ICE Arrests 225 in Seven States, Illinois State Police Capture 15, and Citizen Deported
âº4 Day Operation Results in 225 Arrests
The big news of the week is Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Tuesday, February 26 that a four day operation led to 225 arrests in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Missouri.
According to a press release by ICE, in Chicago four teams of ICE officers and U.S. Marshalls’ Fugitive Task force went across the city and the surrounding area arresting 30 people. Twenty-four of them were males, six female.
The arrests took that took place in Illinois were in Aurora, Buffalo Grove, Cicero, East Chicago, Glendale Heights, Griffith, Hammond, Melrose Park, Niles, Skokie and Tinley Park. Those arrested came from Cuba, Guatemala, India, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Syria, Ukraine, and Yugoslavia.
“Our teams working together across six states today sent a strong message to those who choose to disregard our nation’s laws,” Julie L. Myers, Homeland Security Assistance Secretary for ICE said in the press release. “If you ignore a judge’s order of removal, ICE will find you, arrest you, and you will be returned to your home country.”
âºIllinois State Police Arrest 15
A traffic stop on Sunday, February 22 had 15 undocumented immigrants being discovered in Springfield. Ten of those were places into deportation proceedings, according to the Gatehouse News Service.
The state police officer that pulled them over said the vehicle was following too closely and did not signal when switching lanes. Eleven men and four women, all from Mexico were arrested. The officer contacted ICE agents to investigate the matter in more detail.
No name was given in the Gatehouse News Service report, the driver was charged with unlawful transportation of the undocumented and for entering the United States again after being deported.
The individuals are currently in the Sangamon County Jail and four were released pending immigration hearings. The four were a 15 year old girl, her uncle; a 15 year old boy and his brother, according to an ICE spokeswoman.
âºCitizen Deported, now Suing Immigration Officials
Peter Guzman of Los Angeles was deported to Tijuana in May of 2007 after being in jail for trespassing. According to his family, Guzman has a history of mental problems. Guzman struggles with reading, writing and memory, according to his lawyer in a Reuters report. Guzman’s lawyer claims ICE put Guzman on a bus with $3.
The ICE office in Calif. has said that this is a “one of a kind case”. ICE claims in a statement to Reuters that Guzman told them, he was born in Mexico and had signed a document to return to Mexico.
Guzman came to be reunited with his family in August of 2007, when he was stopped by border patrol agents while trying to get back to Calif.