Thread: TX: Officials arrest 274 undocumented workers in DFW this we

Officials arrest 274 undocumented workers in DFW this week
By AP
July 20, 2007

DALLAS (AP) — Federal agents arrested 274 illegal immigrants over five days during raids in Dallas, Fort Worth and surrounding suburbs, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Friday.

The operation, which began Monday and ended Friday, yielded illegal immigrants, people wanted by immigration authorities and immigrants with criminal records. Out of the 274 arrested, 99 had criminal convictions, ICE said.

"These operations are a critical element in removing threats to public safety," said Nuria T. Prendes, field office director for ICE's Office of Detention and Removal Operations.

Police in Dallas, Irving, Fort Worth, Arlington, Farmers Branch, Carrollton and Blue Mound along with the Dallas County constable, helped agents in the operation, according to an ICE statement.

Authorities detained people from Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nigeria, Romania and South Korea. Most were men, according to ICE.

Half of the 274 arrested have already been returned to Mexico, and the others were awaiting deportation proceedings, ICE said.

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/home ... %2C00.html

What did they do drop them off at the border so they could be back to work today. What about the employer? Didn't bother with him right!

Immigration agents round up 274
By BRYON OKADA
Star-Telegram staff writer
Sat, Jul. 21, 2007

Federal agents arrested 274 suspected criminal aliens, fugitive aliens and illegal immigrants in and around the Metroplex this week, authorities announced Friday.

In a five-day roundup that ended Friday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers took the suspects -- 99 had criminal convictions -- into custody, with the help of police and constables from Fort Worth, Arlington, Blue Mound, Carrollton, Dallas, Farmers Branch and Irving.

This was not a job-site sweep, in which the targets tend to be undocumented workers or employers, authorities said. Instead, specific individuals were selected from among the more than 600,000 fugitive aliens in the U.S. compiled in various databases. Officers then used the databases to find the suspects.

"We got 99 criminals off the street -- that's a hefty number," said Nuria T. Prendes, field office director for the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations in Dallas.

Those detained in Operation Cross Check were from Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nigeria, Romania and South Korea.

The 99 criminals had convictions on charges such as assault, possessing or manufacturing a controlled substance, unlawfully carrying a weapon, driving while intoxicated, theft, injury to a family member, sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child, authorities said. Of the 274 arrested, 137 have been returned to Mexico, and the others were awaiting deportation proceedings, officials said.

The arrests are part of ICE's interior enforcement strategy, announced in April 2006. In June 2006, ICE led a roundup of suspected illegal-immigrant gang members and sexual predators as part of Operation Return to Sender, a national effort.

In that operation, ICE and other agencies reportedly apprehended 2,179 illegal immigrants in 34 states, including seven suspected gang members from Fort Worth's toughest gang-ridden neighborhoods.

Officials said that while some gang members were detained in the most recent round of arrests, that was not the focus of the operation.

Fort Worth police Lt. David Burgess said anti-gang efforts continue.

"We're basically riding out with [ICE agents] ... It's a collaboration to try to target some of these gang members that are illegal aliens," Burgess said.

Arlington police spokeswoman Christy Gilfour said ICE officers accompanied Arlington police when they served arrest warrants on gang members who might also have had immigration offenses.

Staff writers Diane Smith and Patrick McGee contributed to this report.

A closer look

Those taken into custody during this week's roundup fall into different categories. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials did not break down the arrests by category or city.

Criminal aliens: Typically immigrants -- legal or illegal -- who have broken a criminal law (such as a person with a green card convicted of sexual assault).

Fugitive aliens: People who a judge has ruled should be deported but who do not report as ordered.

Illegal immigrants: People in the country without the U.S. government's permission.

okada@star-telegram.com
Bryon Okada, 817-390-7752

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/176367.html