Thread: ICE arrests 2,900 convicted criminal aliens, 50 states

I.C.E. News Release

September 28, 2011
Washington, DC

ICE arrests more than 2,900 convicted criminal aliens, fugitives in enforcement operation throughout all 50 states

18 weapons seized during operation

WASHINGTON — As part of the Obama administration's ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today announced the results of a seven-day national "Cross Check" enforcement operation-which led to the arrest of more than 2,900 convicted criminal aliens.

"The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE's ongoing commitment and focus on the arrest and removal of convicted criminal aliens and those that game our nation's immigration system," said ICE Director John Morton. "Because of the tireless efforts and teamwork of ICE officers and agents in tracking down at large criminal aliens and fugitives, there are 2,901 fewer criminal aliens in our neighborhoods across the country."

This seven-day operation, the largest of its kind, involved the collaboration of more than 1,900 ICE officers and agents from all of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations' (ERO) 24 field offices, as well as coordination with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners throughout the United States. Arrests occurred in all 50 states and four U.S. territories.

All of the 2,901 individuals taken into custody had prior criminal convictions including at least 1,282 aliens who had multiple criminal convictions. More than 1,600 of those arrested had felony convictions including manslaughter, attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, drug trafficking, child abuse, sexual crimes against minors, and aggravated assault. Of the total 2,901 criminal aliens arrested, 42 were gang members and 151 were convicted sex offenders.

In addition to being convicted criminals, 681 of those arrested were also immigration fugitives who had previously been ordered to leave the country but failed to depart. Additionally, 386 were illegal re-entrants who had been previously removed from the country multiple times. Because of their serious criminal histories and prior immigration arrest records, at least 146 of those arrested during the enforcement action were presented to U.S attorneys for prosecution on a variety of charges including illegal re-entry after deportation, a felony which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

The arrestees include:
Virgilio Lopez-Ruiz, 54, a national of the Dominican Republic, who was residing in the Bronx, N.Y., convicted on Nov. 16, 1988, of second degree attempted murder.

Ike Romanus Bright, 51, a national of Nigeria, who was residing in Kyle, Texas, was an ICE fugitive alien convicted on Nov. 5, 1986, of second degree attempted murder.

Jose Gallardo, 51, a national of Mexico, who was residing in North Hollywood, Calif., convicted on March 21, 1996, of kidnapping a child under 14 years of age and shooting at an occupied dwelling. The Department of Justice is filing criminal charges for illegally re-entering the United States after having been removed.

Ian Kirt Kuar, 52, a national of Trinidad and Tobago, who was residing in Hauppauge, N.Y., convicted on Nov. 14, 1975, of second degree manslaughter and convicted on May 12, 1995, of fifth degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.

Roberto Hackett-Baquie, 54, a national of Panama, who was residing in Stone Mountain, Ga., convicted on March 26, 2008, of child molestation.

Euford Brown, 60, a national of Jamaica, who was residing in Mattapan, Mass., was an ICE fugitive alien and a registered sex offender convicted on April 2, 1986, of rape.

Austin Alfredo Alonzo-Fiallos, 36, a national of Honduras, who was residing in West Columbia, S.C., was an ICE fugitive alien convicted on March 2, 1998, of felony burglary-armed assault and felony assault and battery on official employee. He is also wanted in Miami on charges of attempted first degree murder and charges of kidnapping, burglary and armed assault. He is pending extradition to Miami on the criminal charges.

ICE conducted the first successful Cross Check operation in December 2009, and has since conducted Cross Check operations in 37 states, including regional operations in the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest regions. In May, ICE conducted the first nationwide Cross Check operation. These previous Cross Check operations resulted in ICE arresting 4,506 convicted criminals, fugitives and aliens nationwide who have illegally re-entered the United States after removal.

Last week's enforcement action was spearheaded by ICE's National Fugitive Operations Program (NFOP), which is responsible for locating, arresting and removing at-large criminal aliens and immigration fugitives. The officers who conducted last week's operation received substantial assistance from ICE's Fugitive Operations Support Center (FOSC) and ICE's Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) both located in Williston, Vt.

ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that targets serious criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, such as those charged with or convicted of homicide, rape, robbery, kidnapping, major drug offenses and threats to national security. ICE also prioritizes the arrest and removal of those who game the immigration system including immigration fugitives or those criminal aliens who have been previously deported and illegally re-entered the country.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423.

