US immigration swoop targets criminal aliens

PHOENIX, Jan 24 (Reuters) US immigration police have rounded up hundreds of criminal aliens in southern California, as part of one of their largest ever roundups of foreign lawbreakers and immigration violators, police said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said yesterday the week-long sweep identified 423 criminal aliens due for release from jails across five counties in the Los Angeles area, and took them into custody.

The operation also led to the arrest of 338 undocumented immigrants in the area, more than 150 of whom were classed as ''immigration fugitives'' -- foreign nationals who ignored final deportation orders.

''It is one of the largest crackdowns on criminal aliens ever carried out in the United States,'' Kice told Reuters in a telephone interview.

''The goal of our enforcement efforts is two-fold. First, it's about restoring integrity to our nation's immigration system. Second, it's about safeguarding our communities from those who brazenly disregard our laws,'' she added.

Those arrested in the swoop have all either been removed from the United States already or face deportation.

The sweep came as part of ''Operation Return to Sender,'' a nationwide initiative targeting criminal aliens, foreign nationals dodging deportation orders and other immigration violators.

ICE said most of those detained came from Mexico, although the sweep also netted nationals from 14 countries including Ukraine, India, Japan, Poland and Trinidad.

The operation is the latest in a series of raids in the interior of the United States, where immigration enforcement has been stepped up in recent months.

In December, ICE agents arrested more than 1,300 mostly Mexican workers in coordinated swoops on Swift&Co. meat processing plants in six states.

REUTERS PB KP0940