L.A. Gets 4th Team to Deport Fugitives

Los Angeles has added another team of officers to search out and deport fugitive undocumented immigrants, under an ongoing program aimed at reducing illegal border crossings.

The city now has a fourth team as a result of the deployment by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

With the additions, 45 such teams are in operation nationwide and as many as seven more are expected to be in place by the end of September, officials said.

The job of the teams is to find and arrest immigrants who have failed to comply with a judge’s deportation order. Officers target individuals who have prior criminal records and are considered the greatest threat to public safety.

Of about 52,000 illegal immigrants apprehended since the teams were created in 2003, nearly 23,000 had been convicted of violent crimes, robbery or drug trafficking.

More than 2,800 fugitives have been arrested in Los Angeles since October -- more than any other city.

About 1,000 people are apprehended each week nationwide.

“Those immigration fugitives who remain at large should be on notice: The days when you could brazenly ignore an immigration judge’s order are over,” said Eric Saldana, a deportation officer who oversees the Los Angeles Fugitive Operations Team. “We are going to find you and send you home.”

The program, which has gradually expanded each year, is part of the Secure Border Initiative, created by Department of Homeland Security to secure the borders and reduce illegal immigration.

Other cities with similar operations include San Francisco, San Diego, Atlanta, Houston, Newark, N.J., Phoenix, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, El Paso, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle and San Antonio.