Thread: N.C.: ICE Agents Round Up Immigrants Running From The Law In

ICE Agents Round Up Immigrants Running From The Law In Charlotte

UPDATED: 6:36 pm EST November 13, 2007


CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials released some startling numbers for its Southeast region, which includes Charlotte. Members of ICE’s Fugitive Operations Team have arrested and deported more than 2,200 immigrant fugitives between October 2006 and October 2007.

That's a big jump from just more than 500 arrests the previous year.

Eyewitness News reporter Rene Romo recently got a rare opportunity to see how that ice team works and find out who they're really after.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Under the cover of night, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer Stephen Redmon, and other ICE officers prepared for a job that had the potential to turn dangerous at any moment.

"It's always a little hairy, no matter how many times you've done it. I’ve done this for probably 10 years now, and you treat every one like it's your first one," he said.

On that chilly morning, Redmon hit the streets of Charlotte to catch fugitive immigrants, some in this country legally, some not. But all of them have been running from the law.

"The individuals that we target for fugitive arrests have already been through the entire immigration process. They've been charged, they've seen a judge, the federal judge has ordered them to depart the country and they've chosen to defy that order," Redmon said.

On this day, the ICE Fugitive Operations Team went looking for three suspects. One -- an illegal immigrant from Honduras convicted of multiple driving while impaired charges and already ordered out of the country.

Officers know his routine from previous surveillance, and they waited for him to come out of his east Charlotte apartment to go to work.

"A lot of them work wherever they can and it may be a different place every day of the week, so we have to get there in the early hours to try to find them," Redmon explained.

Officers knocked on the door after seeing people inside the apartment. The Honduran stayed inside for a few hours, but was arrested once he finally came out.

The next target is an immigrant from Nigeria who came to the United States legally, but he broke the laws of this country when he was convicted of fraud. When an immigration judge set the court date for his deportation hearing, he never showed up.

That man surrendered peacefully, leaving his wife and small children behind.

“This family's going to be split apart because you had to do your job, what are your feelings about that?â€

The next target is an immigrant from Nigeria who came to the United States legally, but he broke the laws of this country when he was convicted of fraud. When an immigration judge set the court date for his deportation hearing, he never showed up.

Okay...clearly this loser is a criminal.

[quote]“This family's going to be split apart because you had to do your job, what are your feelings about that?â€

Members of ICE’s Fugitive Operations Team have arrested and deported more than 2,200 immigrant fugitives between October 2006 and October 2007.

I've read thousands of words like this. Anybody have a picture of just one alien getting deported?