Illegal Immigrant Fugitives Arrested In Florida

Illustrating that the problem is not limited to Mexican border states, a weeklong immigration raid in South Florida led to the arrest of nearly 200 illegal aliens with criminal warrants and outstanding deportation orders.

Many of the fugitives detained had prior felony convictions for serious crimes that include lewd and lascivious assault, domestic abuse, fraud and grand theft. The raids covered Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials report that 424 illegal immigrants were deported from Miami last month alone and more than one-fourth had been criminally convicted. Last year, a total of 5,613 illegal immigrants were deported from South Florida and the number is expected to increase in 2007.

The violators come from a variety of countries. Besides Mexico, this week’s group came from Albania, Algeria, Brazil, Romania, Peru and Venezuela. One Jordanian man who had been on the run evading a two-year – old deportation order was illegally armed when immigration officials detained him. The fugitive, Hassan Abdulla Hussan Alihussein, had a concealed and loaded nine-millimeter handgun and will probably be criminally prosecuted.

This crackdown weakens the argument of many immigration advocates who have accused those in favor of protecting U.S. borders as anti-Mexican. Illegal immigrants present a national security threat and they come from all over the world, not just south of the border.