More than 1,100 arrested throughout California in immigration raids

By Denis C. Theriault

In one case, ICE agents apprehended a Fremont woman who had been ordered deported after convictions for voluntary manslaughter and threatening a witness. The onetime legal resident, whom authorities did not identify, was sent back to her native Portugal shortly after her arrest, officials said.

Many of those arrested did not have criminal backgrounds. But it is ICE policy to check the residency status of everyone inside targeted residences. In this month's operation, that meant scores of illegal immigrants without deportation orders or criminal convictions were also taken into custody.

The sweep marked the first large-scale operation for ICE's months-old San Jose team, one of a handful added this year in California, as ICE continues its five-year crackdown against immigrants who ignore deportation orders. In patrolling Northern California, it joins two teams in San Francisco and one each in Sacramento, Fresno and Bakersfield.

"It spreads us out a little more, gives us a little more reach," Meyer said of the new South Bay crew. "They know the area better and they can get out there quicker and be on the ground more often."

Nationwide, there are now 95 teams in operation, ICE officials said, with more than 100 expected by the end of the year. In 2003, when ICE's Fugitive Operations Program was created, only 17 teams were in place.

That expansion, along with the establishment of a federal investigation center in Vermont, has led to a surge in arrests. Last year there were 30,407 arrests nationwide, nearly double the year before. This year, ICE agents are well on their way to topping that number, with 26,945 arrests logged as of Aug. 1.

The crackdown has continued to cut into the number of immigrants nationwide who have standing deportation orders. In 2007, for the first time, the suspected number of fugitive immigrants in the United States declined. The backlog is now down to fewer than 560,000, about 34,000 fewer than on Oct. 1, 2007.

But for Basil Robledo, director of programs for the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) in San Jose, the latest arrests are one more step on a disturbing path following last year's failure by Congress to reform the nation's immigration laws.

He said federal officials have instead turned to heavy-handed enforcement — a strategy that Robledo says has led to fear, confusion and broken families.

"It is a scary situation for folks in the community," he said. "People keep their kids home from school. It creates less of a willingness to talk to police. They see ICE agents and they see a uniformed person, and that blends into all of law enforcement."

Meyer acknowledged the complaints his agency receives, particularly those concerning children and families, and took care to rebuff them, stressing that "when children are involved, we're very careful with that."

Still, he said, "these are the laws that are in place. And we're just following through, doing our job."

It is just right to impose the law.

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