"Criminal" Aliens arrested for deportation

2,901 Arrested in Sweep of Criminal Immigrants

By CHARLIE SAVAGE - New York Times - September 28, 2011

WASHINGTON — The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency announced on Wednesday that it had arrested 2,901 immigrants who have criminal records, highlighting the Obama administration’s policy of focusing on such people while putting less emphasis on deporting illegal immigrants who pose no demonstrated threat to public safety.
Officials from the agency portrayed the seven-day sweep, called Operation Cross Check, as the largest enforcement and removal operation in its history. It involved arrests in all 50 states of criminal offenders of 115 nationalities, including people convicted of manslaughter, armed robbery, aggravated assault and sex crimes.

“These are not people who are making a positive contribution to their communities,” said the agency’s director, John Morton. “They are not the kind of people we want walking our streets.”

More than 1,600 of those arrested had been convicted of a felony. The remainder had a misdemeanor conviction for matters like theft, forgery and driving while intoxicated, the agency said. Those arrested included illegal immigrants and lawful resident noncitizens who had been convicted of crimes that made them eligible to be deported....more    

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If ICE was working so hard on arrested almost 3,000 people because they had criminal records, why did they take the time out to focus on Matias Ramos?


MTH

Creating lawbreakers so ICE can arrest them

ICE officers listening to instructions for their next raid.





link to photo

Federal law enforcement agencies have increased criminal prosecutions of immigration violators to record levels, in part by filing minor charges against virtually every person caught illegally crossing some stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border - WP

This is an interesting (and lucrative) move for DHS. There is always so much talk about undocumented people with criminal records - well since there are not very many undocumented criminals - ICE is creating some for itself. On some parts of the border they are filing charges against every person -

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Immigration Prosecutions Hit New High
Critics Say Increased Use of Criminal Charges Strains System

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 2, 2008; A01

Federal law enforcement agencies have increased criminal prosecutions of immigration violators to record levels, in part by filing minor charges against virtually every person caught illegally crossing some stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border, according to new U.S. data.

Officials say the threat of prison and a criminal record is a powerful deterrent, one that is helping drive down illegal immigration along the nearly 2,000-mile frontier between the United States and Mexico. Skeptics say that the government lacks the resources to sustain the strategy on the border and that the effort is diverting resources from more serious crimes such as drug and human smuggling.

Before Operation Streamline, as the program is known, most Mexican nationals caught at the border were fingerprinted and returned to Mexico without criminal charges. Since 2005, people other than Mexicans are generally held until removed.

In testimony to Congress this spring, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that Operation Streamline "is a very good program, and we are working to get it expanded across other parts of the border" because "it has a great deterrent effect." The program is now in place in parts of Texas and Arizona.

But Melissa Wagoner, a spokeswoman for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), said there is a shortage of jail beds and public defenders in areas where the program is operating. "Operation Streamline in its current form already strains the capabilities of the law enforcement system past the breaking point," she said.

Others note that, historically, immigration violations have been processed by U.S. administrative courts. Criminalizing illegal immigration while turning a blind eye to employers who provide the jobs that lure migrants makes for good election-year politics but poor policy, said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council.

"This strategy pretty much has it backwards," he said. "It's going after desperate people who are crossing the border in search of a better way of life, instead of going after employers who are hiring people who have no right to work in this country..."

for complete WP article click here

More detentions in Houston

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May 9, 2008, 10:52PM

Federal agents capture fugitives
89 immigrants arrested in surge await processing

By JAMES PINKERTON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Government agents will work today processing 89 illegal immigrants arrested in Houston during a four-day "surge" operation this week, an effort to reduce a backlog of 30,000 immigration fugitives in the area, officials said.

"We're continuing to move forward with their removal process," said Greg Palmore, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston.

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During the operation, which began early Tuesday and ended Friday, a total of 89 illegal immigrants were arrested, including 28 who had criminal convictions. Of the total apprehended, 77 had orders of removal and another 12 were encountered during the operation, Palmore said.

Teams of agents spread out across Houston during the operation, arresting immigrants at their homes or their jobs.

One of those arrested Tuesday has been hospitalized, and is in fair condition, after medical screening at ICE processing facilities in north Houston indicated he was suffering from hypertension.

Fugitive operation teams in the Houston area have "30,000 cases assigned to this area and their goal is to get them all, or as many as they can, especially the criminals," Palmore said.

He was referring to immigration absconders who reside in the 52-county Houston field office's area of responsibility, which extends from the Louisiana border to Corpus Christi.

