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  1. #1

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    Jan 1970
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    Police sweep up immigrant sex offenders

    http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/ny- ... -headlines

    Police sweep up immigrant sex offenders

    BY BART JONES AND JENNIFER SMITH
    STAFF WRITERS

    March 3, 2005

    Pulling some out of their beds and snatching others at their jobs or off the streets, federal agents and Suffolk police conducted early morning raids Wednesday to round up 27 undocumented immigrants who are convicted sex offenders and place them in deportation proceedings.

    About 60 police officers, probation officers and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents participated in the sweep, part of a nationwide Homeland Security initiative called Operation Predator. Since July 2003, the sweeps have caught 5,000 sexual predators who should have been deported after they were released from prison, authorities said.

    Many of the local predators' victims were between 6 and 12 years old, authorities said.

    "The individuals arrested today preyed upon the most vulnerable in our society -- our children," said Salvatore A. Dalessandro, deputy special agent in charge of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New York, at a news conference at Suffolk police headquarters in Yaphank.

    In a statement, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy claimed partial credit for the operation, saying it was the result of the county's new, "unprecedented" relationship with the bureau. That started after Levy and his aides met with bureau officials in Manhattan in December as he weighed "deputizing" local cops as immigration agents, a proposal he later dropped.

    "The days of this county looking the other way on illegal immigration when it comes to these types of crimes are over," Levy said.

    Some pro-immigrant groups who clashed with Levy over his deputization idea said Wednesday they support deporting undocumented immigrants who commit serious crimes. But they noted that all of the immigrants arrested Wednesday were from Latin America, and said that by focusing a spotlight on such people Levy is continuing to perpetuate a false image of a Latino crime wave in Suffolk.

    "He's giving the perception that in Suffolk County the Latino community is a criminal community, either as gangs or rapists or sex offenders," said Nadia Marin-Molina, executive director of the Hempstead-based Workplace Project.

    Levy's top aide, Kevin Law, denied that, saying authorities were merely enforcing the law and helping keep the streets of Suffolk safe.

    As of last month there were at least 800 registered sex offenders in Suffolk, according to Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law. Police believe Wednesday's raid captured all of the undocumented offenders.

    Ahearn said sexual abuse is not necessarily a greater problem among undocumented immigrants than it is among other groups. "The profile of a sex offender isn't somebody from a certain class or race or socio-economic status," she said.

    Suffolk County Chief of Detectives Kenneth Rau said after Levy met with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in December, police began going through the records of convicted sexual predators in Suffolk, contacting the bureau to determine which ones were undocumented. Then authorities tracked down their homes and places of employment.

    By federal law, the predators should have been deported immediately after serving their prison sentences. Authorities said they did not know why that did not happen, although complex immigration legal procedures as well as breakdowns in communication between federal and local officials may have been factors.

    "There is no perfect system 100 percent," Rau said. "But we are shooting for 100 percent."

    Fifteen of the 27 offenders are from El Salvador. The others are from Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, Ecuador and Colombia. They were living in communities throughout Suffolk including Brentwood, Central Islip, Huntington and Port Jefferson Station.

    Authorities were still trying to find one of the offenders Wednesday night. The others were taken Wednesday to jails in Passaic and Bergen Counties in New Jersey to be held for appearances before federal immigrant judges.

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Posts
    241

    Police sweep up immigrant sex offenders

    http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/ny- ... -headlines

    Police sweep up immigrant sex offenders

    BY BART JONES AND JENNIFER SMITH
    STAFF WRITERS

    March 3, 2005

    Pulling some out of their beds and snatching others at their jobs or off the streets, federal agents and Suffolk police conducted early morning raids Wednesday to round up 27 undocumented immigrants who are convicted sex offenders and place them in deportation proceedings.

    About 60 police officers, probation officers and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents participated in the sweep, part of a nationwide Homeland Security initiative called Operation Predator. Since July 2003, the sweeps have caught 5,000 sexual predators who should have been deported after they were released from prison, authorities said.

    Many of the local predators' victims were between 6 and 12 years old, authorities said.

    "The individuals arrested today preyed upon the most vulnerable in our society -- our children," said Salvatore A. Dalessandro, deputy special agent in charge of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New York, at a news conference at Suffolk police headquarters in Yaphank.

    In a statement, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy claimed partial credit for the operation, saying it was the result of the county's new, "unprecedented" relationship with the bureau. That started after Levy and his aides met with bureau officials in Manhattan in December as he weighed "deputizing" local cops as immigration agents, a proposal he later dropped.

    "The days of this county looking the other way on illegal immigration when it comes to these types of crimes are over," Levy said.

    Some pro-immigrant groups who clashed with Levy over his deputization idea said Wednesday they support deporting undocumented immigrants who commit serious crimes. But they noted that all of the immigrants arrested Wednesday were from Latin America, and said that by focusing a spotlight on such people Levy is continuing to perpetuate a false image of a Latino crime wave in Suffolk.

    "He's giving the perception that in Suffolk County the Latino community is a criminal community, either as gangs or rapists or sex offenders," said Nadia Marin-Molina, executive director of the Hempstead-based Workplace Project.

    Levy's top aide, Kevin Law, denied that, saying authorities were merely enforcing the law and helping keep the streets of Suffolk safe.

    As of last month there were at least 800 registered sex offenders in Suffolk, according to Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law. Police believe Wednesday's raid captured all of the undocumented offenders.

    Ahearn said sexual abuse is not necessarily a greater problem among undocumented immigrants than it is among other groups. "The profile of a sex offender isn't somebody from a certain class or race or socio-economic status," she said.

    Suffolk County Chief of Detectives Kenneth Rau said after Levy met with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in December, police began going through the records of convicted sexual predators in Suffolk, contacting the bureau to determine which ones were undocumented. Then authorities tracked down their homes and places of employment.

    By federal law, the predators should have been deported immediately after serving their prison sentences. Authorities said they did not know why that did not happen, although complex immigration legal procedures as well as breakdowns in communication between federal and local officials may have been factors.

    "There is no perfect system 100 percent," Rau said. "But we are shooting for 100 percent."

    Fifteen of the 27 offenders are from El Salvador. The others are from Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, Ecuador and Colombia. They were living in communities throughout Suffolk including Brentwood, Central Islip, Huntington and Port Jefferson Station.

    Authorities were still trying to find one of the offenders Wednesday night. The others were taken Wednesday to jails in Passaic and Bergen Counties in New Jersey to be held for appearances before federal immigrant judges.

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