August 27, 2007

ICE locates 18 fugitives, criminals and immigration violators in Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested or identified 18 immigration fugitives, criminals and illegal aliens during a four-day enforcement operation in the metropolitan area here.

The targeted enforcement initiative, which began Tuesday and concluded Friday, is part of an ongoing nationwide initiative focused on arresting fugitives and those with criminal records. During the operation, ICE officers arrested 14 aliens and located another four in local jails, including four with convictions for various crimes.

Ten of the 18 were fugitives - illegal aliens who had been ordered removed by a federal immigration judge but failed to surrender or leave the United States; and eight were aliens who violated U.S. immigration laws.

Two MS-13 gang members and a previously deported alien were among those found in local jails. Upon their release from state custody, they will be turned over to ICE and placed into deportation proceedings.

"ICE will continue to fulfill our Congressional mandate to apprehend and deport those who enter our country illegally, especially those who have criminal convictions," said Scott Baniecke, field office director for the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations in Bloomington. "ICE helps protect the public from those who commit crimes, and also protects the integrity of the nation's legal immigration system."

Following are some of those arrested with criminal convictions during this operation:

• Jose Alejandro Gonzalez, 31, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced to 90 months in prison after he pleaded guilty in May to possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it. After he completes his sentence, he will be turned over to ICE for deportation.
• Jose Perez-Ruiz, 25, a citizen of Mexico, is a convicted felon who was previously deported. He was last removed from the United States in July 2006 after serving a two-year sentence for possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it. He was located in the Douglas County jail last week, and is facing new drug charges.
• Jose Romero-Garcia, 19, and Victor Rosado-Vasquez, 23, both citizens of Mexico, were located by ICE agents in the Douglas County Jail. They are known to be members of the violent MS-13 street gang. Both are currently charged with possessing stolen property, theft, criminal mischief and fraud. They will be turned over to ICE for deportation; but they will first serve any resulting prison sentences if they are prosecuted.

Those arrested or identified during this operation are from Guatemala, Mexico and Togo.

In June, ICE announced that for the first time it had reduced the backlog of open fugitive alien cases in the country. "Fugitive aliens" are illegal aliens who fail to appear for an immigration hearing or who abscond after having been ordered to leave the country by an immigration judge.

Between September 2003 and September 2006, the fugitive alien population grew by an average of 5,682 fugitives per month or 68,184 new cases per year. For the first time in U.S. history ICE has seen that growth level off for the last eight months and then drop by more than 500 names during May and June. ICE accomplished this decrease by implementing a number of initiatives, including: streamlining business practices, tripling the number of fugitive operations teams, improving intelligence and analysis, increasing available detention space, and ending the practice of "catch and release" at the border. According to ICE's Deportable Alien Control System (DACS), there are now more than 632,000 fugitive aliens in the United States.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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