Operation Return to Sender is the name for a massive sweep of illegal immigrants by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency which began on May 26, 2006.
The campaign has focused on those individuals deemed to be the most dangerous, including convicted felons and gang members, particularly those of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, as well as repeat offenders, some of whom had already been deported. As of mid-June 2006, over 2,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested, over 800 of which were deported.
Although ICE publically says they are targeting criminals, not everyone deported is a "dangerous" criminal. For example, on Friday Sept. 8, 2006 ICE picked up people in Santa Cruz, CA that were brought into the US by their parents years ago. In one case, ICE took a husband and wife at 5AM and left their 19 and 13 year old daughters home alone.
For more info into the program, click here or here.
Word of this program was announced in Tribuna newspaper months ago and I'll have more information on everything later.
Federal immigration officials confirmed Wednesday the five immigrants captured in Danbury earlier this month will be deported as part of a nationwide sweep of former deportees who slipped back into the country.The five men were rounded up in Danbury the morning of June 8. They were held briefly at the Danbury Police Department before agents of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement took them out of the city.
"They were previously deported," said Capt. Robert Myles, public information officer with the police department. The five men apparently came back into the country illegally,
[...]
In a blitz that began May 26, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested nearly 2,100 illegal immigrants across the country. More than 800 of them have already been deported.
Officials say the raids have focused on the most dangerous immigration scofflaws: gang members, pedophiles, violent felons and others who sneaked back into the country after a judge threw them out.
In New England, officials say the dragnet, which started June 7, caught more than 150 people, including 75 who had come back after being previously deported.
The five in Danbury were arrested the day after the federal "Return to Sender" operation started.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a network of 35 fugitive teams across the country. The 2006 budget increased that number to 52, and the Bush administration is pushing for 70 by 2007.
The challenge, agents acknowledge, is staggering.
More than 500,000 "fugitive aliens" who have been deported by judges have either sneaked back into the country or never left.
Is this a good use of the taxpayer's money. How much did it cost the taxpayer to round up 11 illegal immigrants and what is the guarentee that they won't be back in the area within six months?
04.25.22 (RADIO): WSHU Latino group call on Connecticut lawmakers to open a Danbury charter school
06.03.22 (OP-ED): KUSHNER: "Career Academy ‘a great deal for Danbury"
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.
Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.
Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
