Immigration agency catching more returning illegals
Violators face felony charges
By Tim Smith • STAFF WRITER • July 6, 2008

COLUMBIA South Carolina politicians have long complained that some illegal immigrants have viewed the nation's borders as a revolving door, that deportation is only a temporary setback.

Barbara Gonzalez, a regional spokeswoman for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said her agency works hard to catch those who return and have increased the numbers of such apprehensions.

From October 2007 through May 2008, she said, investigations by ICE's Office of Detention and Removal Operations led to the prosecution of 3,831 illegal aliens for felony re-entry after deportation, compared to 1,808 such prosecutions in all of fiscal year 2007.

"We are the interior branch of Homeland Security," she said. "We're not customs and border protection. Obviously, they are the front line there."

Last year, according to the Border Patrol's Web site, it caught more than 2,400 people trying to gain entry to the nation in between its regular entryways. The nation has a 1,900-mile border with Mexico.

Gonzalez said her agency is "very aggressive" about prosecuting illegal immigrants who return to the country after being deported.

Returning illegals face felony charges if caught, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, she said.

"That's something we do to try and discourage this type of illegal activity," she said. "It's not like they are going to come here and not be held accountable."

Once they serve their sentence, she said, they are deported immediately, without further hearings.

But not everyone is caught or discouraged.

Last December, according to federal prosecutors in South Carolina, Jose Antonio Ferreira-Calderon, a 40-year-old Mexican native, pleaded guilty to charges that he made and sold counterfeit green cards.

He was arrested in Surfside Beach after allegedly selling cards to an undercover agent last August. He had been deported twice in 2006, according to prosecutors.

Such examples show how porous the nation's border is, said Margaret Thompson, a Clemson city councilwoman and vocal supporter of immigration reform.

"Somebody is not doing their job," she said.
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