Arrests of illegals set record in region

From Staff and Wire Reports

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) in New Orleans, announced this week that the teams of officers responsible for tracking down criminal aliens and immigration fugitives in the states of Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas made a record number of arrests last year.

In fiscal year 2007, which ended Sept. 30, ICE’s two Fugitive Operations Teams, in coordination with other DRO officers, took 448 immigration violators into custody in the five states, an 80 percent increase compared to fiscal year 2006. Of those arrested, 20 had criminal histories in addition to being in the country illegally.

“As a country, we welcome law-abiding immigrants, but foreign nationals who violate our laws and commit crimes against our citizens should be on notice that ICE is going to use all of the tools at its disposal to find you and send you home,” said Trey Lund, New Orleans field office director for ICE detention and removal operations.

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. Today, ICE has 75 Fugitive Operations Teams deployed across the country. In fiscal year 2007, those teams accounted for more than 30,000 arrests nationwide.

The program’s rapid growth has spurred its success. This year, for the first time, the nation’s fugitive alien population showed a decline.

As of Oct. 1, 2007, ICE’s fugitive case backlog consisted of fewer than 595,000 fugitive aliens, which is about 38,000 fewer fugitives than the population recorded on Oct. 1, 2006. That number continues to decrease, according to federal authorities.

At the end of fiscal year 2007, ICE met its goal of deploying 75 teams, up from 52 teams at the end of fiscal year 2006.

ICE’s Fugitive Operations Program is an integral part of the comprehensive multiyear plan launched by the Department of Homeland Security to secure America’s borders and reduce illegal migration. That strategy seeks to gain operational control of both the northern and southern borders, while re-engineering the detention and removal system to ensure that illegal aliens are removed from the country quickly and efficiently.