Kudos to ICE/DRO's Fug Ops

**Big Sexy** · 02-29-08, 08:52 AM

Local ICE Fugitive Operations Team Arrests 225 In Great Lakes Operation

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Tuesday that its local team of officers that tracks down criminal and fugitive aliens arrested 225 aliens as part of a four-day, six-state operation that ended Monday.

Eleven fugitive operations teams made 225 arrests in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Wisconsin and Missouri. ICE's Detroit Fugitive Operations Team made 85 arrests, including 66 fugitives, and 21 aliens with criminal convictions. The arrests took place throughout Metro Detroit. Those arrested are from Albania, Bangladesh, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Jamaica, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Russia, Uzbekistan and Yugoslavia.(As you can see, illegals aren't exclusively Mexican)

"Our teams working together across six states today sent a strong message to those who choose to disregard our nation's laws," said Julie L. Myers, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for ICE. "If you ignore a judge's order of removal, ICE will find you, arrest you, and you will be returned to your home country."

ICE has established 75 Fugitive Operations Teams nationwide that are specially trained and dedicated solely to identifying, locating and arresting aliens who have absconded after receiving deportation orders. The increased FY 2008 budget allocates funds for the implementation of an additional 29 teams nationally.

ICE officials say the Fugitive Operations Teams' success also can be attributed to ICE's expanded partnerships with local law enforcement agencies across the country, as well as the newly-created Fugitive Operations Support Center (FOSC) in Vermont, which aids in gathering and analyzing information on fugitive cases across the country. The center was opened last year and has since disseminated more than 150,000 case leads to ICE agents.

ICE established its Fugitive Operations Program in 2003 to eliminate the nation's backlog of immigration fugitives and ensure that deportation orders handed down by immigration judges are enforced. The teams prioritize cases involving immigration violators who pose a threat to national security and community safety. These include child sexual exploiters, suspected gang members and those who have convictions for any violent crimes.

Nationwide, ICE Fugitive Operations Teams have arrested more than 72,000 illegal aliens since the first teams were created. There are approximately 585,000 fugitive aliens in ICE's databases. Last year, the nation's fugitive alien population declined for the first time in history and that trend is continuing, reports ICE.