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  1. #1
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    Feds arrest 119 illegal immigrants in Contra Costa

    http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... NN6CQ1.DTL

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    Feds arrest 119 illegal immigrants in Contra Costa
    - Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer
    Tuesday, January 23, 2007


    Federal officials have arrested 119 people in Contra Costa County in a weeklong illegal immigration crackdown, and they had deported 16 as of Monday.

    This portion of the yearlong "Operation Return to Sender" took place primarily in Concord and Richmond and targeted fugitives who had ignored final deportation orders, said Timothy Aitken, deputy director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's detention and removal office in San Francisco.

    ICE is the agency that now performs the enforcement functions of the old Immigration and Naturalization Service.

    Agents also picked up 94 other undocumented immigrants they encountered in the process, he said.

    Latino community advocates said the enforcement action has sown fear in East Bay immigrant communities.

    Just over half of those arrested were Mexican citizens, he said. The rest were from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, India, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Fiji and Brazil.

    Of the 119 people arrested, 18 were criminals, said Aitken, including people who had been convicted of possession of a controlled substance, possession of dangerous weapons, annoying and molesting children, disorderly conduct and driving under the influence with prior convictions.

    "We want to go after the worst of the worst; we go after people who have ignored a judge's order," Aitken said. "But we can't be blind to someone who doesn't have lawful status in the United States. We wouldn't be doing our job if we ignored those people."

    The agency has 52 teams nationwide like the three he manages in Northern and Central California, Aitken said. He said that number is to be expanded to 75 by the end of the year, though he would not say how many or what kind of officers are included in each team.

    "Congress thinks this is important," he said. "They're putting some teeth back in immigration law."

    Many illegal immigrants stayed home from work this week and kept their children home from school out of fear, Latino community leaders said.

    George Vallejo, director of a day labor center in Concord, said at least four workers involved with the center were picked up. In one case, Vallejo said, agents went to a home looking for the brother of a house-painter but ended up taking the painter too, leaving his wife and baby behind alone.

    "I can see in their faces how scared people are," said Vallejo. "They're so afraid they're going to separate their families."

    The Concord chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens filed a compliant Monday with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    LULAC chapter President Jerry Okendo said agents were not properly identifying themselves and, armed with a warrant for an individual, they were sweeping through apartment complexes and picking up anyone who could not provide proof they were living in the United States legally.

    "We understand that ICE has a job to do," said Okendo, "But we also understand that there are laws and guidelines they have to follow, and they are not. As a civil rights organization, we're infuriated."

    LULAC is helping affected families obtain legal counsel, Okendo said.

    Spokeswoman Lori Haley with the immigration enforcement agency said she wasn't aware of the specific complaint, but said the agency would address them directly.

    "They are entitled to notify headquarters with any concerns they have, and any allegations would be seriously reviewed," Haley said.

    Richmond City Councilman John Marquez said he was dismayed that ICE agents were identifying themselves as police.

    "We've worked a long time to develop a relationship between our Police Department and our Latino community so we can get control of the violence taking place in our city," he said. "Now when someone identifies themselves as police, people are afraid to cooperate."

    The Richmond Police Department has a policy not to take part in investigations that deal only with immigration status, said department spokesman Lt. Mark Gagan.

    The East Bay's Immigrant Legal Resource Center and other advocates have set a community forum about the roundup for 3 p.m. Sunday at St. Mark's Church, 159 Harbour Way, Richmond. Members of the Richmond Police Department and Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, and Richmond city officials are invited.

    Operation Return to Sender has arrested 13,000 people nationwide since June 2006, according to figures revised over the winter, Haley said.

    Of those arrested, almost 1,600 were in Northern and Central California, and 29 percent were people with criminal records, she said. Aitken said the three fugitive operations teams he manages make similar arrests every day and not just as part of specific campaigns. His teams are trying to track down almost 15,000 people between Bakersfield and the Oregon border who have absconded from deportation orders, he said.

    E-mail Tyche Hendricks at thendricks@sfchronicle.com.

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    ©2007 San Francisco Chronicle
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  2. #2
    Senior Member 31scout's Avatar
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    Latino community advocates said the enforcement action has sown fear in East Bay immigrant communities.
    So what!
    <div>Thank you Governor Brewer!</div>

  3. #3
    Senior Member lsmith1338's Avatar
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    Freedom isn't free... Don't forget the men who died and gave that right to all of us....
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  4. #4
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    Many illegal immigrants stayed home from work this week and kept their children home from school out of fear, Latino community leaders said.
    This happened near here several years ago. It paralyzed the chicken process plant until the illegals came back out of the woodwork.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  5. #5
    Matthewcloseborders's Avatar
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    Keep up the good work ICE, at least your doing something slowly but surely. Bushs plan to make them scared to do there job has failed.
    <div>DEFEAT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA THE COMMIE FOR FREEDOM!!!!</div>

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