Immigration And Customs Enforcement U S

Federal authorities are launching a pilot program next month to allow noncriminal illegal immigrants with final deportation orders to surrender rather than face possible arrest and detention. Two Southern California cities -- Santa Ana and San Diego -- are among five cities nationwide where immigrants can turn themselves in from Aug. 5 to Aug. 22. Certain immigrants who do so will be given up to 90 days before being required to leave the United States.

A Canadian immigrant living in Newport Beach was charged in federal court Monday in one of the largest Ecstasy-smuggling busts in the region, authorities said. Alexandru Sabau, 37, was taken into custody Friday by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being intercepted near his apartment in the 9000 block of Residencia. Sabau was arrested as he arrived to meet with an informant to finalize a drug trade, authorities said.

Yesenia Rangel, 12, looked out her window on a Friday morning in February and saw several officers with the letters "ICE" on their sleeves. Yesenia immediately called her neighbors to warn them that immigration officers were outside their Compton apartment building. Then she watched in tears as officers handcuffed her father and took him away. During the three weeks he was detained, Yesenia said, her schoolwork suffered and she could barely sleep.

The four-tiered cake the newlyweds were about to cut was plastic. The glasses and plates on the reception table were empty. And the bride wore casual shoes under her wedding gown. Those were among the clues that first caught the attention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials after they searched the offices of Winter Garden-based All Kind Services U.S.A. In a back room were the cake, the fake reception hall and a rack with several wedding dresses. "The cake is the first clue. . . .

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has asked the federal government to review its immigration enforcement priorities, warning that work-site raids on "non-exploitative" businesses could have "severe and lasting effects" on the local economy.

House Democrats on Tuesday accused the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Julie L. Myers, of trying to cover up events related to a Halloween party last year where she gave a prize for "most original" costume to an employee in blackface and prison garb.

In a stinging ruling, a Los Angeles federal judge said immigration officials' alleged decision to withhold a critical medical test and other treatment from a detainee who later died of cancer was "beyond cruel and unusual" punishment. The decision from U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson allows the family of Francisco Castaneda to seek financial damages from the government. Castaneda, who suffered from penile cancer, died Feb. 16.

Federal authorities said Thursday they had dismantled a smuggling ring that brought hundreds of undocumented immigrants each month into Southern California, using private homes as "drop houses" and a 99-cent store as a staging ground. Authorities estimate the ringleaders may have grossed $6 million to $18 million annually transporting about 5,000 undocumented immigrants after they illegally crossed the border into Arizona.

Civil rights groups filed a petition in federal court Thursday seeking a restraining order against immigration officials who allegedly blocked workers detained in a raid at a Van Nuys manufacturing plant from consulting with their attorneys.

Two foreign nationals who said they were forcibly drugged by U.S. immigration officials during failed efforts to deport them have agreed to a settlement in the case, their attorney said Tuesday.