Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: ice

Salvadoran MS-13 gangbanger wanted for murder was working at a Santa Ana car dealership

Posted on by Posted in Crime, El Salvador, Federal Government, Gangs, Santa Ana 1 Comment
Courtesy of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Courtesy of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Javier Arnoldo Ceron Gomez, 21, a member of the deadly MS-13 street gang was tracked to an unnamed car dealership in Santa Ana where he worked washing cars and was arrested and departed to El Salvador on Friday, where he will face charges of being involved in the killing of a government prosecutor, according to the O.C. Register.

Gomez is one of several MS-13 members accused in the killing on March 7, 2015, of Andres Ernesto Oliva Tejada, an attorney in the homicide unit of the Salvadoran Attorney General’s Office.  Oliva Tejada was parking his car when he was shot multiple times by someone on a passing motorcycle, according to Virginia Kice, an ICE spokeswoman. Continue reading→

Three O.C. men to be charged with selling counterfeit Apple products

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Fountain Valley, irvine, Westminster Leave a comment

OCDA Seal

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

Case # 14WF4259

January 15, 2015

TWO MEN TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR MONEY LAUNDERING AND CONSPIRING TO SELL COUNTERFEIT ELECTRONIC MERCHANDISE VALUED AT NEARLY $3 MILLION

*Items included Apple iPhones, iPads, smartphones, and cameras. Third co-defendant in this case is a fugitive.

WESTMINSTER – Two men are scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow on money laundering and conspiracy charges for selling counterfeit electronic goods valued at nearly $3 million, including counterfeit iPhones and iPads, following an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Fountain Valley Police Department (FVPD).

Rateb Said Najjar, 60, and his son, Eyad Rateb Najjar, 36, both of Westminster, are each charged with 134 felony counts of money laundering, six felony counts of manufacturing and sale of a counterfeit mark, two felony counts of conspiracy to commit a crime with sentencing enhancements for property damage over $1.3 million, and money laundering in excess of $2.5 million. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 104 years in jail. Continue reading→

Federal ICE agent in Orange County charged with defrauding the government and taxpayers

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Federal Government, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

ocdaseal

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRESS RELEASE

December 16, 2014

Case # 14CF4002

FEDERAL AGENT CHARGED FOR DEFRAUDING U.S. GOVERNMENT AND TAX PAYERS BY CLAIMING FRAUDULENT OVERTIME OVER NINE MONTH PERIOD

SANTA ANA – A federal agent was charged today for defrauding the U.S. government and tax payers by claiming fraudulent overtime over a nine month period. Myles Kui Zhang, 47, Chino, is charged with one felony count of grand theft by an employee. If convicted, Zhang faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison. Zhang is being held on $20,000 bail and must prove that the money is from a legal and legitimate source before posting bond. The arraignment date and time are to be determined.

At the time of the crimes, Zhang worked as an agent for U.S. Government Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Between Aug. 14, 2013, and May 18, 2014, she is accused of claiming fraudulent overtime in excess of $13,000 over a nine month period. Continue reading→

Orange County Sheriff to review ICE detention policy

Posted on by Posted in Latinos, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

OCSD Badge

Orange County Sheriff’s Department

NEWS, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Lt. Jeff Hallock, 714.904.7042, JHallock@ocsd.org; Emily Osterberg, 714.647.1840, EOsterberg@ocsd.org

Sheriff’s Department Reviewing Policy Related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detainers

SANTA ANA, Calif. – (June 4, 2014) – The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is reviewing its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer policy in light of an Oregon federal district court’s decision, Miranda-Olivares v. Clackamas County, 2014 WL 1414305 (D. Ore. April 11, 2014), which concluded that an ICE detainer, without a determination of probable cause, is not legally sufficient to hold an inmate beyond his or her sentence ending date.

