175 Immigration Violators, Fugitives Arrested In Orange County
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ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. -- Immigration authorities arrested 175 "immigration violaters" in Orange County this week as part of a weeklong crackdown targeting undocumented immigrants and immigration fugitives.

Among those arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were 27 "criminal aliens" believed to be in the United States illegaly and with prior criminal records.

One of those 27 was Jamie Peña-Martinez, 30, a previously ***orted from Mexico with a prior conviction for child molestation. He was arrested at a residence in Santa Ana.

The remaining 26 criminal aliens were all under ***ortation orders by immigration judges, according to an ICE news release.

Re-entering the United States after ***ortation is a felony violation carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The ICE release said the United States Attorney's Office is reviewing the latest arrests.

Another of the arrested immigrants was identified as a Mexican national wanted by Mexican authorities for ambushing and murdering his 74-year-old uncle nine years ago in Zacatecas over a land dispute, according to the ICE release. Orange County District Attorney investigators got a tip from the Mexican Attorney General's Office that Almarez Reveles Gonzalo, 35, was residing in Orange County; he was then traced to a home in Baldwin Park, where he was arrested Thursday. Gonzalo was transported to the border and turned over to Mexican authorities hours after his arrest.

"The five-day effort is the largest single enforcement action conducted by ICE's fugitive operations teams to date in Orange County," the news release said. "ICE received substantial assistance in this week's operation from the Orange County Sheriff's ***artment and the California ***artment of Corrections Parole Division."

The release says ICE has five fugitive teams assigned to the Southland, "the most of any major city in the nation. The newest team was ***loyed in Orange County June 1. In the last nine months, the Los Angeles area fugitive operations teams have made more than 1,600 arrests, including more than 300 criminal aliens."

According to ICE databases, there are currently 632,189 fugitive aliens in the United States, the release said.

"The majority of the aliens taken into custody this week are Mexican nationals, but the group also included immigration violators from nine countries, including India, Kenya, the Philippines, and Colombia," the release said