Kenneth Landgrebe field office director for ICE detentions and removals in Houston, stressed the operation was not part of "mass raids."...

james.pinkerton@chron.com

for complete HC article click here

Three Women at a Bus Stop

Detail of BUS STOP QUEUE 1960S
A young pregnant woman waiting at a bus stop with another young woman and two older women. Date: 1960s
© Copyright (c) Mary Evans Picture Library 2007



Last week while I was in Laredo, Texas my 79 year old aunt was telling me about a young woman who was arrested while waiting for a bus on street corner. The woman was standing at a bus stop with two friends. All were immigrants but only she was undocumented. An officer drove by, saw them and asked only the one who was undocumented for her papers. He then arrested her and drove her home to get her things.

The idea of an officer checking immigration status at a bus stop is just one more thing that makes our immigration policy sound like something out of a police state.

My aunt actually used the word Rinche which surprised me - Rinche is a derogatory term for Texas Rangers. Earlier this year, the state of Texas put the Texas Department of Public Safety under the jurisdiction of the Texas Rangers. The Rangers have a strange history - praised by some and hated by many.

In early 20th century deep south Texas, the Texas Rangers were involved in a conflict in which more than 4,000 Mexican Americans were killed. If you don't believe me, look up Revolution in Texas: How a Forgotten Rebellion and Its Bloody Suppression Turned Mexicans into Americans by Benjamin Heber Johnson. The book was published by Yale University Press, which should help people believe this really happened.

photo: http://www.prints-online.com/image/BUS-STOP-QUEUE-1960S_588855.jpg

ICE enters Church Retreat to arrest immigrants

If ICE agents are going into churches looking for undocumented people, then that means we are no longer safe. When I mean we, I mean all of us. Yes, they are only after "illegals" (excuse me for using the word) but if the federal government (of which ICE is a part of) can find within itself to carry out such clearly unconstitutional acts - then all sorts of other civil liberties will be lost by all of us.

Will this mean they will start entering schools? hospitals? day care centers?

They are already entering homes without a warrant - verbally threatening people if they don't open the door. If this continues they may begin to make this a daily occurrence throughout the country - and truly make us a police state.

I know I have mentioned this before, but I wish one of the presidential candidates would speak up against the raids and say they would be over as soon as they were inaugurated. Unfortunately Clinton and Obama are focusing continually on insulting each other and forgetting about the rest of us - and McCain has probably gone as far left as he can go and still be taken (somewhat) seriously.


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Church members deported on retreat
Valley ministers plan meeting on situation

by Yvonne Wingett - Apr. 14, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Word of the weekend deportations of members of a Phoenix church who were on a retreat near Prescott chilled Valley pastors, whose churches are filled with thousands of Hispanics and undocumented immigrants.

Pastors worry the deportations could discourage undocumented immigrants from worshiping in public and could force ministers to change the way they counsel members about their faith.

"This is telling us that maybe they won't allow us to have religious freedom, as we like to do retreats," said Jose Gonzalez, an associate pastor of the Hispanic Ministry at North Phoenix Baptist Church.
He said Hispanic pastors, who previously had a "this won't happen to me, this won't affect my congregation" attitude on immigration, now are taking it more seriously.

About 20 Valley pastors from evangelical churches will meet today to talk about how to respond to the deportations and address their congregations. The incident occurred Saturday morning when nine people from a small Christian church called Christiana Agape were detained at a Prescott campground after they were determined to be undocumented.

Campers at the White Spar Campground called the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office to complain the group was singing and had music on in the middle of the night, according to a sheriff's spokesman on Saturday. Officers arrived at the campgrounds around 7 a.m.

That contradicts reports from family members of those involved, said Magdalena Schwartz, an assistant pastor at Iglesia Comunidad de Vida church in Mesa, who is helping the families. According to Schwartz, the group from the Phoenix church started playing music and praying around 6:30 a.m.

Sheriff's officials said they were responding to reports of fighting, she said, and asked for identification. Immigration officials helped determine several were in the country illegally.

Yavapai sheriff's officials typically do not ask about immigration status unless a crime is involved.

Last week, two Yavapai jail officers completed federal training to enforce immigration laws. But Yavapai Sheriff Steve Waugh told an Arizona Republic reporter that he was not interested in enforcing routine immigration violations. Rather, the two officers would identify and process for possible deportation of foreign-born individuals booked into the Yavapai County jail after they have been accused of crimes.

Waugh said four sheriff's deputies also are scheduled to receive training from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Those officers, however, will be used to go after organizations smuggling illegal immigrants through Yavapai County.

Seven of those detained on Saturday voluntarily returned to Mexico through Nogales after immigration authorities determined they were undocumented, said Vincent Picard, an ICEspokesman. The eighth was released after immigration authorities confirmed he was legally in the country with a work permit. The ninth, believed to be the church pastor, Manuel Maldonado, was detained in Florence. His immigration status remained unclear on Sunday.

