More than 1,100 arrested throughout California in immigration raids

By Denis C. Theriault

Billing a series of raids as the largest sweep of its kind in California, federal immigration authorities Monday announced more than 1,100 arrests throughout the state this month, part of a three-week effort that saw teams from San Jose and beyond knocking on doors in search of fugitive immigrants.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 1,157 men and women — 436 in Northern California — in the latest splash in a five-year push targeting immigrants who have ignored deportation orders or returned to the United States illegally after being deported. The sweep, which concluded Saturday, also produced 420 arrests in the Los Angeles area and 301 in the San Diego area. Those arrested came from 34 countries.

And although ICE officials hailed the sweep as a success, particularly because of the number of arrests, they said it was only the scale of the effort that was remarkable.

"This is something we do on a daily basis," said Craig Meyer, ICE's assistant field office director in San Francisco. "This was just a big surge to get as many boots on the ground as we could."

Teams from Northern and Southern California worked together to rove the state, turning up 595 immigrants with outstanding deportation orders and 346 with criminal convictions. In Northern California, which includes the Bay Area, 185 were fugitives and 92 had criminal convictions, ranging from petty theft to more serious crimes.

A breakdown of arrests by municipality and county was not available, Meyer said. Continued...