Advocates cite increase in illegal immigrant sweeps

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer | Tuesday, May 11, 2004 10:49 PM PDT ∞

The U.S Border Patrol has recently stepped up 'sweeps' on trains and buses around San Diego County aimed at capturing illegal immigrants, officials said Tuesday.

Immigration-rights advocates charge that the Border Patrol has also conducted more sweeps around supermarkets, swap meets and other areas in predominantly Latino neighborhoods.

Immigration officials said, however, that they are not targeting specific communities and that their policies have changed very little other than the renewed movement toward public transportation sweeps.

Members of pro-immigration groups, such as the American Friends Service Committee's U.S.-Mexico Border Program in San Diego, said they began noticing an increase in the number of calls alerting them to Border Patrol efforts at trolley and bus stops in late April.

A spokeswoman with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego said the agency had stepped up some efforts, but added that those were largely aimed at arresting illegal immigrants who are criminals and people who have been ordered deported.

"We have a number of law enforcement initiatives that depend on focused, in-depth investigations," said Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman in San Diego with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement agencies.

In North County, community activists said they have noticed more raids other than just bus and train inspections.

"They (immigration officers) have been around a lot," said Magdalena Gonzalez, a community activist who owns an immigration services business in Escondido. She said she saw immigration enforcement officials at the Escondido swap meet recently. "I have seen them with my own eyes. I know what they are doing, but it's just not right."

Teams of officers with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sometimes called ICE, go out several times a week to arrest illegal immigrants identified as sexual predators, gang members and criminal fugitives, Mack said.

Raul Martinez, a spokesman with the Border Patrol, said the agency has a program that began operating in April, called Trans Check, that carries out random inspections at different public transportation stations. He said he was unaware how many agents were assigned to the unit or how many people had been arrested thus far.

"It's our job and we do arrest someone if we identify them as an illegal alien," said Martinez. "This unit is within all policies. It operates in any transportation venue. It's not something that is focused in Chula Vista or National City or North County."

Border Patrol efforts to target illegal immigrants who use public transportation came under scrutiny and was suspended two years ago when community groups protested and some transportation officials complained about a drop in ridership, said Benjamin Prado, a coordinator with the Raza Rights Coalition, a Latino rights group.

Prado was arrested by Border Patrol in February, 2002 after videotaping officers conducting an inspection at a trolley station at San Diego City College. He was later released and no charges were filed.

Advocates say the effort to patrol buses and trolleys in the region is an attempt by the Border Patrol to reassert its authority after the suspension of transportation raids two years ago.

"(The inspections) are a clear indication that they are trying to intimidate the community and create an atmosphere of fear," Prado said.

A year ago, the Immigration and Naturalization Service was restructured under the Department of Homeland Security into three agencies. One provides immigration services, another protects the nation's borders and a third conducts investigations and enforces immigration laws.

Martinez said restructuring the Immigration and Naturalization Service under the Department of Homeland Security and the increased use of technology at the border has made it easier for the Border Patrol to shift more officers to immigration enforcement inside the U.S. part of border.

Wayne Cornelius, who studies border enforcement strategies as director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at UC San Diego, said he has seen no evidence of a major increase in interior enforcement efforts nationwide.

"There have always been sweeps of buses and other public transportation in the San Diego area, but they have been sporadic and not in response to any nation-level policy directive," Cornelius said.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-5426 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.

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