Undocumented immigrants arrested in South Bay
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Posted on Mon, Sep. 11, 2006email thisprint this
Undocumented immigrants arrested in South Bay
Bay City News Service
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sent illegal immigrants packing last week when they arrested 107 adults living in the South Bay without proper permits, 87 of whom were immediately deported, according to ICE.
The crackdown targeted immigrants living in Watsonville, Santa Cruz and Hollister, 19 of whom remain in the United States pending a hearing before an immigration judge.
According to ICE, some of the arrested had received, but ignored, final deportation orders issued by immigration judges whereas others had violated U.S. criminal law. One arrestee was turned over to Fresno police on a recent arrest warrant for allegedly possessing an illegal substance and driving without a license.
About 19 of those arrested had past convictions, including robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, sex offenses against minors, drug violations and receiving stolen property, according to ICE.
The majority of the undocumented immigrants were deported to Mexico, although some came from India, El Salvador and Guatemala, according to ICE officials.
Once a final deportation order is issued, individuals can immediately be removed from the country. According to ICE, however, several immigrants ignore these orders and stay illegally as `immigration fugitives.`
According to ICE officials, more than 590,000 people are currently living as immigration fugitives nationwide.
Between October 2005 and August, ICE agents arrested more than 24,000 undocumented immigrants in the United States, including nearly 2,000 in the Bay Area. Out of the 24,000, more than 6,800 have been returned to their home country.
`Our message is -- if you are ordered deported, you should obey the immigration court's order. Otherwise, ICE is going to track you down and send you home,` Nancy Alcantar, field office director for ICE detention and removal operations in San Francisco, said in a statement.
