ICE ARRESTS OVER 2,400 CONVICTED CRIMINAL ALIENS IN JUST 7 DAYS THROUGHOUT ALL 50 STATES

Published 06/26/2011 - 7:51 a.m. CST

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today announced the results of a seven-day targeted "Cross Check" enforcement operation-which led to the arrest of more than 2,400 convicted criminal aliens and immigration fugitives in May of this year. Last week, ICE also announced key improvements to its Secure Communities program as the agency continues to focus its resources on those in our country illegally who have also broken criminal laws.

"The results of this operation underscore ICE's ongoing focus on arresting those convicted criminal aliens who prey upon our communities, and tracking down fugitives who game our nation's immigration system," said ICE Director John Morton. "This targeted enforcement operation is a direct result of excellent teamwork among law enforcement agencies who share a commitment to protect public safety."
In May, ICE officers from all 24 ICE Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) field offices throughout the nation located and arrested more than 2,400 aliens with prior criminal convictions in all 50 states. All of the criminal aliens taken into custody had prior convictions for crimes such as armed robbery, drug trafficking, child abuse, sexual crimes against minors, aggravated assault, theft, forgery and DUI. In total, 22% of the individuals ICE officers took into custody were immigration fugitives-convicted criminal aliens with outstanding orders of deportation who had failed to leave the country.
ICE conducted the first successful Cross Check operation in December 2009, and has since conducted Cross Check operations in 37 states, including regional operations in the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest regions. These previous Cross Check Operations resulted in ICE arresting 2,064 convicted criminals, fugitives, and aliens nationwide who have illegally re-entered the United States after removal.
This seven-day operation, the largest of its kind, involved the collaboration of more than 500 ICE agents and officers, as well as coordination with the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and our state and local law enforcement partners throughout the United States.
The arrestees include:

• A 32-year-old man residing in Amesbury, Mass., from the Dominican Republic, who is a registered sex offender convicted of assault, battery on a household member, indecent assault, battery on a child, and leaving the scene/person injured.
• A 38-year-old man residing in Orlando, Fla. from the Philippines convicted of battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting officer with violence, reckless driving and refusal to submit to blood/urine test.
• A 37-year-old residing in North Hills, Calif. from Mexico convicted of aggravated felony sex crime and rape of an unconscious victim. He was also identified as illegally re-entering the United States after deportation. He will be removed from the United States following his prosecution for illegal re-entry after deportation.
• A 47-year-old man residing in Magnolia, Texas from Mexico convicted of injury to a child with intent to cause bodily injury, burglary, marijuana possession, driving while license suspended and indecency with a child by sexual contact.

ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes efforts first on removing those serious criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, such as those charged with or convicted of homicide, rape, robbery, kidnapping, major drug offenses and threats to national security. ICE also prioritizes the arrest and removal of those who game the immigration system including immigration fugitives or those criminal aliens who have been previously deported and illegally re-entered the country.
To date, ICE has removed a record number of more than 109,700 criminal aliens from the United States in fiscal year 2011, including more than 585 criminal aliens convicted of homicide and more than 3,177 criminal aliens convicted sex offenders.

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PHOTO OF BILLY THE KID SOLD FOR $2.3 MILLON

John G. Winder, The Cypress Times

Published 06/26/2011 - 8:38 a.m. CST

William H. Bonney aka Billy the Kid

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John G. Winder Website: http://www.thecypressti... Email: Email

DENVER – The only authenticated photograph of the notorious William H. Bonney, known the world over as Billy the Kid, has sold for $2.3 million dollars at an auction in Denver. The photo, known as a tintype, was purchased by a private collector named William Koch.
It is believed that the tintype was taken back in 1879 or 1880 in Fort Sumner, New Mexico just a year of two prior to Billy the Kid being killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett.
History says Bonney gave the photograph to a friend, Dan Dendrick, and that the photo has remained in the possession of Dendrick’s family ever since. The photo was auctioned off at Brian Lebel’s Old West Show & Auction on Saturday and fetched more than six times the amount experts predicted. It is the single most expensive piece of old west history ever sold by the auction house.
Billy the Kid is one of those legendary figures of the Old West whose fame has gone beyond the bounds of history. William Bonney has been the subject of tall tales, novels and Hollywood movies for decades.
He was born William Henry McCarty, Jr.  and used numerous aliases including the two that stuck, William H. Bonney and Billy the Kid.  Many states lay claim to the birthplace of Billy the Kid, but most historians believe he was born in New York.
Young Guns and Young Guns II were very popular films from the 1990’s depicting the exploits of the legendary “kid”. It is believed that the real Billy the Kid killed as many as 27 men in his 21 years of life.
In 1878, Bonney was captured and sentenced to hang for the murder of a county sheriff, all part of his participation in the famed Lincoln County War, but Billy the Kid made a daring escape, truly the stuff of legend.
Billy the Kid was tracked down and killed by former saddle pal Sheriff Patrick Floyd Garrett in July of 1881.
SHERIFF PAT GARRETT
Even Garrett’s killing of “the Kid” has come into question with legend rising that Billy’s old pal let Bonney off and that he disappeared into Texas to live out the remainder of his life.
Now, the lone portrait of the William H. Bonney aka Billy the Kid becomes legend itself.


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