Thread: Fugitives targeted, but others arrested

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Immigrant sweeps raise concerns


Fugitives targeted, but others arrested
By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
April 5, 2007

SAN DIEGO – Operations by immigration agents have led to confusion about what the federal government is doing and whether it's rounding up illegal immigrants indiscriminately.

A case in point was an announcement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday that two teams of agents looking for immigration fugitives had arrested 359 people in San Diego and Imperial counties over the past two weeks.

Most of those arrested and removed from the country were not among those sought by immigration agents, but rather were illegal immigrants who happened to be at homes where agents thought their targets would be.

The increased arrests have led to protests by immigrant civil rights groups, one of which pointed out an incident Friday in which a 17-year-old U.S. citizen was handcuffed, though not arrested, by immigration agents.

But it turns out that incident wasn't related to the “Operation Return to Sender” announced Tuesday, but rather part of an ongoing effort in which immigration agents go after wanted gang members.

Agents were looking for the teen's brother, a documented gang member and registered sex offender, said ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack.

When agents didn't find him, they arrested his brother-in-law, an illegal immigrant who had two felony convictions for driving without a license and who had agreed to leave the country five times rather than face deportation, Mack said.

Agents also arrested the teen's 44-year-old mother and returned her to Mexico after she showed them a state-issued identity card that only legal residents are supposed to have.

His 24-year-old sister, also an illegal immigrant, was released so she could take care of her younger brothers, who are U.S. citizens.

Christian Ramirez, with the American Friends Service Committee, mentioned that incident Tuesday when talking about the ICE operation.

Yesterday, Ramirez said a lack of information from the agency has led to widespread fear.

“We really don't know which agencies and which operations are taking place and we have very little information to give to the public,” he said.

As a result, many immigrants live in fear and suspect raids are imminent even when they're not. He said he has received calls from people who've been spooked by policelike motorcycles.

Mack, the ICE spokeswoman, said the agency can't announce its fugitive roundups ahead of time without tipping off people the agents are going after.

Agents undergo civil rights training and are looking for specific fugitives, but they can't ignore illegal immigrants they come across, she said.

Rob Baker, who supervised the San Diego agents in Operation Return to Sender, bristled at critics who call their actions “raids” and a “dragnet.”

“What it's done is create the perception we're jackbooted thugs,” Baker said.

A group of Episcopal, Congregational, Quaker and Jewish clergy, and a Roman Catholic layperson, said yesterday that they plan to protest outside the federal building today and hope to meet with Baker in an effort to end the arrests.

“Our whole goal (is) to keep families together and end these raids,” said Rabbi Laurie Coskie, executive director of the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice.

Baker said agents are acting humanely.

“The bottom line is they're not going to stop us from doing our job,” Baker said.

“We apprehended 359,” he said. “We could have had a thousand people. They left so many people behind because of the children.”





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Onell Soto: (619) 293-1280; onell.soto@uniontrib.com









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Notice how the Mex Diego Goonion-Buffoon refers to illegal aliens as immigrants or just migrants? You will never see the term illegal alien in any story they report. In fact you will rarely see any crime committed by an illegal reported, only stories that portray them as the victims of crimes. When an illegal was recently arrested for a string of peepin-Tom crimes, rapes and assaults on women they just referred to him as a local "resident" with no mention he was an illegal.

If an individual is in the country illegal, it should not make a difference if they had committed a crime or not. If ICE finds them, they should be deported immediately. The appeal process is being misused by illegals and needs to be reformed. A judge should be able to look at the appeal and either say it needs to be heard or that it is ridiculous and turn it down.

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