UNDATED - Immigration agents in the Southeast who focus on finding fugitives arrested four times the number of illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2007 as they did in the previous year.
Federal officials said Tuesday the numbers mean the Georgia/North Carolina territory had the third highest number of arrests among 24 such teams around the country that specialize in catching fugitives.
Only Los Angeles and Miami had more arrests.
Agents on the fugitive operations teams focus on finding people who have not appeared for immigration hearings, or who stayed in the country after being ordered to leave by an immigration judge. Teams also prioritize cases, looking for those who have criminal records or are considered a threat to national security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.
In the Southeast, four teams of ICE officers -- two in Atlanta and one each in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina -- arrested 2,295 people in the 12 months ending September 30th. That's up from 525 in the previous period.
SOUTHWEST ARRESTS
Two illegal immigrants with criminal convictions in Georgia have been arrested separately in southern Arizona after re-entering the United States. Both face deportation proceedings again.
The Border Patrol says Tucson sector agents arrested the two Tuesday.
Tomas Reyes Lopez, apprehended near Sasabe southwest of Tucson, was deported in January after serving prison time for aggravated felony negligent homicide, failure to yield and driving without a license convictions in March 2001 in Appling County.
Francisco Ortiz Falcon, caught near Amado, was found to have been convicted of a ``peeping Tom'' felony and of writing bad checks in two other Georgia counties.
Both would be subject to prison if caught entering the U.S. again.
Monday
October 14th, 2024
6:19AM
