ICE Agents Arrest 144 Illegal Immigrants (WMAQ-Chicago, IL)

ICE Agents Arrest 144 Illegal Immigrants
Fugitive Immigrants From 26 Countries Arrested In Sting

POSTED: 1:11 pm CDT September 17, 2008

CHICAGO -- In a four-day operation that targeted fugitive aliens in the Chicago area and northern Indiana, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 144 people, the agency announced Wednesday.

Fugitive aliens are illegal immigrants who failed to appear for immigration hearings or absconded after having been ordered to leave the country by a federal immigration judge, according to a release from ICE.

Beginning Sept. 12, four local ICE Fugitive Operations teams targeted fugitives in the Chicago area and northern Indiana. Of those arrested, 110 were fugitives who had final orders of deportation, while 34 were immigration violators encountered by ICE agents during targeted arrests, the release said.

ICE agents made arrests in Chicago, Beach Park, Country Club Hills, Gurnee, Grayslake, Harwood Heights, Libertyville, North Chicago, Nottingham Park, Round Lake, Skokie, Waukegan, Willowbrook and Zion. Indiana fugitives were targeted in Elkhart, Goshen, Mishawaka, Nappanee and South Bend, according to the release.

"ICE has teams across the country to specifically target anyone who ignores deportation orders," said Glenn Triveline, field office director for the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations in Chicago.

Those arrested were from 26 countries, including Albania, Belize, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lithuania, Malawi, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia and Yugoslavia.

The U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force assisted in the action.

During the first 11 months of fiscal year 2008, which began Oct. 1, the local ICE Fugitive Operations Teams in a six-state area made 1,597 arrests. Of the total, 1,292 were fugitives who had failed to comply with outstanding deportation orders, while 305 were immigration violators encountered during targeted arrests.