Immigration sweep nets 107

Immigration sweep nets 107

By ROGER SIDEMAN
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER
Federal officials confirmed they arrested 107 people for immigration violations in Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Hollister in an organized sweep Thursday and Friday.

Those arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were foreign nationals with final orders of deportation, criminals and other immigration violators, spokeswoman Lori Haley said. Most were Mexicans, though some were from El Salvador, Guatemala and India, she said.

"We know who we are going to look for," Haley said. "They have been ordered to leave by a judge and they are ignoring those orders."

Nineteen arrested in the operation, dubbed Return to Sender, have criminal convictions including robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and sex offenses against minors, she said. One was turned over to local authorities because of an arrest warrant for driving without a license, she said.

Haley said 44 of those arrested already have been sent back to their home countries. The rest are in custody and awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, where they could make a case to stay in the country, she said.

Two lawyers specializing in immigration said Friday that their offices have been flooded with people reporting that family members had been taken from their homes into federal custody for deportation.

Most were men who had been brought to the United States by their parents while they were children, according to lawyers Doug Keegan, with the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project in Watsonville, and Alisa Thomas of Santa Cruz.

At least four were members of Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Santa Cruz, according to Barbara Meister of the Community Organized for Relational Power in Action, an interfaith coalition in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

Bishop Sylvester Ryan of the Diocese of Monterey plans a press conference about the arrests at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Resurrection Church in Aptos, according to Sheilah Lynch, diocesan director of family life.

The San Francisco field office conducted the operation, Haley said, and there will be more in the future.

The sweep is part of a nationwide enforcement operation, she said. During the last fiscal year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has made more than 20,000 arrests including 9,000 criminal aliens, she said.

Contact Roger Sideman at rsideman (..at..) santacruzsentinel.com.