Maldonado's wife was going to meet with immigrant activists Sunday afternoon, Schwartz said.

"We cannot encourage people to go camping any more," Schwartz said. "For us, it's an evil attack. We cannot pray any more in the public places, or go camping because somebody can call the sheriff. It's intimidation. It makes us scared."

Reporters Chelsea Schneider and Daniel Gonzalez contributed to this article.

for link to AR article, click the title of this post

Villaraigosa to Chertoff Part I

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

From the LA Times Magazine, Illustration by John Ritter

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L.A. mayor chides ICE for workplace immigration raids

Villaraigosa tells Homeland Security chief that agents should target criminal gang members and not legitimate businesses. Agency spokeswoman says the priorities are proper.

By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 10, 2008

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has asked the federal government to review its immigration enforcement priorities, warning that work-site raids on "non-exploitative" businesses could have "severe and lasting effects" on the local economy.

"I am concerned that ICE enforcement actions are creating an impression that this region is somehow less hospitable to these critical businesses than other regions," Villaraigosa wrote in a March 27 letter to Michael Chertoff, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has cracked down on businesses that hire undocumented workers in California and around the nation in recent years, arresting scores of workers and their employers. In fiscal 2007, ICE made more than 4,900 work-site arrests, a 45-fold increase over the number in 2001, authorities said.

In February, more than 130 undocumented workers were arrested at a Van Nuys manufacturing company during an ongoing investigation. Last week, more than 60 workers were arrested on immigration violations during routine federal inspections at South Bay area import warehouses. Other Los Angeles companies, including giant clothing manufacturer American Apparel, have reported that ICE recently inquired about its hiring procedures.

In his letter, Villaraigosa said ICE has targeted "established, responsible employers" in industries that have a "significant reliance on workforces that include undocumented immigrants."

"In these industries, including most areas of manufacturing, even the most scrupulous and responsible employers have no choice but to rely on workers whose documentation, while facially valid, may raise questions about their lawful presence," he wrote. He said ICE should spend its limited resources targeting employers who exploit wage and hour laws.

"At a time when we are facing an economic downturn and gang violence at epidemic levels, the federal government should focus its resources on deporting criminal gang members rather than targeting legitimate businesses," said Matt Szabo, the mayor's spokesman.

Chertoff has not responded to the mayor's letter.

But Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said the department believes its priorities are correct. In its work-site investigations, she said, ICE's focus is on national security and public safety. The agency also investigates companies it believes may have committed visa fraud, money laundering, tax evasion or egregious violations of hiring laws.

"We believe that we are prioritizing appropriately," Keehner said. "This is not random. The types of arrests that are made are well thought out."

Szabo said the mayor and Los Angeles business leaders hope to discuss their concerns with Chertoff in person next week during an annual business trip to Washington, D.C...

continued

• image: http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-02/36194957.jpg

Villaraigosa to Chertoff Part II

L.A. mayor chides ICE for workplace immigration raids

continued

Last year, Chertoff warned in an interview with The Times that a crackdown on employers would cause "unhappy consequences for the economy." But employers who knowingly hire illegal workers are breaking the law, he said.

Anti-illegal immigrant advocates praised ICE's actions in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

"Cutting off the magnet of jobs has to be the No. 1 priority if you want to get a handle on illegal immigration," said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports stricter border controls.

Years of lax enforcement is what led to so many illegal workers in Southern California in the first place, Mehlman said. ICE should keep the pressure on undocumented workers and should focus even more attention on their employers, he said.

In Los Angeles, he said, "you take away 100 illegal aliens from these guys and they could have 100 more before lunch. But you take the head of personnel, that's another matter."

Immigrant rights proponents said raids at businesses break up families, make workers more vulnerable and give unscrupulous employers a competitive advantage. Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said the situation only underscores the need for comprehensive immigration reform.

"All of the Los Angeles economy [is paying] for the incompetence of our congressional representatives," she said. "They haven't done what they are supposed to do."

Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce President Gary L. Toebben agreed on the need for reform legislation.

Toebben also sent a letter to Chertoff saying that workplace raids are "devastating" to businesses that are trying to follow the law.

Even when employers ask for proof that new employees are eligible to work in the U.S., there is no guarantee that the documents are valid, he said. Businesses can use the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify system to match employee's names and Social Security numbers with federal databases, but critics have said that it often inaccurately flags foreign-born U.S. citizens.

Toebben said workplace raids can slow production or bring it to a standstill. He said future enforcement could also discourage some companies from hiring people who appear to be foreign-born for fear of hiring undocumented workers and being targeted by ICE.

Toebben said he worries that if the arrests continue, Los Angeles companies could have "a very difficult challenge in meeting their workforce needs."

anna.gorman@latimes.com

for link to complete LAT Magazine article click the title of this post