The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced in a press release on July 25 that they have conducted an operation to apprehend undocumented immigrants with misdemeanor and felony DUI charges in the LA area, resulting in a total of 45 arrests.
According to ICE, this operation targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal records was conducted across LA County from July 1 to 12. The Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) team under ICE was deployed for this operation. ERO reported that they focused on arresting undocumented immigrants who caused property damage, hit-and-run incidents, injuries, or deaths due to DUI.
Notably, on July 31, ERO deported Intae Yang (46), a South Korean national. Yang, wanted in South Korea on embezzlement charges, had entered the U.S. through LA and continued to stay after his visa expired. ERO apprehended him on May 6 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and detained him at the Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump before proceeding with the deportation process.
Additionally, a 53-year-old Mexican national, who had been arrested three times on DUI charges and convicted in court, was also deported. Besides DUI, this individual had prior convictions for burglary in the second degree, felony possession of a firearm, and driving without a license. ICE deported him to Mexico immediately after his arrest.
ERO did not disclose the methods used to locate and apprehend the undocumented immigrants.
“The 45 individuals taken off the streets demonstrated a complete disregard for our laws and chose instead to put others at great risk by driving while impaired,” said ERO Los Angeles acting Field Office Director Ernesto Santacruz. “This illegal and dangerous behavior will not be tolerated, and ERO Los Angeles will aggressively pursue those who put others at risk.”
In fiscal year 2023 ERO arrested 73,822 noncitizens with criminal histories; this group had 290,178 associated charges and convictions with an average of four per individual.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Public Information Office stated that they did not provide any information on undocumented immigrants, such as DUI arrest records, to ICE for this operation.
In this context, the LAPD Police Commission unanimously resolved in 2022 not to provide arrest records or other information on undocumented immigrants to ICE or other federal agencies. That same year, ICE requested detention information on 783 undocumented immigrants from the LAPD, but the request was denied.
BY HYOUNGJAE KIM, YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.ian@koreadaily.com]
