ICE nails foreign gang members in 19 States

(Map of arrest locations courtesy of the ICE website)

Recently, I wrote about how counterfeit documents enable all kinds of undesirable people to blend into our communities. The point of the article was that these documents are used by more than hard working illegal immigrants seeking a better life for themselves and their families.

ICE issued a press release, which shows how widespread the problem of undesirable people blending into our communities has become.

From the press release:

A comprehensive national law enforcement operation led by federal agents and officers of the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) resulted in the arrest of 1,313 violent street gang members, associates and illegal aliens in 23 cities across 19 states.

Many of these undesirable individuals are involved in narcotics, human smuggling, financial crimes and of course, crimes of a more violent nature.

MS13, which has been written about a lot was one of the targets. Other gangs were targets, also:

In addition to MS-13, targeted gangs included Surenos-13, 18th Street Gang, Latin Kings, Bloods, Crips, and Vatos Locos to name a few.

While this reflect the most recent statistics from ICE, Operation Community Shield in an ongoing operation and when you take a look at the big picture, the statistics are even larger:

During the last 27 months, Operation Community Shield has resulted in the arrest of more than 7,655 members and associates of approximately 700 different gangs and the seizure of 287 firearms. Of those arrested, 107 were gang leaders. Many of those arrested under Operation Community Shield are prosecuted criminally and eventually removed from the United States. To date, 2,444 have been charged criminally, while 5,211 have been charged with immigration violations and processed for removal.

And it seems (finally), ICE is gathering support from local law enforcement, who have been forced to stay away from this activity, mostly because of political mandates. Here is a quote from a Sheriff in Florida:

Collier County, Fla., Sheriff Don Hunter notes that, "Criminal illegal immigrants are committing crimes and victimizing our residents and it is our responsibility to investigate their immigration status thoroughly while investigating their other crimes. We have the resources and tools to do that now. It is part of our mission."

ICE press release, here.

A few days earlier, an extensive ICE operation in California netted a lot more of these undesirable foreign types, including a large number of them eating up tax dollars in local jails. What is amazing -- if you take the time to read this press release, are specific references to arrests of individuals (not only in the jails) --who had previously been convicted of serious crimes.

In other words, when they were picked up, they were running around in our neighborhoods.

Previous press release, here.

Here is the post, I mentioned in the first paragraph, which describes how a lot of these people blend (sneak) into our society:

Operation Paper Tiger - the true story, which reveals why our borders aren't very secure!

America is a land of immigrants, and should continue to be considered that. After all, a lot of us believe that this diversity is what has made this the greatest nation in the world.

Please note that there are a lot of legal immigrants, who earn the right to become citizens, also. We shouldn't be handing over the fruits of our society to anyone, who can sneak over the border. It simply isn't fair to the people, who follow the law and prove they have what it takes to uphold the best interests of our society.

Some of them value the right to be called an American so much that they are serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan as I write this. By the way, this is nothing new, many citizens of our country have earned their right to be called an American by serving it.

The problem is all the illegal activity, which goes hand-in-hand with illegal immigration, enables a lot of undesirable people to blend into our society. These people are not making our society a better, or a safer place to live.

If we allow this to continue, we risk losing our status as the greatest nation in the world.

We need to remember that "We the People" are what made this nation great.

In closing, I've seen the folks at ICE bashed quite a bit this year for trying to make an impact on a serious problem. There are some of us -- who appreciate the fact that they are doing their jobs, and by doing so -- trying to make this country a safer place to live.

In my opinion, these fine citizens deserve to be commended instead of being picked apart by certain factions in the media.