW!
Now there's some news that bears repeating!
THANK YOU I.C.E.!

This must be why LA is saying it's crime rates are dropping.

But they need to be doing much, much more.

They are still foot dragging the effort and we need to marshall much more efforts and resources and confront this problem as a national emergency.

It's a good start. Now just get rid of special order 40 and it would help even more.

Good job ICE.

http://www.judicialwatch.org/lapd-special-order-40

Added to Home PAge
http://www.alipac.us/article3926.html

Even if they are deported in the morning they will all be back by supper time giving border patrol personnel the finger as they pass by them............Villalaraza will give them the key to the city along with all the benefits they want. Gotta love that wide open border.........

It's great to see our brave I.C.E. agents doing their job and sending these criminals to jail and prison and then deporting them.
We should all be proud of the work that they do for us to defend our country.