Noncriminal illegal immigrants swept up by ICE almost as often as fugitive counterparts

SALT LAKE CITY — As the sun peaked over the Wasatch Mountains on a recent morning, several federal agents took strategic positions outside a small Kearns home while two knocked on the front door. A young Hispanic man pulled back the curtains in a window adjacent to the door to talk with them through the screen. A few minutes later, the man let U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents inside to look for a man they believed to be an illegal immigrant from Mexico whose criminal record includes theft and documents fraud.

Agents came out a short time later with what they said were fake Social Security cards. They also carried out what they thought was a .45-caliber pistol discovered in a backpack. It turned out to be a BB gun that looked like the real thing.

Agents eventually emerged from the house, escorting three men in waist chains and handcuffs, but not the man they sought.

"Why arrested?" a Hispanic man wearing a black muscle shirt and red basketball shorts asked in English while being led to a white van.

"Ilegalmente," said an ICE agent. "No papeles."

The ICE fugitive operations team goes out every day, looking for undocumented immigrants, saying it gives priority to those who pose a threat to national security or the community, including suspected terrorists, gang members, sex offenders and violent felons. Deputy Salt Lake field office director Tom Feeley estimates it apprehends about 30 percent of those on its daily fugitive list.

Often, undocumented immigrants who don't have criminal backgrounds get swept up in the net.

"Of course, we target the criminal fugitives first. As we have resources available, we'll go after the nonfugitives as well," said Steve Branch, ICE Salt Lake field office director.

"Once a person is in this country without the necessary documentation and they become involved in criminal activity, it's time for us to take action, and not necessarily wait until they do something more egregious. Why wait to that point?"

Agents set out after four men that morning — two Mexicans, a Guatemalan and a Tongan — labeled as fugitives because they didn't leave the country after getting a deportation order. Each had a history of crime ranging from a single DUI to multiple thefts and drug trafficking.

"It's always disappointing when you don't get the people you're looking for," Feeley said. But he deemed the morning a success nonetheless.

Though ICE found none of its "targets," agents took into custody eight "incidentals" living in two of the houses. All of them — six from Mexico, two from Honduras — admitted to being in the country illegally, according to ICE.