A three-day immigration dragnet in San Diego, California led to the arrest of 39 “criminal aliens” that included an undetermined number of Filipinos, the US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) revealed yesterday.
Twenty-six out of the 39 arrested had outstanding orders of deportation. They had prior arrests and convictions for various crimes including domestic violence, indecent exposure, theft, fraud and drunk driving.
Those that already have orders of deportation will be removed from the US immediately, the agency said.
This group is composed of 29 males and 10 females from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Somalia and the Philippines.
The report did not break the numbers down by countries of origin.
Earlier this month, the ICE deported 66 Filipinos who either had criminal convictions or were living illegally in the US or both.
The Department of Homeland Security said a total of 18,820 undocumented Filipinos voluntarily returned to the Philippines in 2009 to avoid arrest and detention.
Of the 681 Filipinos who were actually deported last year – 253 had criminal convictions.
The San Diego round-up was conducted under the ICE’s Fugitive Operations Program, which aims to find, arrest and deport criminal aliens and immigration fugitives. The program prioritizes cases involving aliens who pose a threat to national security and public safety, including members of transnational street gangs and child sex offenders.
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