Posted on September 4, 2020

ICE Efforts Result in More Than 300 Arrests in Los Angeles

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, September 1, 2020

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently announced the results of enforcement actions, which resulted in the targeted apprehension of more than 300 individuals within the local area of responsibility (AOR).

ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Los Angeles identified, targeted, and arrested removable aliens who have been previously arrested, or have pending charges or convictions, for crimes against people – including, but not limited to, assault/battery, burglary, child cruelty, domestic violence, kidnapping, and sexual offenses.

“Our officers have continued targeted enforcement operations throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, while incorporating appropriate procedures to safely and effectively perform missions that ensure public safety,” said ICE’s ERO Los Angeles Field Office Director Dave Marin. “These arrests have a significant impact on victims, or potential victims, of these crimes – by focusing our efforts on perpetrators of crimes against others, we were able to remove immediate threats from our communities, and in many cases, prevent future victimization.”

Among the most egregious arrested in the Los Angeles AOR:

  • A 44-year-old citizen and national of Mexico arrested on July 31 in Corona, California. Convicted in Orange, California, of inflicting corporal injury to a spouse and willful cruelty to a child in March 2007; of battery of spouse on spouse in September 2008; and again, of driving without a license and hit and run in February 2013. This convicted criminal was ordered removed by an immigration judge in March 2013, removed by ERO, and unlawfully returned to the U.S., which is a federal crime.
  • A 32-year-old citizen and national of Honduras arrested on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles. Convicted in Vista, California, of rape by force in October 2017. An immigration judge ordered him removed in January 2007; he was removed to Honduras, and unlawfully reentered the U.S., consequently committing a sexual offense.
  • A 35-year-old citizen and national of Mexico arrested on Aug. 6 in Hemet, California. Convicted in Los Angeles, of sexual penetration with a foreign object of an unconscious victim in June 2013. ERO served the individual with a Notice to Appear, Form I-862, charging removability pursuant to section 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony.
  • A 25-year-old citizen and national of Mexico arrested on Aug. 7 in Newport Beach, California. Convicted in Los Angeles, of lewd or lascivious acts in December 2017 – suspect is a registered sex offender. ERO served the individual with a Notice to Appear, Form I-862, charging removability pursuant to section 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the INA as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony.
  • A 23-year-old citizen and national of Guatemala arrested on Aug. 10 in El Monte, California. Convicted in Long Beach, California, of driving without a license in August 2016; and again, of kidnapping and corporal injury on spouse/cohabitant in June. ERO Los Angeles served the individual with a Notice of Intent to Issue a Final Administrative Removal Order, Form I-851, charging removability pursuant to section 101(a)(43)(A) of the INA as an aggravated felony for sexual abuse of a minor.

“It is worth pointing out that nearly 30 percent of the arrests made within our AOR were of criminal aliens with previously non-honored detainers – we identified that the highest numbers of declined detainers, in relation to data captured between July 13 and Aug. 20, were from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and Los Angeles Police Department,” Marin said. “This highlights the dangers associated with noncooperation among law enforcement driven by misguided policies that often place politics ahead of public safety.”

The current fiscal year (FY 2020) figure for ICE’s ERO detainers lodged within the Los Angeles AOR is more than 25,000. The AOR comprises seven counties – Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

In FY 2019, ICE arrested individuals with more than 1,900 convictions and charges for homicide, 1,800 for kidnapping, 12,000 sex offenses, 5,000 sexual assaults, 45,000 assaults, 67,000 crimes involving drugs, 10,000 weapons offenses, and 74,000 DUIs. Similar data for FY 2020 will be available when ICE publishes it year-end statistics.