Thread: ICE arrests about 2,000 illegal immigrants

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/new ... 817061.htm

Posted on Wed, Jun. 14, 2006

ICE arrests about 2,000 illegal immigrants

ANDREW RYAN
Associated Press

BOSTON - A swarm of federal immigration agents sped silently, headlights off, down a Boston side street early Wednesday and surrounded an apartment house.

"Police! Policia! Police!" yelled Daniel Monico, a deportation officer, holding his badge to a window where someone had pulled back the curtain. "Open the door!"

Moments later, agents led a dazed-looking Jose Ferreira Da Silva, 35, out in handcuffs. The Brazilian had been arrested in 2002 and deported, but had slipped back into the country. He now faces up to 20 years in prison.

In a blitz that began May 26, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested nearly 2,100 illegal immigrants across the country. Officials said the raids are aimed at child molesters, gang members and other violent criminals, as well as people like Da Silva who sneaked back into the country after a judge threw them out.

The crackdown is called Operation Return to Sender.

"This sends a message," said Monico, standing outside the gray Victorian apartment where Da Silva had been hiding. "When we deport you, we're serious."

An Associated Press reporter and photographer accompanied a fugitive task force as it made Operation Return to Sender raids Tuesday night and early Wednesday.

The operation has caught more than 140 immigrants with convictions for sexual offenses against children; 367 known gang members, including street soldiers in the deadly Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13; and about 640 people who had already been deported once, immigration officials said. The numbers include more than 720 arrests in California alone.

More than 800 people arrested already have been deported.

"This is a massive operation," said Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for immigration enforcement or ICE, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. "We are watching the country's borders from the inside."

In New England, officials said the sweeps have caught more than 150, including 75 who had come back after being deported.

ICE has a network of 35 fugitive teams across the country. The 2006 budget increased that number to 52, and the Bush administration is pushing for 70 by 2007.

The challenge, agents said, is staggering.

There are more than 500,000 "fugitive aliens" who have been deported by judges and either slipped back into the country or never left. There is often a disconnect between local and state prisons and the federal government that allows illegal immigrants to serve time and be released without being transferred to federal officials for deportation.

The work that led to the series of arrests over the past 20 days began last winter. Agents in Boston, for example, began scouting targets four months ago, conducting street surveillance and following up leads from confidential informants.

"It's a lot of preparation, and it's a lot of patience," said Jim Martin, deputy director for ICE's New England field office. "All for a couple minutes of adrenaline."

During the raid late Tuesday, the federal squad, which includes a Boston police sergeant detective, wore bulging bulletproof vests and stiff Kevlar gloves to protect their hands from needles, knives and rusty fences.

Badges dangled on chains around their necks as they passed around wanted posters and shined flashlights on the face of a 24-year-old Latvian man who had served prison time for assaulting a police officer.

The team moved in the dark, climbing fences and hiding behind parked cars to encircle a three-story house in Boston's Allston-Brighton neighborhood. All at once they emerged from the shadows. A half-dozen agents filled the front porch, their knocks on the door echoing down the block. The target had moved, the agents learned, and a team split off and caught him in Weymouth, about 15 miles south of the city.

Another man caught in the recent blitz was a Salvadoran gang member who was convicted in a stabbing that left a 13-year-old boy paralyzed. Agents caught him working at Budget Rental Car at Boston's Logan Airport.

"The problems with immigration aren't going to be solved overnight," Raimondi said as the team sped toward another raid. "You start chipping away at it ... The more teams we get up and running, the more dangerous people we are going to get off the streets."

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/? ... IyMDI4ZjQ=

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

THE TREK-O-METER

$11,063.00

(What's this?)

Return to Sender [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

From DHS:

HOUSTON, TX. – Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), today announced that ICE agents and officers have apprehended approximately 2,179 criminal aliens, illegal alien gang members, fugitive aliens, and other immigration status violators as part of a nationwide interior immigration enforcement operation that began last month.

