Immigration agency’s latest California focus hits San Diego
SAN DIEGO — Federal immigration officers arrested 115 people during a three-day operation in the San Diego area amid heightened tensions between the Trump administration and the state of California over immigration enforcement.
It was U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's third California operation in barely a month, following one in the Los Angeles area that resulted in 212 arrests and one in Northern California that had 232 arrests.
In the Northern California operation, the agency's acting director, Thomas Homan, said 800 “criminals” eluded capture because Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf warned the public hours before it began. Homan's statement, repeated by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, immediately drew skepticism. The agency's spokesman in San Francisco said it was false and quit over it.
The San Diego operation targeted 533 people who have been convicted or charged with a crime, have a judge's order to leave the United States or are known to have reentered the country illegally after having been previously deported, said Greg Archambeault, San Diego field office director for enforcement and removal operations.
The agency's typical capture rate is about 30 percent in such operations, Archambeault said. Authorities said rainy weather and a decision to shorten the operation by one day - Tuesday to Thursday — kept a lid on arrests.