ICE Continues to Apprehend Violent Criminal Foreign Nationals Despite State Opposition
Despite opposition from certain states to arresting violent criminal foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, along with federal partners, continue to apprehend them, including members of violent gangs and organized crime.
In a recent multi-agency interdiction effort spanning three days, ICE and multiple federal law enforcement partners arrested 44 individuals allegedly involved in illicit activities across six Central Valley counties spanning 210 miles. The arrests included members of violent international gangs engaged in drug trafficking, human smuggling, and other violent crimes, as per ICE. Federal agents also detained convicted sex offenders who had illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported previously, as well as illegal foreign nationals facing federal criminal charges for immigration and other violations.
ICE emphasized that “Local and state law enforcement agencies were not involved in the operation due to California Senate Bill 54, which restricts cooperation between local agencies and federal immigration authorities.” However, ICE stated that it “remains committed to working with its federal partners to combat organized crime and protect communities from violent criminal activity.”
In San Francisco, ICE agents, in collaboration with the FBI, DEA, and others, conducted a multi-agency operation targeting Mexican cartel-related narcotics and firearms distribution, along with other criminal threats in the South Lake Tahoe, California, region.
Among those targeted were Sureno and MS-13 gang members involved in drug and weapons trafficking with convictions for various offenses. Those arrested are now facing federal prosecution and removal from the U.S.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations San Francisco acting Field Office Director Polly Kaiser stated, “Collaborative enforcement actions of this scale demonstrate a whole government approach with enhanced intelligence-driven investigations followed by coordinated law enforcement action.”
In Orange County, federal and local law enforcement officers successfully targeted a Romanian organized ATM theft ring. ICE-Orange County agents, ICE’s Los Angeles El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force, and multiple law enforcement partners conducted county-wide operations earlier this month.
Those arrested were engaging in unauthorized ATM transactions using counterfeit/cloned EBT cards at financial institutions in Orange County. ICE agents and local police arrested 15 individuals on federal charges for the use/manufacturing of an access device with the intent to defraud, along with two state arrests. Additionally, officers seized counterfeit/cloned EBT cards and bulk U.S. currency.
In San Diego, ICE agents arrested and removed an aggravated felon and Mexican national who had been previously deported from the U.S. at least seven times. Jose Antonio Garcia was convicted for serious crimes and was deported for the eighth time after serving a prison sentence.
San Diego ICE agents also arrested a Guatemalan citizen with a history of criminal offenses, including driving under the influence and hit-and-run incidents. The individual had illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported twice and is currently in ICE custody pending removal.
Multiple Guatemalan nationals arrested by ICE agents in Los Angeles were indicted for orchestrating a massive smuggling operation bringing approximately 20,000 Guatemalans into the U.S. illegally. One of the ring leaders even made threats against an ICE task force officer and his family members.
Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.
