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  1. #1
    Senior Member Ratbstard's Avatar
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    San Juan meeting focuses on Illegal immigration

    ocregister.com
    BY FRANK SHYONG /
    THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
    Published: Feb. 23, 2012 Updated: 9:06 a.m.

    Residents worried about gangs and the possibility of released criminal illegal immigrants spoke out at a workshop in San Juan Capistrano on Wednesday attended by about 75 people.

    Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, Timothy Robbins, director of the Los Angeles office of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Chief Patrol Agent Paul Beeson fielded questions during the two-hour session. City Manager Karen Brust said she organized the workshop after several residents asked for it.

    Residents worried about gangs and the possibility of released criminal illegal immigrants spoke out at a workshop in San Juan Capistrano on Wednesday attended by about 75 people.

    Officials tried to stress that the problem wasn't lax enforcement, but rather a lack of resources.

    "We are budgeted to remove 400,000 illegal immigrants a year," Robbins said. "There's estimated to be about 12 million in the United States."

    Robbins said that enforcement officials have to set priorities and distribute limited resources. He said their main targets were illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes such as murder. He stressed that anyone who has been ordered to leave by an immigration judge is detained and removed. Illegal immigrants who are released are those with minor violations, such as speeding tickets.

    "If I have a choice between a gang member and someone trying to feed their family, I'll pick the gang member," Robbins said.

    Hutchens said has a robust enforcement program, citing the 600 spots in county jails for detaining those with immigration holds.

    "We have to prioritize," Hutchens said.

    But that wasn't what many residents wanted to hear. Midway through the workshop, one woman walked out shaking her head.

    "We're not here because we think a great job is being done," said resident Clint Worthington. "More than a third of our city budget goes to policing."

    Members of the audience repeatedly asked the officials to enforce immigration law and deport more illegal immigrants, pushing officials to reveal the figure of suspected illegal immigrants who are released. Many cited the city's gang injunction as a symbol of the authorities' failure to enforce illegal immigration.

    "So basically, you can't do anything," one resident said.

    A judge placed a gang injunction on a group of suspected gang members in 2007 after violence erupted between two local groups. Officials stressed that the injunction is placed on suspected gang members, not the city.

    "It restricts the gang member's movements," said Lt. Doug Doyle, who oversees gang investigations for the sheriff's department.

    Doyle added that the injunction has been an effective tool and said crimes dropped 30 percent after the injunction was placed.

    Officials acknowledged the problem but said they were doing all they could with the resources and laws available. Beeson said that they've made progress, saying that the number of Border Patrol agents has increased by almost ten times since he began his career two decades ago to 21,700.

    "I understand your frustration," said Beeson. "I've been doing this 27 years. Please don't think I'm not frustrated as well,"

    Contact the writer: fshyong@ocregister.com or 949-492-5135

    San Juan meeting focuses on Illegal immigration | illegal, gang, officials - News - The Orange County Register
    Last edited by Ratbstard; 02-23-2012 at 01:37 PM.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member TakingBackSoCal's Avatar
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    Only enough budget to remove 400K illegals a year while a million a year sneak in.
    You cannot dedicate yourself to America unless you become in every
    respect and with every purpose of your will thoroughly Americans. You
    cannot become thoroughly Americans if you think of yourselves in groups. President Woodrow Wilson

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