Border Patrol Snares 125 Aliens in New Sweep Along Chapman

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested 125 illegal aliens early Wednesday in their second sweep of East Chapman Avenue in Orange in the past week.

Eight agents from the Border Patrol’s station near San Clemente conducted the operation, which began about 6:30 a.m. and did not stop until almost 10 a.m., said Joe Flanders, a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Agents said they had planned sweeps in other parts of the county but, as was the case last week, the Border Patrol’s vans were quickly 7filled up along Chapman Avenue and went straight to the San Clemente station instead.

The targeted area is a mile-long stretch of East Chapman between Yorba and Hewes streets, where a few hundred men, most of them illegal aliens, gather each day with hopes of finding a day’s work. During the past three weeks, however, the day laborers have run a high risk of finding themselves on a bus back to Mexico as both immigration authorities and police in Orange have stepped up enforcement in the area.

Local police, who have been aggressively citing pedestrians and motorists for misdemeanor violations, have thus far turned over 183 people who could not produce adequate identification to immigration authorities.

Immigrant rights groups have criticized the department for doing what they say is the INS’ job. But police say their policy of cooperation and assistance is necessary to fight rising crime in the crowded, heavily Latino El Modena area.

Police in Orange assisted Border Patrol agents in controlling traffic Wednesday morning, but they apprehended no illegal aliens, Sgt. Timm Browne said. They have not turned anyone over to the Border Patrol since Monday, he said.

Browne said the department is considering redeploying some of its officers to target employers who pick up the men each morning. “We view them as part of the problem,” Browne said. He would not reveal details of the options under consideration but said the department would probably decide on an enforcement strategy “within the next few days.”

Under the new federal immigration law, employers face criminal sanctions for knowingly hiring illegal aliens.

All but two of the men detained Wednesday chose to be returned to Mexico. One man, a Guatemalan, will be given a deportation hearing, and another may qualify for amnesty and was released, said Charlie Geer, supervising agent at the San Clemente station.

Last Thursday, Border Patrol agents rounded up 136 illegal aliens in the same area.

“We just went back because our experience last week showed that we’ve got to,” Geer said, adding that it was “a safe bet” that his agents would return to the area for additional sweeps soon.

“The day worker problem has really gotten bad, and we do intend to gear up considerably in Orange County,” Geer said. “It needs it badly.”