Effective immediately, the Sheriff’s Department will no longer hold pre-sentenced inmates on ICE detainers beyond any release date/time, and these inmates will be processed according to department policy. During the release process, ICE will be contacted and advised of such inmates with detainers. ICE may take custody of the inmate(s) so long as it occurs during the release process and does not require additional detention of the inmate. Continue reading→

The SAPD arrests activists who were protesting detention of LGBTQ immigrants

Posted on by Posted in Crime, immigration, LGBT, Public Safety, Santa Ana Leave a comment
Steve Zamarripa

Steve Zamarripa

Today, 5 trans and queer immigrant activists were arrested in front of the Santa Ana City Jail where transgender immigrant detainees are held, blocking the intersection at the entrance of the jail while chained to a metal cage, surrounded by rainbow flags and a banner that read “Liberation Not Deportation, Obama is the Deporter in Chief.” Amidst chants of “Don’t Stop at Marriage, Trans and Queers are Being Deported,” “Come Out, Fight Back,” and “Obama, Obama, Don’t Deport Another Transhermana,” the activists protested to demand justice for the more than 267,000 LGBTQ immigrants living in the U.S., an end to the Obama Administration’s deportations, and call for the city to cut its contract with ICE.

The Santa Ana Police Department reported that “LGBTQ and Immigrant Rights groups protested today at 8:10 AM. The group of approximately 100 protesters set up a chain link fenced cage in the middle of the intersection of Civic Center and Boyd Way, completely blocking the intersection. Inside the chain link fenced cage, four protesters chained themselves to the fence. The 5th protester was chained to the outside fencing.” Continue reading→

Protest against the SAPD’s ICE deal at the next City Council meeting on 5/6

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Entertainment, immigration, Santa Ana 7 Comments
OC May Day

A protest by the OC May Day Coalition will take place at the Santa Ana City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, at 5:30 pm, regarding the contract between ICE and the SAPD.  The SAPD is paid to jail immigrants who are arrested.

Organizers ask that you “Come early to sign up for public comments and let the council know that we are tired of them paying off their debt at the expense of our hard working immigrant communities. Not 1 more! No mas deportaciones!”

The Orange County May Day Coalition is a community-centered coalition of organizations and individuals; member organizations include: Continue reading→

Santa Ana immigration officer, who was bribed with egg rolls and cash, indicted

Posted on by Posted in Courts, Crime, FBI, Federal Government, immigration, irvine, Santa Ana, Vietnamese Leave a comment

Egg Rolls

An immigration officer who worked in Santa Ana has been indicted on charges that she took bribes in cash and egg rolls from immigrants seeking citizenship and green cards, according to CBS News.

Federal prosecutors say 47-year-old Mai Nhu Nguyen, an Irvine resident who worked in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Santa Ana,  was indicted Wednesday on three counts of solicitation of a bribe by a public official, according to Fox News. Continue reading→

Activists to ask the SAPD to stop collaborating with ICE, on June 18

Posted on by Posted in Crime, David Benavides, Entertainment, immigration, Michele Martinez, Politics, Public Safety, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana 4 Comments

The OC May Day Coalition is asking the public and their members to join them at the next Santa Ana Public Safety Committee meeting, on Tuesday, June 18, 2013, at 5:30 pm, as they bring “awareness to the issue of the collaboration between the SAPD and ICE and demand that this collaboration be stopped.”

Their issue is on the agenda, so there will be discussion by the committee members on this topic as well as time for public comments.  Continue reading→

ICE raids target Santa Ana residents today

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, immigration, Jose Solorio, Latinos, Loretta Sanchez, Lou Correa, Santa Ana 21 Comments

ICE Immigration Raids

UPDATE: There is a new raid today, Jan. 4, on Bristol, between 1st St. and 4th St.  If you become aware of any new raids, be sure to call the hotline to report ICE raids at 951-345-4043, or click here to send the info via email.

There were two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sweeps today in Santa Ana, according to eyewitness reports.

We received a report this afternoon that a sweep was taking place at the Northgate Market located at First and Harbor. Another eyewitness reported a second sweep at Main and First.

Many of us thought that President Barack Obama was going to help immigrants. That has not turned out to be the case.

Obama is enforcing “the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which requires employers to keep records of workers’ immigration status, and prohibits them from hiring those who have no legal documents, or work authorization,” according to Z-Net. Continue reading→