Dubbed “Operation Return to Sender,” the initiative began on May 26, 2006 and concluded yesterday. Virtually every field office in the nation from ICE’s Office of Investigations and ICE’s Office of Detention and Removal Operations carried out the enforcement operation in conjunction with numerous state and local law enforcement agencies.

Among the roughly 2,179 individuals arrested in the operation, roughly half had criminal records for crimes that ranged from sexual assault of a minor to assault with a deadly weapon, to abduction. For example, approximately 146 of those arrested had convictions for sexual offenses involving minors. In addition, roughly 367 of the arrested aliens were members or associates of violent street gangs, including Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Finally, roughly 640 of those arrested were fugitive aliens who had been issued final orders of removal by an Immigration judge but failed to comply.

ICE officers arrested the majority of these individuals on administrative immigration violations and have placed them into deportation proceedings. Roughly 829 of those apprehended on administrative violations have already been repatriated to their home countries. ICE agents also apprehended 121 individuals on criminal charges that range from felony re-entry after deportation, to illegal alien in possession of a firearm. The latter individuals are being processed in federal criminal courts.



Posted at 12:33 PM

I really hate these things they give a name to.....but I have to admit I like operation "Return to Sender." Now if "NO RETURNS ACCEPTED WITHOUT LEGAL RECEIPTS" were in effect.....

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=5689

Press Releases


ICE Apprehends More Than 2,100 Criminal Aliens, Gang Members, Fugitives and Other Immigration Violators in Nationwide Interior Enforcement Operation

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: ICE Public Affairs, (202) 514-2648, (832) 423-9395
June 14, 2006

Houston, Texas – Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), today announced that ICE agents and officers have apprehended approximately 2,179 criminal aliens, illegal alien gang members, fugitive aliens, and other immigration status violators as part of a nationwide interior immigration enforcement operation that began last month.

Dubbed “Operation Return to Sender,” the initiative began on May 26, 2006 and concluded yesterday. Virtually every field office in the nation from ICE’s Office of Investigations and ICE’s Office of Detention and Removal Operations carried out the enforcement operation in conjunction with numerous state and local law enforcement agencies.

Among the roughly 2,179 individuals arrested in the operation, roughly half had criminal records for crimes that ranged from sexual assault of a minor to assault with a deadly weapon, to abduction. For example, approximately 146 of those arrested had convictions for sexual offenses involving minors. In addition, roughly 367 of the arrested aliens were members or associates of violent street gangs, including Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Finally, roughly 640 of those arrested were fugitive aliens who had been issued final orders of removal by an Immigration judge but failed to comply.

ICE officers arrested the majority of these individuals on administrative immigration violations and have placed them into deportation proceedings. Roughly 829 of those apprehended on administrative violations have already been repatriated to their home countries. ICE agents also apprehended 121 individuals on criminal charges that range from felony re-entry after deportation, to illegal alien in possession of a firearm. The latter individuals are being processed in federal criminal courts.

“Operation Return to Sender is another example of a new and tough interior enforcement strategy that seeks to catch and deport criminal aliens, increase worksite enforcement, and crack down hard on the criminal infrastructure that perpetuates illegal immigration," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "The fugitives captured in this operation threatened public safety in hundreds of neighborhoods and communities around the country. This department has no tolerance for their criminal behavior and we are using every authority at our disposal to bring focus to fugitive operations and rid communities of this criminality."

ICE Assistant Secretary Myers said, “America’s welcome does not extend to immigrants who come here to commit crimes. ICE will leave no stone unturned in hunting down and deporting aliens who victimize our communities. Interior enforcement initiatives like Operation Return to Sender are a critical and necessary complement to our nation’s border security measures.”

Some of those arrested in Operation Return to Sender included:


Franklin Ademir Rodriguez, a 25-year-old Salvadoran national and member of the street gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Rodriguez, also known as “Hollywood,” boasts a lengthy criminal history that includes an assault and battery conviction for helping other MS-13 gang members permanently paralyze a 13-year-old boy by stabbing him in the spine with a sharpened stake. The victim is now confined to a wheelchair for life. ICE officers arrested Rodriguez earlier this month at his place of employment at Budget Rental Car at Boston Logan Airport after he failed to appear for his removal hearing.


