ICE's Latest Report: A Dual Edged Sword

Cross posted from Virtuous Republic

ICE released a press release noting its success in deporting
criminal aliens. While we applaud the hard work of those on the front
lines in the battle against illegal immigration, the report itself
(which follows), makes two things perfectly clear.

First, until
conservatives forced an about face by the Bush Administration on
illegal immigration, it was barely a priority, as evidenced by the
drastic increase in arrests and deportations of criminal aliens by ICE
this year. This reality can't be stressed enough. Until conservatives
made their voices heard, our government in 2003 only arrested and
deported 2,000 of these illegal criminal aliens!

And second, even
though ICE is obviously working hard and making some inroads, there are
still almost 600,000 dangerous criminal aliens amongst us.

Because
of 20, 30, maybe even 40 years of allowing mass, illegal migration
across our southern border, the U.S. is awash with millions of illegal
aliens, which depending upon which figures you use, 6% of which ICE
classifies as criminals.

Does that register? 600,000 criminal foreigners, here illegally are roaming our streets because we don't guard our border.

Those
of us opposed to illegal immigration should take some satisfaction that
through our efforts, the ball has begun to role on the enforcement
side, but the battle is far from won and we must continue to pressure
our national elites to secure our borders, stop illegal border
crossings, and prohibit the employment of those here illegally.

ICE Fugitive Operations Teams arrest more than 30,000 in FY2007

Officer teams and more efficient data contribute to decline in number of criminal aliens, immigration fugitives

WASHINGTON, D.C
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today that
their teams of officers who track down criminal aliens and immigration
fugitives arrested almost twice as many in fiscal year 2007 than in the
previous year. For the first time since records have been kept, the
nation's fugitive alien population is on the decline.

In the last fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, ICE Fugitive
Operations Teams arrested 30,408 individuals - up from 15,462 arrests
made in FY 2006. One of the reasons for the increase in arrests is the
deployment of dozens more teams across the country. ICE met its goal of
deploying 75 teams by the end of FY 2007; up from 52 active teams in
FY2006.

The Fugitive Operations Program's rapid growth has spurred its
success. However, better coordination of information from state and
local law enforcement and more efficient data collection and
dissemination have also contributed greatly. As of October 1, 2007,
ICE's fugitive case backlog consisted of less than 595,000 fugitive
aliens, which is approximately 38,000 fewer fugitives than the
population recorded at the same time last year. That number continues
to decrease.

"The growing number of arrests made by the ICE Fugitive Operations
Teams should serve as a deterrent to people attempting to side-step our
nation's laws," said Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary for ICE. "We
kept our promise to bolster the number of teams this past year and we
continue to improve our ability to identify and apprehend individuals
who pose a serious threat to our communities or choose to ignore our
immigration laws."

Arrests across the country include:

• Luis Medina Gonzalez, 34, of Mexico; a criminal
  fugitive alien convicted of beating another man to death more than a
  decade ago in Mexico. Medina Gonzalez was arrested in Maywood, Calif.,
  and deported the following day.
• Jose Sanchez-Roches, 47, of Cuba; a criminal
  fugitive alien apprehended by the Miami team in May. Sanchez-Roches
  has a criminal history including convictions for murder, armed robbery,
  burglary, drug possession, and resisting arrest.
• Jose Reyes-Reyes, 50, of El Salvador; a criminal
  fugitive arrested in Miami. Reyes-Reyes has been removed before and in
  1988 he plead guilty to murder in Harris County, Texas, where he served
  15 years in prison.
• Victorino Anaya-Renza, 45, of Mexico; a criminal
  fugitive alien convicted of sexual assault and endangering the welfare
  of a child. Anaya-Renza was arrested in Philadelphia in April for
  defying an immigration judge's order of removal.
• Pedro Roman Perez, 59, of the Dominican Republic;
  a criminal fugitive alien with U.S. convictions for attempted murder,
  assault and driving under the influence was arrested in March by the
  Newark Fugitive Operations Team. He had previously been ordered removed
  from the country.
• Rory Amoy Sinclair, 27, of Jamaica; a criminal
  fugitive alien arrested in Atlanta was convicted by the Superior Court
  of Fulton County (Ga.) for sexual battery of a minor, possession of
  marijuana and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

In addition to the expanded partnerships with local law enforcement
agencies across the country, the newly created Fugitive Operations
Support Center (FOCC) in Vermont, which aids in gathering and analyzing
information on fugitive cases across the country, has also helped the
Fugitive Operations Teams succeed. This center was opened last year and
has since disseminated more than 150,000 case leads to ICE agents.

ICE established its Fugitive Operations Program in 2003 to eliminate
the nation's backlog of immigration fugitives and ensure that
deportation orders handed down by immigration judges are enforced. The
teams prioritize cases involving immigration violators who pose a
threat to national security and community safety. These include child
sexual exploiters, suspected gang members and those who have
convictions for any violent crimes.

ICE's Fugitive Operations Program is an integral part of the
comprehensive multi-year plan launched by the Department of Homeland
Security to secure America's borders and reduce illegal migration. That
strategy seeks to gain operational control of both the northern and
southern borders, while re-engineering the alien detention and removal
system to ensure that illegal aliens are removed from the country
quickly and efficiently.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration
(CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link
to learn more. Afterwards, email brianbonner90-at-gmail-dot-com and let
us know at what level you would like to participate.

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