South County : 140 Illegal Alien Suspects Rounded Up
Border Patrol officers have arrested 140 suspected undocumented workers, most of whom were at work trimming hedges and mowing lawns, in a sweep of south Orange County communities, the Immigration and Naturalization Service said.
INS spokesman Joe Flanders said the arrests were made Tuesday during a seven-hour operation in San Clemente, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, Newport Beach, Irvine and Costa Mesa.
The spokesman said the Border Patrol officers searched sites where illegal immigrants were known to be working as gardeners, landscapers and field laborers. Other points were checked at random.
The operation was the biggest sweep in the county since 1982, when 1,095 field laborers were rounded up during a two-week period.
The sweep was conducted on the same day that the U.S. Senate approved an immigration measure that would allow 325,000 foreigners to work in the United States to harvest perishable crops.
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