U.S. Dept of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1109/1 ... gtondc.htm

good work
but you many more arrests
to come
No amnesty

ICE says nearly 3,000 criminal aliens arrested in 7-day action

WASHINGTON | Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:07am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have arrested 2,901 convicted criminal aliens in the biggest operation of its kind, the agency said on Wednesday.

The seven-day operation involved arrests in all 50 states and four U.S. territories, ICE said in a statement.

All those arrested had criminal convictions. More than 1,600 had felony convictions, including manslaughter, attempted murder and drug trafficking.

Forty-two of those arrested were gang members, and 151 were sex offenders.

"The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE's ongoing commitment and focus on the arrest and removal of convicted criminal aliens and those that game our nation's immigration system," ICE Director John Morton said in the statement.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/ ... R020110928

Forgive my skepticism but this is just another dog and pony show exercise in futility. Obama opened our borders by granting midnight back door amnesty through executive fiat to millions of illegal aliens already here (not the hundreds of thousands claimed by this administration), the thousands illegally crossing the border every week and is giving work permits to all of them. Illegal aliens have been told they can illegally enter the country with no consequences for violating our laws, borders, sovereignty and remain here if they don't commit any additional crimes. Those deported for committing additional crimes will easily be able to reenter the country and inflict more pain, suffering and misery on the American people as many have. More politics so Obama can fool the American Sheeple into believing he is doing something about open borders so he can be reappointed and finish the Soros agenda to destroy this country and implement a one world government.

From CNN

More than 2,900 convicted criminal immigrants arrested, ICE says

By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 1:32 PM EST, Wed September 28, 2011

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents take part in Operation Cross Check in September 2011.

Washington (CNN) -- In a huge, seven-day operation covering all 50 states and four U.S. territories, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested 2,901 convicted criminal immigrants as part of the "Cross Check" enforcement operation, ICE officials announced Wednesday.

ICE officials trumpeted the arrests at a news conference designed to highlight "the Obama administration's ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators."

ICE Director John Morton said all those arrested had prior criminal convictions, including 1,282 who had multiple convictions. More than 1,600 of those arrested had felony convictions including manslaughter, attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, drug trafficking, child abuse, sexual crimes against minors and aggravated assault. Forty-two of them were gang members and 151 were convicted sex offenders, officials said.

ICE officials acknowledged that despite the large number of arrests, there were still an estimated 1 million convicted criminal aliens in the United States. Morton said one of the issues ICE is trying to deal with is the lack of notification to immigration authorities when offenders are released from jail.

Most of the people detained -- 2,642 -- were men. Those arrested came from 115 countries, with immigration fugitives accounting for 681 of those detained in the operation, Morton said. Of the people arrested, 386 were illegal re-entrants.

"The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE's ongoing commitment and focus on the arrest and removal of convicted criminal aliens and those that game our nation's immigration system," Morton in a statement released before the news conference. "Because of the tireless efforts and teamwork of ICE officers and agents in tracking down at large criminal aliens and fugitives, there are 2,901 fewer criminal aliens in our neighborhoods across the country."

ICE began conducting large-scale operations to target convicted criminal aliens in December 2009 and since then, nine regional and national Cross Check operations -- including last week's -- have resulted in the arrest of more than 7,400 convicted criminal aliens.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/28/us/immigration-sting/

ICE announces criminal immigrant roundup

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press – 4 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — A month after promising to focus deportations on the most serious criminal immigrants, the Obama administration said Wednesday it has rounded up nearly 3,000 criminals across the country for deportation.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said agents arrested 2,901 criminal immigrants in the last week alone. Each illegal immigrant arrested, he said, had at least one criminal conviction and more than 1,600 of those people had been convicted of at least one felony, including attempted murder, rape and kidnapping.

The weeklong roundup came just a month after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that immigration officials would focus enforcement efforts on serious criminals and delay deportation cases for most non-criminal immigrants who don't pose a threat to public safety or national security.

"This is what we should be doing; this is good law enforcement," Morton said. "It makes sense to be removing people who are committing crimes who are here illegally first and foremost."

In an Aug. 18 letter to a group of senators who have pushed for immigration reform, Napolitano said officials from DHS and the Justice Department would review approximately 300,000 deportation cases pending in federal immigration court.

