Officials net 761 illegal immigrants
Officials net 761 illegal immigrants
About 450 caught in sweep have already been deported
01/23/2007 10:06:58 PM PST
Federal officials fanned out across Southern California over the past week in one of the biggest sweeps of its kind, arresting 761 illegal immigrants ranging from murder suspects to visa violators.
Ending Tuesday, the raids were part of Operation Return to Sender - a national effort by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency that has netted more than 13,000 illegal immigrants nationwide since June 2006.
Some 450 of those arrested have already been deported, or voluntarily returned, to their native countries, ICE officials said.
"Anytime we can take 761 people off the street who have violated the laws of this country is a big success," said Jim Hayes, Los Angeles field office director for ICE's detention and removal operations.
The Southern California raids took place in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Riverside and San Bernadino Counties. They included the arrest of two men near Palm Springs wanted for murder in Sinaloa, Mexico.
The men were turned over to Mexican law enforcement officials on Friday.
The majority of those arrested in the Southland were Mexican, but they included nationals from 13 other countries, including India, Japan, Poland, the Ukraine and Trinidad.
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Between 75 and 150 officers participated in the raids. Los Angeles County logged 169 arrests, the most of any county, Hayes said.
He said 338 illegal immigrants were arrested primarily at their homes and apartments. The other 423 were identified in area jails since Jan. 17 and were expected to be deported after serving their sentences.
More than 150 of the illegal immigrants arrested were immigration fugitives - those who have ignored judges orders of deportation. There are an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 immigration fugitives nationwide.
To deal with illegal immigrants who have been deported after committing serious crimes and then return to the U.S., officials will prosecute them under the felony re-entry after deportation law, which carries a maximum 20 year sentence, said Curtis Kin, assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The sweeps follow months of raids across the country that have drawn harsh criticism from immigration activists.
"All this does is promote fear in the community. You can say you are targeting criminals that have returned, but in the process you are also catching and arresting other immigrants. They are what I call the bonus catch," said Angelica Salas, executive director of Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
"They are the people that are in the apartments next door that don't have their papers in order. This is more of a show of force than facing the real issue of undocumented migration."
On Tuesday in Van Nuys, dozens of worried immigrants flooded the lines of Hermandad Mexicana, a nonprofit immigration services clinic that assists in citizenship applications.
"People are calling us to find out if we are hearing anything. They are scared," said Esmeralda Chaires, a clerk at the clinic.
Immigrant supporters said the move is an effort by the Bush administration to appear tough on undocumented immigrants as Congress appears ready to take up immigration reform, coupled with the the president's State of the Union address.
