Thread: San Diego immigration officers arrest 44 in week-long operation

San Diego immigration officers arrest 44 in week-long operation


Kate Morrissey Contact Reporter

About a month after the first large-scale immigration arrest operation in San Diego under the Trump administration rounded up 115 people, officers took another 44 into custody in a second week-long enforcement effort that ended Friday.

In the days leading up to the operation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers located nine other people who would’ve been targeted by the action, bringing the total number of announced arrests to 53.

The March operation was directed by national headquarters — April’s effort was a locally directed “cross check operation” and a little smaller in scope, according to ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack.

“The scheduling details pertaining to all of ERO’s enforcement operations, including local cross check operations, are law enforcement sensitive,” Mack said when asked about the timing of the two operations.

Of the 53 people arrested, nine had pending criminal charges, 11 had criminal convictions and 10 had previously been removed from the U.S. The agency declined to clarify how many of the remaining 23 arrests were collateral, meaning that they were not targets of the operation but encountered in the process of arresting others.

A news release about the operation called out S.B. 54, a bill that went into effect in January that restricted local law enforcement’s interaction with federal immigration officers, as the reason some of those arrested were targeted.

“While we continue to face significant obstacles in dealing with so-called ‘sanctuary city’ policies, which hinder cooperation with local law enforcement, we will continue our relentless pursuit of safeguarding communities, diligently enforcing the U.S. immigration laws,” said Gregory Archambeault, field office director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in San Diego.

The news release about the operation said that offenses of those arrested who had criminal histories included vandalism, hit and run, larceny, DUI and various drug offenses.

The release detailed four cases of Mexican men who were arrested.

One had a conviction for possession for sale of heroin and was previously deported. After his April arrest by ICE, he was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service for prosecution for illegal reentry.

The other three had pending DUI charges, and two of them were released from county jail instead of being turned over to ICE, according to the release.

One of those three men also had a pending contempt of court charge, and another had a pending possession of a controlled substance charge. Both are in ICE custody waiting to see immigration judges.

The third man had previously been deported from the U.S. and was taken back to Mexico on the same day that he was arrested under that prior removal order.

ICE officers arrested people across the county in Santee, Vista, Encinitas, Chula Vista, Escondido, Oceanside, San Diego and Imperial Beach. Those arrested included people from Mexico and Guatemala, according to Mack.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...424-story.html

April 24, 2018 KUSI Newsroom

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Public Affairs announced Tuesday that last week that 53 illegal aliens were arrested in a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement enforcement operation. The statement released can be read below.

Forty-four illegal aliens were arrested during a weeklong enforcement operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Diego last week. An additional nine previously identified targets whose detainers were not honored were taken into ICE custody prior to the commencement of the operation.

The five-day operation, which concluded Friday, April 20 was conducted by deportation officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) as part of the agency’s commitment to prioritize at-large criminal aliens. The targets included individuals with final orders of removal, those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed, individuals whose detainers were not honored and were encountered after their release from jail pursuant to SB-54, and individuals who have otherwise violated federal immigration laws.

“Last week’s enforcement actions reflect the vital work ERO officers do every day to uphold public safety and protect the integrity of our immigration laws and border controls,” said Gregory Archambeault, Field Office Director of the San Diego Field Office for ERO. “While we continue to face significant obstacles in dealing with so-called “sanctuary-city” polices, which hinder cooperation with local law enforcement, we will continue our relentless pursuit of safeguarding communities, diligently enforcing the U.S. immigration laws”.

The arrests took place in Santee, Vista, Encinitas, Chula Vista, Escondido, Oceanside, San Diego and Imperial Beach. The arrests included Mexican and Guatemalan nationals.

The criminal histories of the individuals taken into custody include crimes such as vandalism, hit and run, larceny, drug offenses and driving under the influence. Ten of the individuals arrested during the operation were previously deported aliens.

Those arrested during the operation include:

*A Mexican national previously convicted of Possession for Sale of Heroin. He was previously removed as an aggravated felon. He was turned over to the United States Marshals Service, and is pending prosecution for Reentry after Removal of an Aggravated Felon.
*A Mexican national pending charge of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol/Drugs and Contempt of Court. His immigration detainer was not honored. He remains in ICE custody pending a hearing before an immigration judge.
*A Mexican national pending Driving Under the Influence and Possession of a Controlled Substance. He remains in ICE custody pending a hearing before an Immigration Judge.
*A Mexican national previously removed from the United State and is pending charges of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol/Drugs. His immigration detainer was not honored. He was removed from the United States to Mexico the same day of arrest.

This week’s enforcement action was coordinated with ICE’s National Fugitive Operations Program, which is responsible for investigating, locating, arresting and removing at-large criminal aliens, immigration fugitive aliens – aliens who have ignored final orders of deportation handed down by federal immigration courts, and aliens that have reentered after removal. ICE’s Fugitive Operations Teams give top priority to cases involving aliens who pose a threat to national security and public safety.

Editor’s note: The arrest statistics provided in this news release represent preliminary data that has been manually reported to ICE headquarters.

http://www.kusi.com/53-illegal-alien...ent-operation/

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