Thread: Fugitive hunters: chasing 3 runaways

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/l ... 73,00.html

Fugitive hunters: chasing 3 runaways
By Fernando Quintero, Rocky Mountain News
June 15, 2006

Before sunup, the fugitive operations team gathers at its east Denver office to plot strategy for capturing the illegal immigrants of the day.

Their targets: A Honduran man with traffic and loitering offenses dating to 2003. A Mexican construction worker who had been using a fake Social Security number to work in a restricted area at Denver International Airport in 2002. And an Armenian with a 1999 heroin possession conviction and reckless driving charge who had overstayed his visa.

All three men are on the fugitive list because they disappeared after being ordered deported. They are among the 4,000 people considered fugitives from immigration justice in the Denver ICE region, which covers Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

The six U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are hoping on this day in late May to add three to the 97 arrests the team has made since March 1 when it was formed.

At 5 a.m., supervising officer John Fabbricatore and fellow ICE agent Richard Murphy hand out posters with descriptions and background on the three fugitives. They begin with information on their first target and receive their marching orders.

"Murph will be covering the back of Adams Street," Fabbricatore said. "Joe, you're going to be contacting them at the door. Doug, you're going to be on the north side of the house. Lance, you'll be on the south side. Surveillance of the house shows there are no children. There is a small dog."

The targets hardly fit a Ten Most Wanted profile, but they are nonetheless part of the team's mission.

"There is a prioritizing of who we go after," said Fabbricatore. "But in addition, there are also targets of opportunity. If we happen to have intelligence on two or three people who happen to be non-criminals and no intelligence on criminals, we're going to go after them (non-criminals)."

He added: "Our top priority is getting aggravated felons. Rapists. Murderers. Sexual predators. Then we work down from there. At the bottom of the rung are those aliens who have entered the country illegally."

Early morning call

The six agents climb into two vans and head for their first stop in Thornton.

The agents, dressed in black with guns strapped to their waists, park their vans near the home of Julio Melendez Rosales. He has been under surveillance for two days.

"We have not seen him, but we know this is his residence. We were hoping to catch him right out of bed," said Fabbricatore.

They spot the homeowner's minivan in the driveway, and notice the windows are open. The officers knock on the door of the home, and a woman who identifies herself as Rosales' wife answers. She says her husband is in Florida on a construction assignment. She gives them permission to search their home.

Meanwhile, the agents keep a watchful eye on the house.

"There may be potential illegal aliens in the house who may run out," said Fabbricatore, who adds that agents often make unexpected "collateral arrests" of illegal immigrants.

The agents check the immigration status of Rosales' wife.

"If we determine that she is an illegal alien, we can take her into custody. That may be something we want to do to draw her husband into our custody," said Fabbricatore.

She is found to be in the U.S. legally.

Nabbing a shoplifter

At the home of their second target, Gabriel Martinez-Perez, the agents park in the same pattern - one van a few hundred feet from the front of the house, the other a few hundred feet from the rear.

"We never park (directly) in front of the house because that may alert somebody that we're there. We . . . move up at an angle to avoid being seen through windows as much as we can until we're up at the side of the house," Murphy said.

Perez, who has an arrest record for using a false ID at DIA, isn't at the home. But agents know that his wife, a Colorado native, has an arrest warrant for a shoplifting conviction eight years earlier.

The agents contact Denver police, who take custody of Salina Martinez-Perez and escort her out of her apartment duplex in handcuffs.

Her mother, Debra Flores, says in an interview later that her daughter is separated from Martinez-Perez, and the family has not seen him in months. Her daughter was 18 when she was charged with shoplifting and thought the charge was taken care of, Flores said.

"They're doing too much too late," said Flores, who, like her daughter, is a U.S. citizen. "Now they're starting to harass their own citizens. They came into our house and took her out like a criminal. Our neighbors all saw her walk out like that."

Third time's the charm

The agents patiently wait in the parking lot at Southlands Mall for Vage Djiganian to drive up to his job at an art supply store. Meanwhile, another agent is staking out his home for any sign of the illegal immigrant described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes, about 6 feet tall.

Around 10 a.m., agents spot a red Honda Civic pulling up.

"That's him, that's him," shouts Fabbricatore as the men rush out of their vans and surround the Armenian with their guns drawn as he exits his vehicle.

The stunned man peacefully cooperates as he is handcuffed and seated into the back of one of the vans.

"The element of surprise was definitely on our side," Fabbricatore said. "It's been two years since he was ordered deported. He's not expecting us. He's coming into work. There's not a chance for him to think about trying to run or get a weapon or do something because we're just there. Boom."

Fabbricatore said the arrests usually come as a surprise to immigrant fugitives, who often look at ICE as bullies.

"I'm sure people perceive us as breaking up families and coming to take them away from a lifestyle they've grown accustomed to. The way we look at it, we're enforcing immigration law," he said. "If you work from an emotional basis, you're not going to act right. You have to look at it as not only is this person in this country illegally, they're committing crimes."

By noon, the agents are back at headquarters processing their one catch of the day while a busload of illegal immigrants is brought in. One by one, the immigrants' handcuffs are taken off and thrown into a pile before they are questioned, fingerprinted and photographed.

Expression of panic Djiganian's mug shot reveals a deep furrow in his brow, his expression one of panic and worry. After his ring and $37 are put into a plastic bag, he is seated next to an ICE agent at a computer, where his information is entered. The agent asks him his place of birth, if he still has family there, if he has a passport, where he works, how much he makes, and other questions.

After a fingerprint check, Djiganian is informed that he will be taken to a detention facility in Aurora, where he will be allowed to contact his attorney. Those previously ordered deported typically are not entitled to see a judge before being removed from the country.

He believes his arrest is a result of "all the political pressure we've been under."

"I'm thinking my whole life is just going down the drain, you know?" Djiganian said. "Here I am. I've been here for 15 years. Worked. Paid taxes. I'm married to my wife. We were planning on having children. And now, I don't know what's happening at this point."

I'm thinking my whole life is just going down the drain, you know?" Djiganian said. "Here I am. I've been here for 15 years. Worked. Paid taxes. I'm married to my wife. We were planning on having children. And now, I don't know what's happening at this point."

Gee.....I'm 51, worked, paid taxes, married, had 2 kids and I don't know what's happening at this point either.