ICE ended its self-deportation pilot program for non-criminal fugitive aliens last week, noting that it learned a lot from the three-week initiative. The main lesson was that the only method that works is enforcement.
Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania state legislators attending the annual Quad State Legislative conference learned about why the 287(g) program, which trains local law enforcement officers to engage in immigration enforcement activities and enables them to initiate deportation proceedings for illegal aliens, is a fast-growing success.
In the wake of the Postville, Iowa enforcement action at Agriprocessors, Inc, where almost 400 illegal aliens were arrested, the company turned to labor recruiters to find legal workers in the U.S. to fill the void, the Associated Press reports. Agriprocessors' experience proves a point – when unscrupulous employers are forced to look for legal workers – both native-born and legal immigrants -- they can turn to recruiters to find them.
ICE has conducted its second raid of the week at a critical infrastructure facility, this time at Dulles International Airport in Virginia where agents arrested 42 illegal aliens yesterday. Earlier in the week, an ICE raid at a military parachute company in North Carolina resulted in the arrest of 59 illegal aliens. Dulles was the target of a similar operation in 2006 that netted 55 illegal aliens.ICE interviewed more than 200 individuals to verify their identities, immigration status, and eligibility for lawful employment in the U.S., according to a related ICE press release.
A 10-day ICE operation in Pennsylvania and Delaware netted 75 fugitive aliens and 44 other immigration violators, according to an ICE press release. Of these, 38 had criminal histories that included offensive touching and assault of a child, forgery, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property, and narcotics violations. The arrestees came from countries around the globe including El Salvador, Indonesia, Mauritania and Mexico.
In what is billed as the largest bust in western North Carolina, ICE took into custody 59 illegal aliens who making parachutes for the U.S. armed forces at the Mills Manufacturing Corp. in Woodfin, North Carolina. A related ICE press release suggests the enforcement action neutralized a potential national security vulnerability.
The fund will allow arrested illegal aliens who do not have any outstanding criminal violations to apply for financial assistance through churches, legal organizations or open-border groups. If approved, the fund covers half the bail money and the illegal aliens cover the rest.