Thread: CA:Illegal immigrant crackdown brewing in Kings Co?

Illegal immigrant crackdown brewing in Kings?

By Eiji Yamashita
eyamashita@HanfordSentinel.com
In the early morning hours Aug. 7, Rick Gonzales stopped at a gas station just outside of Lemoore during his delivery work and raised his eyebrows.

The Hanford resident just saw two young federal agents in blue Homeland Security uniforms, armed with 9-millimeter automatic weapons, making a rest stop there.

Outside the store on Highway 41 and Grangeville Boulevard was a van with a blue logo that says: "U.S. Immigration Service/Homeland Security."

"You hear about Homeland Security all the time, but you don't normally see them here," Gonzales said. "I've never seen law enforcement in that type of uniform before."

Gonzales wasn't alone to witness the presence of Homeland Security agents in the area last week.
A similar Homeland Security vehicle was also sighted on 10th Avenue near Lacey Boulevard by some residents on the same day.

This rare sighting of federal immigration law enforcement here comes on the heels of the federal authorities' recent announcement that they would step up enforcement to crack down on the illegal hiring of undocumented workers by businesses.

Federal officials this week neither confirmed nor denied the enforcement activities in the south Valley.

"I do not have any knowledge of enforcement in the Fresno area," said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lori Haley on Wednesday. "The agency has an ongoing worksite investigation, and it could be lengthy. And we don't talk about ongoing investigations."

It remains unknown what the Homeland Security agents were doing in Lemoore and why.

At the center of debate right now is the Bush administration's new so-called "no-match" policy, referring to a letter sent to employers each year advising that workers' names and numbers don't match the agency's records.

In a new effort to crack down on illegal immigrants, the federal agency last week announced tough rules that would require employers to fire workers who use fake Social Security numbers. The regulation is due to take effect any time now.

The new policy would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- the agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security -- to go after employers with criminal penalties for failure to act on no-match letters.

But Haley said immigration agents' presence in Hanford is unrelated to the new no-match policy.

The agency's efforts are continuing and no one geographic area has been specifically targeted, she said.

"We are always enforcing in all kinds of laws," said Haley. "We do workplace enforcement. We have our fugitive operations. We do all kinds of investigation, and this is ongoing."

Yet, officials say the new rules would be reinforced by increased raids aimed at finding undocumented workers and penalizing their employers.

Haley says that the agency has long been stepping up its enforcement in recent months since the Secure Border Initiative launched in 2005 to reduce illegal migration and tackle national security threats.

"We have been increasing our effort as part of the initiative," Haley said. "The first phase was better border control and the second phase is interior enforcement. We're at our second phase."

Currently, there are 61 immigration and customs enforcement teams throughout the country. The Hanford area is covered by a team in Bakersfield, Haley said. Plans call for adding 14 more by the end of the year, including one in Fresno, she said.

The reporter can be reached at 582-0471, ext. 3059.

(Aug. 17, 2007)
http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/articles ... 837573.txt

Currently, there are 61 immigration and customs enforcement teams throughout the country.

For an entire country?

Originally Posted by nntrixie

Currently, there are 61 immigration and customs enforcement teams throughout the country.

For an entire country?

If this reporter has the fact right it's 61. Shameful isn't it? But I have to say if this is true they've been doing one heckuva job lately; and they need a lot more than 14 more teams.