Replies

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/070416bloomington.htm

April 16, 2007

ICE arrests 49 immigration violators, criminals and fugitives in Willmar, Minn.
Four-day operation Cross Check nets sex offender, welfare fraud perpetrators
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested 49 illegal aliens, criminals and immigration fugitives during a four-day enforcement operation in Willmar, Minn., and the surrounding area.

Called “Operation Cross Check,” this localized, targeted enforcement initiative, which began April 10 and concluded April 13, is part of an ongoing nationwide initiative focused on arresting criminal aliens. During the operation, ICE officers arrested 49 illegal aliens, including 18 with criminal convictions. Also among those arrested were six fugitives - illegal aliens who had been ordered removed by a federal immigration judge but failed to surrender or leave the U.S. - and 25 aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law.

More than half of those arrested falsely claimed to be U.S. citizens born in Puerto Rico.

In addition, officers placed detainers on three other suspected illegal aliens currently serving sentences in Willmar for crimes. Upon their release, they will be turned over to ICE and placed into deportation proceedings. One of those is Jazmin Virgen-Ceja who was has been locally charged with several crimes, including criminal vehicular homicide and wrongfully obtaining more than $8,000 in public assistance.

“ICE will continue to fulfill our Congressional mandate to apprehend and deport those who entered our country illegally, especially those who have committed criminal acts,” said Scott Baniecke, field office director for the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations in Bloomington. “Our job is to help protect the public from those who commit crimes, and to protect the integrity of the nation’s legal immigration system.”

Following are some of those arrested with criminal convictions:

Williams Ruben Ramos-Castillo, 21, a citizen of Honduras, was arrested by ICE officers April 10. He was convicted March 27 of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct; the victim was 15 years old. Ramos-Castillo also has convictions for aggravated forgery, tampering with a vehicle, driving while impaired, and providing a false name to a police officer. A fingerprint check revealed that the U.S. Border Patrol had removed him to Mexico in 2005 under a different identity.

Fabiola Cisneros-Carreno, 31, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested at a residence April 10. Cisneros-Carreno was convicted of public assistance theft in Kandiyohi County District Court in December. She was ordered to repay more than $22,000.

Maria Morales-Torrez, 41, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested at a residence April 10. Morales Torrez was convicted of wrongfully obtaining more than $10,600 in public assistance in Kandiyohi County District Court.

Odelin Camacho-Bernal, 39, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested in Litchfield, Minn., on April 13. Camacho-Bernal was convicted of domestic abuse in December 2006. He was also convicted of disorderly conduct in September 2006 and was sentenced to 90 days in jail; he later served an additional 60 days for a related probation violation.

Jorge David Bazaldua-Moreno, 22, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular injury in September of 2005. He was also convicted of property damage and sentenced to a year in jail in July 2003.

Some of the crimes of other criminal aliens arrested by ICE agents during this operation include: assault, possessing and distributing a controlled substance, driving while intoxicated, driving with a suspended license, fleeing the scene of an accident, disorderly conduct and obstructing arrest.

These arrests are part of ICE’s interior enforcement strategy, which was announced in April 2006 by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and ICE Assistant Secretary Julie Myers. A critical element of this interior enforcement strategy is to identify and remove criminal aliens, fugitives and other immigration violators from the United States.

— ICE —