Feeling the ICE; Federal agents hunting for, arresting immigrant fugitives

Feeling the ICE; Federal agents hunting for, arresting immigrant fugitives
By NICK GEORGIOU, LAREDO MORNING TIMES
06/09/2008

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 1,800 illegal immigrant criminals, fugitives and violators following a month-long effort by Fugitive Operations teams.ICE officials say the slate of arrests reflect a continued and noticeable decrease in the immigrant fugitive population, which is estimated at 573,000.

The agency says that's a decrease of about 60,000 since October 2006.

More than half of those arrested during the May operation were immigration fugitives, or typically people who ignore final deportation orders.

Arrests were made in six states: California, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee and Texas.

Nina Pruneda, spokeswoman for ICE's San Antonio area of operation, said a Fugitive Operation Team was not deployed to Laredo during the month-long effort, but that "most definitely" the Gateway City will be on the list in the future.

"These type of operations are constantly being put together," she said.

A four-day operation that started May 19 in Austin, San Antonio and the Valley ended with 84 arrests. Those arrested were nationals from El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras, Peru, Nicaragua, Kenya and Guatemala.

"At one point or another, they try to hide from us, but it's only a matter of time before we catch up to them," Pruneda said.

Five Fugitive Operations teams conducted the effort. Pruneda said each team is composed of about five to eight special agents, depending on the type of target or area.

According to an ICE news release, of those arrested during the four-day operation, 56 had final orders of deportation and 28 were immigration violators who the team encountered during the operation.

"If you ignore a federal immigration judge's deportation order, ICE will find you, arrest you and return you to your home country," Marc J. Moore, field office director of the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations in San Antonio, stated in a news release.

Moore oversees most of South Texas, including Laredo, San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Harlingen and Brownsville.
Besides being in the country illegally, the agency stated that more than 70 percent of the illegal immigrants who were arrested in the six states had criminal histories.

Though that's not to say ICE turns a blind eye to those who haven't been convicted of a crime, Pruneda said.

Julie L. Myers, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security for ICE, said in a news release these operations are carried out as per removal orders handed down by the country's immigration courts.

"America will always welcome those who wish to enter our country legally, but for those who flaunt our laws, know that you will be removed," Myers said in the news release.

The Fugitive Operations teams prioritize cases based on those who pose a threat to national or community safety, such as sex offenders, suspected gang members and persons convicted of violent crimes, ICE officials said.

The Fugitive Operations Program was created in 2003, the same year ICE, the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, was established.

The program's purpose is to eliminate the nation's backlog of illegal immigrant fugitives.

ICE has markedly increased the numbers of teams it deploys nationwide. In 2005, ICE had 18 Fugitive Operations teams. Today, the agency has 75 teams.

And with recent additional funding, ICE hopes to expand the program by adding 29 teams by the end of September.

The agency states the teams nearly doubled the amount of arrests from about 15,000 in 2006 to more than 30,000 in 2007. According to the ICE Web site, Fugitive Operations teams made about 1,900 arrests in 2003, the agency's first of existence.

Of the 30,000 arrests in 2007, about 4,800 of them occurred in Texas, according to figures provided by Carl Rusnok, spokesman for ICE's Dallas area of operation. However, he said that is not strictly limited to Texas because ICE's Dallas area of operation includes Oklahoma and El Paso's area of operation includes New Mexico.

Rusnok said 13 Fugitive Operations teams are deployed in Texas, including four in San Antonio.

(Nick Georgiou may be reached at 728-2582 or by e-mail at nickg@lmtonline.com)
Laredo Morning Times 2008

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