Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested illegal aliens working construction at the Travis Air Force Base and are looking to deport them as soon as possible.
ICE quickly arrived on the scene after a military official realized that two illegals, Hugo Mejia and Rodrigo Nuñez, did not have valid social security numbers and reported the pair of construction workers at the base, The Mercury News reports.
After arresting Mejia and Nuñez, ICE has placed the men in expedited deportation proceedings, as both men have removal orders stemming from when they entered the country illegally over a decade ago.
Mejia is naturally upset. He told The Mercury News in Spanish, while detained at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center, that he has a good track record.
“I’ve been here for 17 years and my record is excellent,” he said. “I’ve never done anything to anyone. My bills are paid on time, I have a clean record, we’ve never asked the government for help.”
ICE told The Mercury News that the two men “will remain in ICE custody pending court proceedings and it will be up to a judge with the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review to determine whether they will be subject to removal from the U.S.”
The immigration attorney for the two men has submitted an asylum request, but in order for that request to go through, the men will have to prove they are likely to face severe persecution upon their return to Mexico.
Under President Donald Trump, ICE’s activities have surged, with arrests up 35 percent in the first several months of the new administration compared to the same period of time in 2016.
Instead of limiting themselves to gang members or illegals with an extensive criminal record, ICE agents have now received the go-ahead from officials to potentially arrest anyone in the country who is here illegally.
And yet, Niels Frenzen, a law professor and director of the Immigration Clinic at USC, said that Trump still has not hired additional ICE or Border Patrol agents, meaning that although there’s been an uptick in arrests, that activity is inherently capped due to a limited number of agents.
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