Operation Return to Sender

Last updated
Operation Return to Sender
Part of Secure Communities
Operation NameOperation Return to Sender
part of Secure Communities
TypeIllegal immigration dragnet
Roster
Executed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS)
Mission
TargetIllegal immigrants who had been convicted of crimes in the United States
ObjectiveIdentifying, arresting, and deporting illegal immigrants who had committed crimes, ignored final orders of deportation, or re-entered the country after being deported.
Timeline
Date endApril 2007
Date executedMay 26, 2006
Results
Arrests23,000
Accounting

Operation Return to Sender is the name for a massive sweep of illegal immigrants by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency that began on May 26, 2006.

Contents

According to ICE, the campaign has focused on individuals deemed to be the most dangerous, including convicted felons and gang members, particularly those of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, as well as repeat offenders, some of whom had already been deported. As of late April 2007, over 23,000 illegal immigrants had been arrested. [1]

Overview

On Sept. 19, 2006 ICE conducted a sting operation and arrested 11 immigrants in Danbury, Connecticut who came to be known as "The Danbury 11." [2] A federal agent disguised himself as a contractor and enlisted the men to work on a construction site before handing them over to ICE. 9 of the 11 were later released on bail. In January 2007, due to a major push within Operation Return to Sender, raids in the Los Angeles Metro area netted 338 illegal immigrants who were arrested at their homes and apartments and 423 who were identified in area jails since Jan. 17. Those already jailed will be transferred to federal custody when they finish serving their state sentences, said Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The sweep netted illegal immigrants from 14 countries in all, including Mexico, Honduras, Ukraine, India, Japan, Poland and Trinidad and Tobago.

An ICE press release from June 14, 2006 claims that Operation Return to Sender ended June 13, 2006 and brought in "More Than 2,100 Criminal Aliens, Gang Members, Fugitives and Other Immigration Violators". [3] However, this is contradicted by numerous citations that the operation is ongoing, including one [4] from the Contra Costa Times newspaper dated March 9, 2007, which quotes ICE as having arrested 13,000 more people from mid-June 2006 through January 2007, and also outlines the ACLU of Northern California's involvement in filing FOIA requests to find out more information about how ICE is conducting this operation. Raids in Marin County, California under "Return To Sender" occurred in early March 2007, showing that the operation continues. [5] On June 6, 2007 ICE arrested 29 individuals in New Haven, Connecticut as part of Operation Return to Sender and arrested a few days later in nearby North Haven. Some of these individuals had no criminal or immigration history.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration and Naturalization Service</span> Former immigration service of the United States (1933–2003)

The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1933 to 1940 and the U.S. Department of Justice from 1940 to 2003.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety.

Reforming the immigration policy of the United States is a subject of political discourse and contention. Immigration has played an essential part in American history, as except for the Native Americans, everyone in the United States is descended from people who migrated to the United States. Some claim that the United States maintains the world's most liberal immigration policy.

Illegal immigration, or unauthorized immigration, occurs when foreign nationals, known as aliens, violate US immigration laws by entering the United States unlawfully, or by lawfully entering but then remaining after the expiration of their visas, parole or temporary protected status.

The Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007 or STRIVE Act of 2007 is proposed United States legislation designed to address the problem of illegal immigration, introduced into the United States House of Representatives. Its supporters claim it would toughen border security, increase enforcement of and criminal penalties for illegal immigration, and establish an employment verification system to identify illegal aliens working in the United States. It would also establish new programs for both illegal aliens and new immigrant workers to achieve legal citizenship. Critics allege that the bill would turn law enforcement agencies into social welfare agencies as it would not allow CBP to detain illegal immigrants that are eligible for Z-visas and would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens with very few restrictions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriprocessors</span> Defunct slaughterhouse and meat packaging corporation

Agriprocessors was the corporate identity of a slaughterhouse and meat-packaging factory based in Postville, Iowa, best known as a facility for the glatt kosher processing of cattle, as well as chicken, turkey, duck, and lamb. Agriprocessors' meat and poultry products were marketed under the brand Iowa Best Beef. Its kosher products were marketed under various labels, including Aaron’s Best, Shor Habor, Supreme Kosher, and Rubashkins.

