Thread: Immigration agents arrest 16 in Spa City N.Y.

Immigration agents arrest 16 in Spa City

Arrests follow formation of Human Rights Task Force

Daily Gazette Staff Report
| June 1, 2017

Protesters rally in solidarity with immigrants in April at Union College.
PHOTOGRAPHER: MARC SCHULTZ

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 16 people Tuesday near multiple homes in the city, according to an agency official.

Those arrested include one Guatemalan national and 15 Mexican nationals, all between the ages of 19 and 49, who now face administrative immigration violations, according to I.C.E.

Nine of those arrested are facing potential federal felony charges for re-entry after being deported or for visa fraud, an agency official said.

All 16 were being held in Albany County Correctional Facility as of Thursday, I.C.E. said, adding that the agency would not release further information Thursday.

The arrests happened a week after the Spa City formed the Human Rights Task Force, made up of 10 people tasked with making sure all immigrants feel welcome and safe in the city.

https://dailygazette.com/article/201...16-in-spa-city

Bet most of them came at the track or horse farms in the surrounding area. Saratoga is gearing up for their summer meet and there are all kinds of horses training there now.

ICE arrests 16 in Saratoga Springs

Wendy Liberatore
Published 11:50 am, Thursday, June 1, 2017

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that it arrested 16 men, one Guatemalan and 15 Mexicans, near their homes in Saratoga Springs on Tuesday morning.

ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls said the men, between the ages of 19 and 49, are being detained in Albany County jail for administrative immigration violations. Nine face potential felony charges for re-entry after deportation or visa fraud.

Walls said the men were picked up following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations. The investigation is ongoing and Walls said he could not provide any further information.

Saratoga Springs police were alerted in advance, but did not assist.

In May, the Washington Post reported that ICE is arresting 400 immigrants a day. In the first 100 days of the Trump administration, ICE arrested 41,318 immigrants, which is a 37.6 percent increase over the same period last year.

Saratoga Springs Mayor Joanne Yepsen said she is concerned by the arrests. Last month, she formed a Human Rights Task Force with a goal to ensure all residents that they are welcome in the city.

"I will be alerting them and do everything we can to reach out to families if we can find out who was arrested," Yepsen said.

A source close to the Saratoga Race Course backstretch workers said many grooms and other track workers are opting out of coming to the city this season.

"There is too much fear," the source said.

http://www.timesunion.com/local/arti...s-11188160.php

2 more Mexican immigrants sentenced after Spa City arrests

Ned Campbell
| July 11, 2017

Two more Mexicans arrested by federal agents in Saratoga Springs in May were sentenced Tuesday for illegally re-entering the county and could be deported.

Arturo Garcia-Lopez, 45, and Leonel Martinez-Ramirez, 23, were sentenced to 43 days in jail, according to Acting United States Attorney Grant Jaquith and Thomas Brophy, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Buffalo field office.

Before being sentenced, they pleaded guilty, admitting to being Mexican citizens who returned illegally to the United States after being deported to Mexico — Garcia-Lopez on June 9, 2015, and Martinez-Ramirez on March 3, 2013, federal prosecutors said.

Garcia-Lopez had also been deported on Sept. 26, 2014, and on June 4, 2015, prosecutors said.

They were both placed in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security for removal proceedings.

Garcia-Lopez and Martinez-Ramirez were among 16 immigrants arrested by ICE agents May 30 in Saratoga Springs. Two others, Juan Martinez-Garcia and Jorge Reyes-Merino, also of Mexico, were given similar sentences last week.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Grogan prosecuted the four cases.

https://dailygazette.com/article/201...russian-lawyer

5th Mexican immigrant arrested in Spa City sentenced

Ned Campbell
| July 14, 2017

A fifth Mexican immigrant arrested in Saratoga Springs in recent months was sentenced Friday for illegally re-entering the country and could be deported, federal prosecutors said.

Rufino Ramirez De Jesus, 31, of Mexico, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Albany to 46 days in jail, according to Acting United States Attorney Grant Jaquith and Thomas Brophy, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Buffalo field office.

In pleading guilty before being sentenced, Ramirez De Jesus admitted to being a citizen of Mexico who returned unlawfully to the United States after being deported on Feb. 22, 2014, prosecutors said. He had also been deported on Oct. 22, 2012.

Ramirez De Jesus was placed in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security, which will start deportation proceedings.

Ramirez De Jesus was one of 16 immigrants arrested May 30 by ICE agents in Saratoga Springs; officers detained 15 Mexican immigrants and one Guatemalan.

On Tuesday, Arturo Garcia-Lopez, 45, and Leonel Martinez-Ramirez, 23, of Mexico, were given a similar sentence in the wake of those arrests.

The week before, on July 7, Juan Martinez-Garcia and Jorge Reyes-Merino, both 27 and from Mexico, also received time in jail and the possibility of deportation.

https://dailygazette.com/article/201...city-sentenced