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July 21, 2011 -
June 9, 2011 - ICE announces employment authorization eligibility for certain Libyan students
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced special relief for certain F-1 Libyan students who have suffered severe economic hardship as a direct result of the civil unrest in Libya since February 2011. This relief applies only to students who were lawfully present in the United States in F-1 status on Feb. 1, 2011, and enrolled in an institution that is certified by ICE's Student and Exchange Visitor Program. Full Story
June 9, 2011 - DHS, DOJ and FTC collaborate with state and local partners in unprecedented effort to combat immigration services scams
The U.S. government unveiled a multi-agency nationwide initiative to combat immigration services scams. This initiative targets immigration scams involving the unauthorized practice of immigration law, which occurs when legal advice and/or representation regarding immigration matters is provided by an individual who is not an attorney or an accredited representative. Full Story
June 7, 2011 - 17 charged in 2 methamphetamine distribution rings in Operation 'Kool Aid'
ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), along with about 100 city, county and federal law enforcement officers, participated in a coordinated operation on Tuesday dubbed Operation "Kool Aid." This operation, which took place in the Oklahoma City area, investigated a methamphetamine drug trafficking organization and resulted in charges against 17 individuals. Full Story
June 7, 2011 - ICE seizes more than $2.2 million in luxury watches and special cars from members of a drug trafficking organization
ICE HSI special agents seized 15 luxury watches with an estimated market value of $1 million and 16 classic cars with an estimated value of $2.2 million from members of the Jose Figueroa-Agosto – aka Junior Capsula – drug trafficking organization. Full Story
June 6, 2011 - South Florida man sentenced to 30 years in prison for production of child porn
3/5/11
By Andrew Becker
An Army veteran who spent more than seven months in an immigration lockup, despite his protestations that he was a naturalized American citizen, has received a $400,000 settlement and a written apology from the U.S. government. Rennison Vern Castillo, 33, of Lakewood, Wash., sued officials at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's Northwest Detention Center, where he was held as a suspected illegal immigrant. In a letter that was part of the settlement, the U.S. attorney's office in Seattle acknowledged the immigration agency's mistake.
MINNEAPOLIS - A federal grand jury on Thursday returned separate indictments against five men for allegedly re-entering the United States after having been previously deported. All the men had been arrested in August during an operation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
Gang suppression effort nets 23 arrests in New York
NEW YORK - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Thursday the arrests of 23 suspected gang members and gang associates during a two-week suppression effort conducted throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island and Queens.
Among those arrested during the enforcement operation which concluded Sept. 15 was an 18-year-old Trinitarios gang member in Brooklyn whose criminal history includes arrests for attempted murder, gang assault and weapons charges. Another was a 32-year-old “MS-13” gang member in Long Island whose criminal history includes arrests for assault on a child, larceny and weapons charges.
Other individuals taken into custody had criminal histories including arrests for rape, narcotics trafficking and distribution, robbery, and false impersonation. Others arrested during the operation were members of the Latin Kings, Wild Chicanos, Niños Malos, 18th Street and Jamaican Posse. Two loaded firearms were seized during the operation including a .357-caliber revolver and a .9mm semi-automatic handgun.
Agents and officers from the ICE Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and from the ICE Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) conducted the operation. Since May, the ICE Violent Gang Units have arrested a total of 170 suspected gang members and associates in New York City, Westchester County and Long Island.
"Transnational gangs operate as criminal organizations that prey on immigrants as well as citizens in our communities," said James T. Hayes Jr., special agent-in-charge of ICE HSI in New York. "Gang activity often includes a combination of criminal activities, including narcotics and weapons trafficking. ICE’s unique authorities allow us to dismantle transnational gang networks through the enforcement of either criminal or administrative laws. So at the end of any potential jail time, these gang members will be promptly returned to their native countries."
"By partnering with HSI, we can identify, arrest and remove the criminal gang members from the streets who may be responsible for a significant portion of crime in the area," said Christopher Shanahan, field office director for ICE ERO in New York. "We will continue to combine our administrative and criminal authorities to address these threats."
All of the individuals arrested in the operation were foreign nationals. The majority of the foreign nationals were from El Salvador, but the group also includes citizens from Mexico and Jamaica. Those foreign nationals who are not being prosecuted on criminal charges are being processed for removal from the United States.
