Immigration agents casting their nets beyond fugitive list

By Leslie Berestein 2:00 a.m. January 18, 2009

ICE FUGITIVE OPERATIONS: BY THE NUMBERS

558,000: Estimated number of people on ICE's fugitive list
34,155: Number of arrests that fugitive teams made in fiscal 2008
25,936: People arrested in 2008 whose names were on the fugitive list
30,408: Number of arrests in 2007
18,324: People arrested in 2007 whose names were on the list
15,462: Number of arrests in 2006
10,109: People arrested in 2006 whose names were on the list

$226.5 million: ICE budget for fugitive operations in fiscal 2009
$121.9 million: Budget for fugitive operations in 2006

SOURCE: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

The hazy violet light of dawn is just appearing in the eastern sky one recent morning as a team of immigration agents steps quietly onto the front porch of a rickety wooden house in Escondido tucked next to a thrift shop.

Wearing vests and jackets labeled “police,â€