INS Arrests 18 in Sweep to Deport Illegal Immigrants

A disconsolate Anabela Rodriguez, seven months pregnant and the mother of a 1-year-old born in the United States, said she just wanted to remain in Los Angeles and raise her family.

But the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service was planning to deport Rodriguez late Friday, adding her name to the record ranks of illegal immigrants being removed under a stepped-up Clinton administration program.

Rodriguez, a 24-year-old native of Guatemala, was one of 18 people arrested during a special operation Thursday by INS “bag and baggage” teams. The mobile units go house to house seeking those who have ignored deportation orders.

Recent INS budget increases have allowed the agency to bolster the practice, said Rosemary Melville, deputy INS district director in Los Angeles. While arresting illegal immigrants with criminal records is the priority, Melville said noncriminals were also targeted.

Rodriguez charged that INS officers threatened to take her child away and turn the infant over to state authorities.

The INS’s Melville declined to comment on the specific case, but she said deportees are given the option of taking their children who are citizens with them or leaving them behind with relatives. Rodriguez said Friday that she planned to take her child back with her.