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LA Daily News Version

ICE dragnet nabs 286 in the state

By Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer

12/11/2009

One was a Guatemalan living in Glendale who had committed a lewd act against his 10-year-old mentally disabled stepdaughter.

Others included an El Salvadoran in Reseda convicted of robbery and an Iranian in West Hills convicted of terroristic threats.

The San Fernando Valley residents were among 286 foreign nationals with criminal records arrested across the state this week during the largest bust of its kind by federal immigration officers, officials reported Friday.

The three-day dragnet led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ended Thursday and included 96 from greater Los Angeles.

More than 80 percent of those arrested had prior convictions for violent crimes such as rape by force, armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. Also arrested were 30 convicted sex offenders, many for crimes involving children, ICE officials said.

Of those arrested, at least 100 have been already been booted from the country.

"If you commit crimes in this country and come back, we're going to arrest you, prosecute you, put you in federal prison - then deport you," said John Morton, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for ICE, at a downtown news conference.

The statewide operation by the agency's Fugitive Operations Program involved more than 400 officers from ICE, the U.S. Marshals Service and other local and state agencies.

Northern California bore the brunt of the raid, with 119 taken into custody, followed by Los Angeles, then San Diego and Imperial counties with 71.

Those arrested hailed from 30 countries around the globe, officials said, the majority from Mexico or Central America. The enforcement surge netted 29 women.

At least 17 face federal prosecution for re-entering the country after a formal deportation. If convicted, they could spend up to 20 years behind bars.

Among those who face prosecution is a previously deported El Salvadoran with suspected ties to a Los Angeles street gang, Ulises Vazuiz Arucha, 37, previously convicted of robbery.

Arucha, arrested Thursday in Reseda, was last deported in 2007.

Foreign nationals not being criminally prosecuted will be processed administratively for removal from the U.S., ICE officials said. Those who have been ordered deported, or have snuck into the nation after being given the boot, face immediate removal.

The remaining suspects are in federal custody awaiting a hearing from an immigration judge, or pending travel arrangements abroad.

One man facing administrative removal is a 60-year-old from Guatemala convicted of molesting his 10-year-old stepdaughter. The unnamed resident of Glendale, legally admitted to the U.S. in 1989, was ordered deported five years ago based on his conviction.

Another is a 32-year-old Iranian convicted of a terroristic threat. The unnamed resident of West Hills, who entered the U.S. legally in 1985, was convicted of contempt of court in 2005.

"It's the largest operation of its kind we've ever conducted," said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles ICE office. "This agency has intensified its efforts in recent months to locate, arrest and deport criminal aliens.

"These are not people we want walking our streets."

The ICE Fugitive Operations Program is responsible for finding, arresting and removing at-large criminal aliens and immigration fugitives who have ignored court-ordered deportation.

Last year, the ICE agency helped deport a record 136,126 criminal aliens.

The Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights, a Los Angeles-based immigrant advocacy group, could not be reached Friday.

The Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund, another Los Angeles-based immigrants' rights group, did not respond to requests for comment.

Those who advocate for legal immigration praised the federal immigration raid.

"Wow. This is an outstanding performance by Immigration and Customs Enforcement," said Jim Gilchrist, founder and director of The Minuteman Project in Laguna Hills.

"They are doing exactly what American citizens and the electorate want. We want the law enforcement agencies to enforce our laws," he said.

"This (raid) means we are still a nation governed by the rule of law."

City News Service contributed to this report