| | |  Americas & Beyond | September 2008 
ICE Agents Arrest More than 1,100 in Three-Week, California Sting
 Stacia Glenn - Contra Costa Times
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| | Suspects wait to be transported during a pre-dawn raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP/Mark Avery | | |
Federal agents have spent three weeks sweeping the state for illegal immigrants in what they lauded as the largest fugitive operation ever in California.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 1,157 people in the country illegally. Many ignored deportation orders or were criminal illegal immigrants.
About 420 of those were in the greater Los Angeles area, which includes San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
"We're working very hard," said Assistant Field Office Director Eric Saldana. "We're attempting to put the teeth back in immigration."
ICE attributed the operation's success to the flourishing of fugitive teams, which were created in 2003.
There are two fugitive teams in the Inland Empire, one of which was created in the past four months. ICE has 95 fugitive teams nationwide.
The raid that ended Saturday started in San Diego County and moved north to San Francisco so ICE agents from across the state could assist.
This was the largest enforcement surge since the fugitive teams were created in 2003.
Nearly 200 of the illegal immigrants were criminal fugitives.
About 150 of those arrested have previously been removed from the country but returned, officials said. ICE agents said they plan to seek federal prosecution on those cases, which is typically 20 years in federal prison.
Details were released on two men who were arrested in the Inland Empire during the sweep.
Eleodoro Salinas-Cruz, who illegally crossed the Mexican border in 1986, was charged in 1996 with child abuse. The 41-year-old man was arrested in Riverside.
Jesus Velasquez-Medrano, a 41-year-old Mexican native who illegally entered the U.S. in 1989, was previously sentenced to three years in jail for transporting drugs. He was picked up in San Bernardino.
Both men were arrested two weeks ago and returned to Mexico.
ICE officials said the number of illegal-immigrant fugitives has declined by more than 34,000 since the fugitive teams were created.
ICE estimates that there are now about 560,000 illegal- immigrant fugitives in the U.S. |
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