Jose Garcia Rios, a Mexican national whose criminal history extends from 1985 to present. Garcia has been arrested roughly 13 times, has been removed from the country several times, and has past convictions for crimes ranging from aggravated robbery to drug dealing, drug possession, terroristic threats, and evading arrest.


Wilber Kuk, a 24-year-old Mexican national and member of 18th Street gang in Washington, D.C. who has convictions for abduction, malicious wounding, robbery and use of a firearm.


Samuel Gil Martinez, a 24-year-old Salvadoran national and member of the MS-13 gang. Martinez has twice been convicted in Boston of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. In one case, he beat an individual with a baseball bat. In another, he attacked an individual at a bus stop with a “Club” automobile lock. Martinez was arrested with other MS-13 members during the commission of these crimes.


Angel Lira-Alvarez, a 26-year-old Mexican national and member of “East Side Homeboys,” a major street gang in Dallas, Texas. Lira has previous convictions for manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance, theft and burglary. He had previously been deported from the country, but re-entered the United States and was arrested again for marijuana possession. He was the subject of a local arrest warrant for parole violations when ICE arrested him.


Those arrested in the operation came from nations around the globe, including Angola, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cape Verde, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Egypt, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Senegal, Thailand, Uganda, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.

The arrests are the latest enforcement actions under the interior immigration enforcement strategy that was announced on April 20, 2006 by Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff and Assistant Secretary Myers. A critical element of this interior enforcement strategy is to identify and remove criminal aliens, fugitives, and other immigration violators from the United States.

The interior enforcement strategy is part of the Secure Border Initiative (SBI), which is the Department of Homeland Security’s comprehensive, multi-year plan to secure America’s borders and reduce illegal migration. SBI’s border security efforts are focused on gaining operational control of the nation’s borders through additional personnel and technology, while re-engineering the detention and removal system to ensure that illegal aliens are removed from the country quickly.

The interior enforcement strategy complements the Department’s border security efforts by expanding existing efforts to target immigration violators inside this country, employers of illegal aliens, as well as the many criminal networks that support these activities. The primary objectives are to reverse the tolerance of illegal employment and illegal immigration in the United States.

# ##

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of four integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

This may seem a bit austere, however, since our system is so liberal that illegals continue to return, I think it's about time that we had a "2 strikes and you are going to be executed after that regime." Certainly the ACLU, human rights groups etc would all be up in arms, but if they want to sanction illegal conduct then they should pay the price for allowing it.

I think it's about time that we had a "2 strikes and you are going to be executed after that regime

It does sound harsh......but when you have used all fair and reasonalble options and they still laugh in your face.......the worst options are all that's left.

The crackdown is called Operation Return to Sender

I think the name is kind of catchy.

However what good does it do really. If they are deported they WILL be back and pretty quickly.

If they are put in prison for a criminal offense (other than crossing the border which appears to not be a criminal offense ) we are still paying for them, and I for one do not want to pay for them in any way, shape, or form.

Build a damn wall or fence already, so they cannot just come right back after they are dropped on the other side. And please stop telling me a wall or fence will not work, it will work. It has proven to work in many places all over the world.

Crazybird, illegal aliens mostly from south of our border have lived under a culture of corruption, hence anything goes....if you can get away with it, then that's okay even if it means you deceive, steal, rape or kill....and they believe they have the right to do so....something instilled in them by the Catholic Church as long as they pay penance to the church for their sins.

Ya.....kind of like the brew-ha-ha from the middle-east all concerned if the guy that was killed was suffering or beaten before he died. These people cut peoples heads off when they're alive!! They put people head first in a mulcher! And they cry about pain and suffering. He got off easy!!! I have as much concern for them as I do about an illegal crying "unfair" when they have no clue what it means. I know their culture is vile. You would think they would be happy and grateful to not have to live like that anymore and simply abide by the law.

Yea, and we need to send them to Fox Postage Due!

Dixie