Special agents of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) have arrested 88 illegal immigrants in the states of Florida
and New York, the ICE announced Wednesday.
In Florida, 54 illegal aliens, who provided janitorial services
in state government buildings in Tallahassee, the state capital,
were arrested last Saturday.
The 54 arrested were from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. Two of
them faced criminal prosecution for illegally re-entering the
country after being deported and one for document fraud.
Twenty-one admitted to being illegally present in the United
States and accepted stipulated orders of removal, and their removal
from the country was imminent, the ICE said.
The remaining 30 individuals were charged administratively for
violating the Immigration and Nationality Act, with 24 remaining in
ICE custody and six given orders of supervision because they were
either juveniles, or families with young children.
In North Tonawanda, New York, ICE agents arrested 34 illegal
aliens Wednesday morning who were working at a farm, the Fortistar
Hydroponic Tomato Greenhouse.
These 34 people would be criminally charged and each faced two
criminal charges -- use of a fraudulent alien registration card,
known as "green card", and false use of a Social Security number.
They would also be administratively charged with being illegally
present in the United States and would be scheduled for a removal
hearing before a federal immigration judge.
The ICE, which was set up in March 2003 as the largest
investigative arm of the US Homeland Security Department, has
conducted several nationwide operations designed to remove illegal
aliens found working at some of the nation's most sensitive
worksites, including airports, nuclear power plants, chemical
plants and defense facilities.
(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2006)
