Raid nets 54 immigrants who ignored deportation orders

HARLINGEN - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents announced the arrest of 56 fugitive immigration violators Friday in a four-day sweep of South Texas.

The majority of those detained were located in the Rio Grande Valley, including Juan Alonso Salas, 20, who was found at his Harlingen home Monday, the agency said in a statement.

A federal judge ordered Salas, who has previously been convicted on drug possession and assault charges, deported in January 2005, but he has remained in Cameron County since then.

"If you ignore a federal immigration judge's deportation order, ICE will find you, arrest you and return you to your home country," said Marc Jr. Moore, field office director of ICE's detention and removal operations in San Antonio.

Fugitives were also arrested in Austin and San Antonio and hail from countries such as El Salvador, Mexico, Kenya and Peru, the agency said. Twenty-eight others who were in the country illegally were also discovered and detained during the operation.

ICE did not release the total number of fugitives arrested in Hidalgo, Starr and Cameron counties Friday.