At the time, officials said most non-criminals and those who do not pose a threat to public safety or national security would likely have their cases put on hold indefinitely. Those people would be allowed to stay in the country and apply for a work permit.

Morton said Wednesday the review has not been started.

But agents in the field have been instructed to use discretion in evaluating who should be arrested and put in the system for deportation. In a June memo, Morton said discretion could be used in a variety of cases, including for people with no criminal record and young people brought to the United States illegally as children.

While the focus is on criminals and security threats, some non-criminals may still face deportation because ICE has not suspended enforcement operations for everyone else, Morton said.

"We don't have the power and are not going to suspend enforcement for an entire class of individuals in a broad way," Morton said.

DHS has been widely criticized for using fingerprints collected in local jails to identify and deport people arrested for minor traffic offenses and other misdemeanors.

That program, Secure Communities, continues, though a task force charged with recommending changes to the program suggested that it only be used to identify serious criminals. Morton said he will meet with the task force before deciding if any changes should be made to the controversial program.

Alicia A. Caldwell can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/acaldwellap

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... 1e8473878c

L.A. TIMES

Immigration raids net 2,900 criminals in largest national crackdown

September 28, 2011 | 12:18pm

About 2,900 illegal immigrants with criminal records have been arrested in what authorities on Wednesday called the largest such nationwide crackdown.

The arrests, during the last seven days, came a month after the Obama administration announced that immigration officials would concentrate on finding and deporting serious criminals and delay deportation proceedings against non-criminals who do not pose a public safety threat.

Wednesday's announcement came on the day that President Obama told Latinos during a roundtable at the White House that he was still committed to comprehensive immigration reform, which he said had been prevented by Republican intransigence.

"We're a nation of laws, but we're also a nation of immigrants," Obama said at the forum for viewers of Yahoo! en Espanol, MSN Latino, AOL Latino and Huffington Post Latino Voices.

The latest arrests involved more than 1,900 agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement working with state and local officers across the country over the last week, part of an operation called "Cross Check." Officials said 2,901 illegal immigrants were arrested and all had at least one criminal conviction.

Of that group, at least 1,282 had been convicted of multiple charges and more than 1,600 had felony convictions including manslaughter, attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, drug trafficking, child abuse, sexual crimes against minors, and aggravated assault, ICE said in a prepared statement. Forty-two were identified as gang members, the agency said.

In addition, 681 of those arrested were immigration fugitives who had previously been ordered to leave the country but failed to go. Additionally, 386 were illegal re-entrants who had been previously removed from the country multiple times.

Cases involving a least 146 of those arrested during the sweep were turned over to various U.S. attorneys for prosecution on a variety of charges including illegal re-entry after deportation, a felony which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, the agency stated.

Suspects were arrested in all 50 states and four U.S. territories, according to the statement.

"This is what we should be doing; this is good law enforcement," ICE director John Morton told a news conference. "It makes sense to be removing people who are committing crimes who are here illegally, first and foremost."

The Obama administration has been wrestling with immigration issues. On Wednesday, Obama again defended his administration's actions in tightening border security while increasing deportations.

In August, the Obama administration announced that it will review about 300,000 pending deportation cases to separate out non-criminals who do not pose a threat. Those individuals would be allowed to stay in the United States and apply for work permits. The government has also stepped up its efforts to deport those who have committed serious crimes.

Latinos represent a key voting bloc as the nation moves more deeply into the 2012 presidential election. While Obama and other Democrats have been the chief beneficiaries of Latino support, recent polls show that the backing has been softening.

Meanwhile, Republicans have also had their problems with immigration issues. Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been attacked by fellow conservatives for his support of a 2001 Texas law that allows undocumented immigrant children to pay in-state tuition rates at state universities if they meet some criteria. He has also argued that a physical fence at the border with Mexico wouldn't work.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is running second to Perry in most national polls, backs a fence and opposes in-state tuition rates.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationn ... inals.html

WASHINGTON TIMES

ICE sweep nets 2,900 criminal illegals

By Jerry Seper
The Washington Times
Wednesday, September 28, 2011

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested more than 2,900 convicted criminal aliens over the past week as part of “Operation Cross Check,â€

BBC

US arrests 2,900 convicted illegal immigrants

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15098593

Were any of them pregnant? Cause most of the illegals I see are pregnant with a full double stroller and 3 pre-schoolers in tow.