April 27, 2007

Thirty-five arrested as ICE and Yavapai County Sheriff team up to target criminal aliens and immigration fugitives

PRESCOTT, Ariz. - A total of 35 immigration violators were arrested here this week during a joint three-day operation involving officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.

Ten of those taken into custody by ICE during this week's enforcement action are immigration fugitives, aliens who have ignored final orders of deportation issued by immigration judges. Since these individuals have already been through immigration proceedings, they are subject to immediate removal from the country. While seeking the immigration fugitives, ICE officers encountered 14 other immigration violators who were taken into custody.

The remaining 11aliens were immigration violators encountered at locations where Yavapai Sheriff's deputies sought to execute criminal warrants for foreign national offenders. A background check revealed that one of these aliens had re-entered the United States illegally after being formally deported. That subject is being federally prosecuted for felony re-entry after deportation. Thirty-four of the 35 individuals arrested are Mexican nationals and one is Guatemalan.

The three-day effort is part of Operation Return to Sender, an ongoing ICE initiative targeting criminal aliens, foreign nationals with final orders of deportation, and other immigration violators. Since its launch in June 2006, Operation Return to Sender has resulted in more than 23,000 arrests nationwide.

"Taking immigration fugitives off of our streets and restoring integrity to our nation's immigration system is one of ICE's top priorities," said Katrina S. Kane, field office director for ICE detention and removal operations in Arizona. "Our message is - if you are ordered deported you should obey the immigration court's order. Otherwise, ICE is going to track you down and send you home."

Officers assigned to the ICE fugitive operations team assigned to Arizona conducted this week's operation. The Fugitive Operations Program was established in 2003 to eliminate the nation's backlog of immigration fugitives. Today, there are 52 fugitive operations teams nationwide and ICE expects to expand that number to 75 by year's end.

The fugitive operations initiative is an integral part of the Department of Homeland Security's Secure Border Initiative (SBI), a comprehensive multi-year plan to secure America's borders and reduce illegal migration. Under SBI, Homeland Security seeks to gain operational control of both the northern and southern borders, while re-engineering the detention and removal system to ensure that illegal aliens are removed from the country quickly and efficiently. The SBI also involves strong interior enforcement efforts, including enhanced worksite enforcement, and intensified efforts to track down and remove illegal aliens inside this country.

-- 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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