Posted on 01/23/2007 12:16:19 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SANTA ANA
Federal immigration officials said Tuesday they arrested more than 750 illegal immigrant fugitives from 14 countries in what they described as one of the biggest such sweeps in U.S. history.
The weeklong series of raids in the five-county Los Angeles region targeted illegal immigrants who had previously been deported for crimes or had ignored final deportation orders.
The raids netted 338 illegal immigrants who were arrested at their homes and apartments and 423 who were identified in area jails since Jan. 17. Those already jailed will be transferred to federal custody when they finish serving their state sentences, said Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The sweep netted illegal immigrants from Mexico, Honduras, Ukraine, India, Japan, Poland and Trinidad, among others. Of the 761 people arrested, more than 450 have already been deported, Kice said.
The raids were a major push within "Operation Return to Sender," a crackdown that has resulted in 13,000 arrests nationwide since June. Immigration officials have also identified 3,000 inmates in state and local jails who will be deported.
The operation targets those illegal immigrants who hide after skipping their voluntary deportation proceedings and criminals who have re-entered the United States after being previously deported for crimes in the U.S.
It's an uphill battle. Despite ongoing efforts, officials estimate that about 600,000 illegal immigrants who have ignored deportation orders are still at large, Kice said.
The Associated Press rode along for the first day of sweeps in Orange County last week.
Immigration officers gathered at 4 a.m. in a chilly parking lot for a pep talk, then fanned out to houses in Anaheim and Santa Ana.
At the first stop, an apartment complex, a half-dozen agents arrested a 29-year-old illegal immigrant wanted for a DUI conviction. Kice said that man is now helping them find his brother, who is a registered sex offender and immigration fugitive.
At the second stop, the agents were looking for a convicted rapist and immigration fugitive. Instead, they arrested six men who couldn't provide legal papers and later learned that all six were illegal and four had criminal records.
The rapist they sought had moved out the week before, Kice said. Officials are still searching for him.
a drop in the bucket,, but Kudos to those who got it done.
ping
"At the second stop, the agents were looking for a convicted rapist and immigration fugitive. Instead, they arrested six men who couldn't provide legal papers and later learned that all six were illegal and four had criminal records."
Daily visits to construction sites and landscaping jobs could fill the jails of America.
Mexicans probably let go again right away.
That's seven of the fifteen countries. You don't suppose, do you, that the other eight are Yemen, Libya, Saudi, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Egypt?
Just do Exxon in the morning and you could easily get 20-30 as they get food for the workday.
Japan doesn't fit.
Wow, what happened? They actually made a raid? Hmmm, the president must really be hurting in the polls or something.
"Operation Return to Sender" would be far more effective if we cut off all the welfare freebees to illegals, heavily fined illegal-hiring employers, rescinded the anchor baby provisions within the 1965 Immigration Act (and trashed the rest of that Act as well), and sent a signifcant number of National Guardsman to protect the borders. .....armed, this time.
Japan? Ah so. What are you talking about?
750 ??? When do I start laughing. While it is positive, it is less than a drop in the bucket and what is to stop these criminals from coming back to break more laws and rape the taxpayer ???
Certainly not Washington, DC.
I can't seem to find the thread, however, sorry.
Do'nt worry some whacky judge will turn them all lose in 2 to 3 days.
Only 10,999,250 to go.
"Just do Exxon in the morning and you could easily get 20-30 as they get food for the workday."
Heck, I could collect 15 an hour at Home Depot here.
Ooops. Japan IS in the article. Ah so. Bad ninja expats here infiltrating MicroSoft development group. Must lose face.
......and alot of them are going out of the border states now so alot of states are now seeing the problem we have for years.....
San Jose should be next.
I read that a plastics company in Omaha just got nailed with a $500,000 fine for this.
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