ICE fugitive operations team arrests 39 illegals
May 16th, 2008 @ 11:06am
by Jim Cross/KTAR

More than three-dozen illegal immigrants have been arrested in the Valley during an operation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Officers from ICE, the U.S. Marshal's Office and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office fanned out to arrest people who have ignored final orders of deportation or who have returned to the United States illegally after being deported. Seven of those arrested had criminal histories.

``They've been in the wind for several years. We've been looking for them for several years. It can be kind of tough, when you're talking about fugitive operations, to follow up on leads, find these people," said Vincent Picard with ICE. ``It's a huge job."

He added, ``We're going to do it one step at a time, one day at a time, one arrest at a time. I think nationally, certainly, and here in Phoenix, we are having success with that approach, with the help of our partners like the marshals and Maricopa County."

Picard said that so far this fiscal year, the ICE fugitive operations team in Phoenix has made 371 arrests.

For the first time in history last year, he said the number of immigration fugitives in the U.S. dropped to slightly under 573,000, a decrease of more than 59,000 since October 2006.

``What that speaks to is an increasing effectiveness of applying resources, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement," he said. ``What we're doing is focusing on those areas where we believe we can make a difference."

Most of the immigration violators were from Mexico, but the group also included foreign nationals from Honduras and El Salvador.



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