Thread: U.S. aims to nab illegal immigrant fugitives: ALIPAC in News

U.S. aims to nab illegal immigrant fugitives

Dozens of teams added across nation to track down, deport criminals

FRANCO ORDOÑEZ
The Charlotte Observer

The U.S. government, looking to crackdown on the more than 500,000 fugitive illegal immigrants living in the country, will more than double the number of federal officers assigned to track down those who have disregarded deportation orders.


U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is adding dozens of fugitive teams across the country whose mission will be to hunt down illegal immigrants who have failed to comply with a judge's order to leave the country.

"Aliens with orders of removal who are going to ignore those orders are in for a surprise," Marc Raimondi, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman, said. "Because if they don't comply with those orders, than they're going to get a visit from an ICE fugitive team."
Immigration officials will increase the number of fugitive teams spread across the country from 17 to 52 by the end of the year. The five to eight member teams, working under the element of surprise, will focus on tracking and deporting such fugitives. But they also will seek to arrest and deport any other illegal aliens they find in the process.


More than 11,000 illegal immigrant fugitives were arrested last year, Raimondi said. In the course of finding those fugitives, immigration agents arrested an additional 4,009 illegal immigrants, he said.

New teams are being set up in Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Miami, among dozens of other major cities, though Raimondi stressed that agents could be called at anytime to help out in other parts of the country.

Immigration reform groups in North Carolina said they're "ecstatic" about the enforcement increase of existing immigration laws, but say "it's only a fraction of what's needed," according to William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC in Raleigh.

An estimated 10.3 million illegal immigrants live in the United States. Immigration officials acknowledge they can't catch everyone when there are 7,000 miles of land borders to protect.

The fugitive team project is an extension of ongoing efforts to prioritize enforcement activities where they're most critical, immigration officials said. Secretary Michael Chertoff of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which overseas ICE, has said he'd like fugitive operations to be increased to 100 teams.

After Sept. 11, and since forming the agency, ICE immigration officials have focused efforts on protecting sensitive sites critical to the country's national security, such as airports, power plants and defense facilities. And, through initiatives like Operation Community Shield, which targets gang activity, officials are identifying illegal immigrants who bring violence into communities.

In September, for example, ICE officials in Charlotte arrested Jose Diego Serrano Nunez and Jose Alejandro Gonzalez Rodriguez, illegal immigrant members of the dangerous SUR-13 street gang.

Raimondi said the fugitive teams will build on those efforts. Criminal illegal immigrants, he said, are repeat offenders 40 percent to 45 percent of the time.

"We're a pure law enforcement agency," Raimondi said. "We're 100 percent committed to enforcing the country's immigration laws. And that's what you're seeing."

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/ ... 635937.htm

The five to eight member teams, working under the element of surprise, will focus on tracking and deporting such fugitives. But they also will seek to arrest and deport any other illegal aliens they find in the process.

Oh boy do they have their work cut out for them. Good luck, folks!

"We're a pure law enforcement agency," Raimondi said. "We're 100 percent committed to enforcing the country's immigration laws. And that's what you're seeing."

Is that why in 2004, here in San Diego's North County, when a team of 12 Border Patrol agents rounded up more than 420 illegal aliens in just three days, Jorge Bush, through the DHS had the operations stopped immediately? Deputy Sec. of DHS, Asa Hutchinson halted the sweeps, saying they violated federal policy. Yeah right, more like they were afraid of the fact that the sweeps were so successful. If only 12 agents could catch hundreds of illegals in only three days, that might give the impression to the public that WE CAN round up and deport the millions of illegal aliens here. And that is something that Bush simply cannot allow to happen.