New federal team will focus on locating immigrant fugitives

The Assoicated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A new federal team of investigators will be formed in Kansas City to catch immigrants who disappear after they are ordered to leave the country, or who return after they are deported.

The team, which will be part of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, is expected to be operating within four months, said Julie Myers, assistant secretary for immigration and customs enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security.

"Fugitives are people who have received access to due process and when they didn't get what they wanted in the federal court system, instead of abiding by the court order, they absconded," said Tim Counts, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman in Minnesota. "I think anybody could see that the integrity of our system is desirable, and having 590,000 fugitives essentially roaming free is not a good way to run a country."

A group called Sons and Daughters of Immigrants, which seeks to educate the public on immigration issues, said it would support the new task force if it removes people who are not a benefit to society, such as those with criminal convictions.

But spokeswoman Martha Ramirez said it doesn't make sense to deport immigrants who are working and paying taxes.

Fugitive operation teams have been formed in various cities since Immigration and Customs Enforcement was created in 2003. It enforces immigration laws inside the country, while another agency is responsible for enforcement on America's borders.

Since 2003, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported about 29,000 fugitive immigrants, Counts said.

A 10-day sweep in April found 106 fugitive immigrants across the Midwest including 19 in Kansas City, Wichita and St. Louis. The sweep was conducted by regular detention-and-removal officers in Kansas City because the fugitive operations team is not yet in place, Counts said.