San Diego Targeted Immigration Arrests Have More Than Doubled in 2017

According to a San Diego Union Tribune article, the number of targeted immigration arrests by the fugitive operations team of San Diego’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unit has returned to pre-2014 levels. In late 2014, Obama changed immigration enforcement policies to focus on deporting immigrants with felony convictions or multiple misdemeanor convictions. From February through May, 2017, ICE arrested 567 immigrants, which is more than double the number of immigrants arrested during those same months in both 2015 and 2016. In 2014, prior to Obama’s change in immigration policy, the San Diego ICE unit arrested 540 people from February to May. The ICE fugitive operations team in San Diego gathers information from investigating the lives of immigrants whom they believe are in the U.S. without a legal immigration status. The unit travels the streets in unmarked gray vans, knocking on doors in an attempt to detain their targets, beginning at 6:00 a.m. each day and ending at 10:00 p.m. Since ICE agents cannot enter a person’s residence without permission, some immigrants are able to foil their plans by simply refusing to open the door or allow entry to the home. Since Trump took office at the beginning of 2017, many more immigrants have refused to allow ICE agents admittance into their homes, mostly out of fear of removal. However, some immigrants, when targeted by ICE, simply turn themselves in rather than risk ICE agents returning to their homes and potentially detaining their families. ICE agents do have the discretion to refrain from immediately detaining an immigrant. For instance, if there is no one but the immigrant to care for minor children, then ICE agents weigh that fact with the potential public safety threat of the immigrant in order to make a decision. In some of these circumstances, ICE agents simply give the immigrant a notice to appear in immigration court, rather than immediately detaining him or her. No matter what the solution to your case may be, the skilled and knowledgeable immigration lawyers of Landerholm Immigration, A.P.C. are here to get immigrants released from detention and defend them against removal from the country. We handle these types of cases on a regular basis and have valuable knowledge about how to best represent your interests, based on your individual circumstances. By contacting our office right away, you will place yourself in the best position possible to have loved ones released from detention and defend again potential removal from home and family.