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INVASION USA
25 foreign-born pedophiles arrested
Convicted child predators busted in Illinois
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents, working with
area county law-enforcement authorities in the Chicago area last week
arrested 25 foreign-born, convicted sex offenders who had preyed on
children and minors.
Those arrested include citizens of six countries: Mexico, Bosnia, the
Philippines, Peru, Ireland, and Canada - though 18 of those picked up
were from Mexico. They include 15 permanent residents of the U.S.
("green card" holders), nine individuals who entered the U.S.
illegally, and one person who entered the U.S. on a visitor's visa but
violated its terms by overstaying. All now face removal from the United
States, though most have the right to a hearing before a federal
immigration judge, who will make the final determination as to whether
they must leave the country.
The arrests were the result of a cooperative effort among ICE and the
sheriff's departments of Cook, Will, DuPage, McHenry, Kane, and Kendall
counties in Illinois.
The arrests are part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative
to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel
overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal
alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers. Since Operation
Predator was launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than
6,000 individuals, including more than 300 in Illinois, making it one
of the top 10 states in the country for apprehensions.
Among the crimes committed by those arrested are:
A "green card" holder who returned to his country of citizenship and
was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor, then returned to the United
States. The conviction, even though it was committed abroad, could
result in the man losing his legal status here.
A man who committed a sexual act in the presence of a 14-year-old minor
with the intent or knowledge that the person would view it.
A man who was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse for touching a
9-year-old girl for the purpose of sexual gratification.
Operation Predator targets four different types of violators:
Foreign National Child Predators: More than 85 percent of the arrests
in Operation Predator involve foreign national sex offenders whose
crimes make them removable from the United States. To date, more than
2,100 of these foreign-born predators have been removed from the U.S.
to their home nations. As part of this process, ICE advises the host
nation governments about the criminal histories of each sex predator it
is deporting to their nations. ICE also issues Green Notices though
Interpol in appropriate cases. The Green Notice provides information on
career criminals who have committed, or are likely to commit, offenses
in several countries.
ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any
suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.
Investigators staff this hotline around the clock.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported
to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation
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