Immigrant officials dedicated to nabbing criminals grow
More immigration officials means more arrest but immigration activists say the wrong people often get nabbed.
Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials are reporting that the number of undocumented immigrants arrested by teams targeting criminals and those who evaded deportation orders has doubled.
Thanks to a growth in the ranks of these teams 30,408 illegal immigrants were arrested in the fiscal year 2007. But many of those arrested have no criminal record and many others have not even been ordered to be deported.
For instance, in Los Angeles, the teams have arrested 2,667 undocumented immigrants but only 576 had criminal histories. Immigration officials who are working with the LAPD to track down criminals have also been picking up family members and others during raids angering immigration activists.