Since Operation Community Shield began in February 2005, ICE agents nationwide have arrested more than 18,000 gang members and gang associates. As part of the effort, HSI's National Gang Unit (NGU) identifies violent street gangs and develops intelligence on their membership, associates, criminal activities and international movements to deter, disrupt and dismantle gang operations. Transnational street gangs have significant numbers of foreign-born members and are frequently involved in human and contraband smuggling, immigration violations and other crimes with a connection to the border.
A citizen from Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) has been arrested in connection with a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) into an alleged plot to ship handguns, tear gas grenades and ammunition to that African nation.
Immigrants Make U.S. Workers Richer
Jimmy Metellus, 34, and Jean Morange Nelson, aka Jean Monique Nelson, 33, both Haitian citizens, were sentenced Thursday and Friday in connection with the May 13, 2009, failed migrant smuggling operation that resulted in the deaths of nine Haitian nationals and an unborn fetus following an investigation led by ICE office of HSI.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/08/30/immigrants-make-us-workers-richer/?mod=e2tw
ALIEN REMOVED FROM US 8 TIMES
Alien removed from U.S. 8 times charged with immigration violation
A citizen of Mexico has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on a criminal charge of violating federal immigration laws. On August 17, the one count indictment was announced and named Victor Manuel Gonzalez Martinez, a/k/a Victor Gonzalez, 28, of Mexico as the sole defendant.
Illegal alien who owned restaurant pleads guilty to aiding and abetting transportation of illegal aliens
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Zilen Wang, 34, of Beaufort, S.C., pled guilty in federal court in Charleston, S.C., on July 30 to aiding and abetting in the transporting of illegal aliens, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Wang, who is himself illegally present in the United States, was one of the owners and operators of the Jade Garden Restaurants located in both Beaufort and Bluffton, S.C.
Wang encouraged others who worked at the two restaurants to transport restaurant employees who he knew to be illegal aliens to and from the Jade Garden Restaurants so that they could work there.
He also provided vehicles to transport the illegal alien employees.
Wang faces a maximum penalty of fines up to $250,000 and imprisonment for five years.
The case was investigated by the ICE Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Charleston.
Assistant U.S. Attorney H. Christopher Coates of the U. S. Attorney's Charleston office handled the case.
-- ICE --
July 27, 2010
Third individual arrested in alleged conspiracy to traffic Haitian nationals
The third individual indicted for conspiracy to commit human trafficking offenses involving Haitian nationals was arrested in Miami on Thursday.
Secretary of Homeland Security has extended the designation of El Salvador Temporary Status Protected Status for 18 months from its current expiration date of 9/910 through 3/9/12 (75 FR, 39556, 7/9/10.
The time to apply for Haitian Temporary Protected Status has been extended from July to January 2011.
Congressman Guttierez has indicated, the Democrats are short 17 votes in order to pass a bill on Immigration Reform. The question is will Immigration Reform happen before the November 2010 elections.
USCIS Reminds Hondurans and Nicaraguans to Follow Late Re-Registration for TPS Guidance
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminds Hondurans and Nicaraguans, who are eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) but who have not filed for re-registration, to follow the late re-registration guidance.
USCIS may accept a late re-registration application if you have good cause for filing after the end of the re-registration period of your country. You must submit a letter that explains your reason for filing late with your re-registration application.
The 18-month extension of TPS for nationals of Honduras and Nicaragua will remain in effect through Jan. 5, 2012. Individuals who did not file a TPS re-registration application during the re-registration period will lose their TPS benefits, including employment authorization and protection from removal from the United States, unless they submit the application and demonstrate that they had good cause for filing late. The re-registration period for Honduras and Nicaragua closed July 6, 2010
If you are late filing your TPS re-registration application, processing may be delayed and can lead to gaps in your work authorization.
Further details on the extension of TPS for Hondurasand Nicaragua, including the re-registration application requirements, fees and procedures, are available at www.uscis.govon the TPS page for each country and in the Federal Register notices.
On 10/30/09 AZ court order awards attorney's fees to defendants in State v. Theilen, who were arrested and removed by a Deputy of Sheriff Joe Arpaio for clapping during a Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting. The order calls this "an extreme case."
ICE Launches Secure Communities Strategy in Eight Additional North Carolina Counties
July 13, 2010 (Charlotte, N.C.) - On Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began using a new biometric information sharing capability in eight additional North Carolina counties that helps federal immigration officials identify aliens, both lawfully and unlawfully present in the United States, who are booked into local law enforcement's custody for a crime. This capability is part of Secure Communities - ICE's comprehensive strategy to improve and modernize the identification and removal of criminal aliens from the United States. More at ICE.gov