Operation Endgame was a 2003–2012 plan under implementation by the Office of Detention and Removal Operations of the United States Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain and deport all removable aliens and "suspected terrorists" currently living in the United States by 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MS-13</span> Transnational criminal gang

Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Angeles area. Over time, the gang grew into a more traditional criminal organization. MS-13 has a longtime rivalry with the 18th Street gang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Postville raid</span> 2008 immigration raid in Iowa

The Postville raid was a raid at the Agriprocessors, Inc., kosher slaughterhouse and meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa, on May 12, 2008, executed by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security together with other agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John P. Torres</span>

John P. Torres is a former government official, once acting assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He was appointed on November 17, 2008.

The Chandler roundup was a law enforcement operation in Chandler, Arizona, in 1997 in which hundreds of suspected illegal immigrants were arrested. In 2004 hearings of the U.S. Senate, it was described as "the only major ethnic profiling incident actually related to immigration".

There are thought to be over half a million undocumented immigrants residing in New York City. They come from many parts of the world, especially Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean. About 70% of them have paid work, in catering, construction, retail, driving, cleaning, and many other trades; at least in catering, their wages tend to be lower than those of comparable workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swift raids</span>

The 2006 Swift raids were a coordinated effort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain and deport people who are present illegally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deportation and removal from the United States</span> American legal procedure

Deportation and removal from the United States occurs when the U.S. government orders a person to leave the country. In fiscal year 2014, Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted 315,943 removals. Criteria for deportations are set out in 8 U.S.C. § 1227.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Community Shield</span>

Operation Community Shield is an ongoing multi-agency law enforcement initiative targeting violent gang members and their associates involved in the illegal drug and human trafficking industries in the United States. Since its launch by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in February 2005, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and other participating federal, state and local law enforcement agencies have made more than 40,000 gang-related arrests, including 451 gang leaders, representing more than 2,400 different gangs and organizations, and have seized more than 8,000 guns in multiple projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project Southern Tempest</span> Law enforcement operation in the United States

Project Southern Tempest was a major U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation conducted between December 2010 and February 2011 targeting transnational street gang members with ties to drug cartels in Mexico, as part of the ongoing law enforcement initiative known as Operation Community Shield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Homan</span> American law enforcement officer (born 1961)

Thomas Douglas Homan is an American law enforcement officer and political commentator who served as acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from January 30, 2017 to June 29, 2018. In November 2024, Donald Trump announced that Homan will serve as "border czar" during Trump's second presidency.

Immigrant surveillance refers to the practice of tracking both illegal and legal immigrants through several methods, some of which include electronic verification, border surveillance, or federal raids. Historically, countries such as the United States have required that immigrants carry evidence of citizenship. Controversies within immigrant surveillance in the United States involve the alleged racial profiling committed by police departments and negligence found in detention centers. Laws concerning surveillance and immigration vary by country but terrorist attacks have made the issue more prevalent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Cross Check</span> Ongoing US law enforcement operation

Operation Cross Check is an ongoing law enforcement operation led by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to identify, arrest, and deport illegal immigrants with criminal records. Since its launch in 2011, the operation has resulted in thousands of arrests and deportations across the United States.

Several protests broke out against United States President Donald Trump's mass deportation of illegal immigrants following the start of his second presidential term on January 20, 2025. Large-scale protests have occurred in California, Texas, Alabama, Indiana, and South Carolina.

References

  1. ↑ McKinley, Jesse (28 April 2007). "San Francisco Bay Area Reacts Angrily to Series of Immigration Raids". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ "- CCSU Club Central".
  3. ↑ "DHS: ICE Apprehends More Than 2,100 Criminal Aliens, Gang Members, Fugitives and Other Immigration Violators in Nationwide Interior Enforcement Operation". Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
  4. ↑ "Best Tips and References".
  5. ↑ "Marin Independent Journal - Fate of detained becomes clearer". www.marinij.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.