| Immigration
Hunts for 500,000 Absconders
WASHINGTON — In an unprecedented crackdown on more than
500,000 absconders — illegal immigrants who have not followed
deportation orders — U.S. authorities this year are nearly
tripling the number of federal officers assigned to round
up such fugitives.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement will deploy
52 fugitive-hunting teams across the nation by December,
up from 17 teams last year, says John Torres, the agency’s
acting director of detention and removal.
Teams generally are made up of five to eight
agents, focused on rounding up and deporting immigrants
who have been ordered by a judge to leave the U.S. because
they are here illegally or have violated the conditions
of their stay by committing crimes.
“It is one of our top priorities,” Torres
says. “The message for absconders is this: While they think
they may be able to flout immigration laws, this is not
the case. They may get a knock on their doors very early
in the morning.”
The Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York City
and Washington put a spotlight on domestic security concerns,
including the U.S. Government’s problems in tracking down
and deporting foreigners who are in the country illegally.
The fugitive teams were created in 2003. Various
researchers estimate that 10 million to 11 million illegal
immigrants are in the U.S.
The Department of Homeland Security, which
oversees ICE, does not dispute that.
In part because tracking down all of those
illegal immigrants is unrealistic, federal immigration agencies
have focused on improving border security and on catching
the approximately 536,000 illegal immigrants who are fugitives
from the law.
The number of fugitives increases by about
35,000 annually, ICE spokesman Marc Raimondi says.
The new teams are expected to arrest 40,000
to 50,000 fugitives annually, Torres says. That would be
a dramatic increase in the rate of such arrests; since March
2003, ICE has arrested 32,625 fugitives, agency records
show. The agency needs another 50 teams, Torres says.
“If we do the math, we’re just breaking even
with those teams,” Torres said. “We’re looking to put a
dent into the backlog.”
The new teams are slated for Atlanta, Baltimore,
Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, San
Antonio, San Francisco, San Diego, St. Paul and several
other cities.
The agency is getting about $75 million over
two years to pay for the teams, Raimondi says.
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