Gang sting nets 58 arrests

A crackdown this week netted more than four dozen suburban immigrants with known gang ties in the Chicago region's largest-ever sting targeting foreign gang members.

In a four-day push called Operation Community Shield, federal immigration officials and local police arrested 58 "known gang members" from suburbs such as Carpentersville, Gurnee, Mundelein, Lake Villa and Round Lake Beach. The largest surge occurred in Waukegan, where 17 people were captured.

All were men and all were Mexican. More than half had criminal convictions such as burglary, battery and armed violence, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Gail Montenegro said Thursday.

Of those detained, 37 lived here illegally. The remaining 21 had green cards. Past convictions, however, qualify them for deportation, officials said.

The sting -- in the works since May -- targeted the suburbs and marshaled local police and enforcement officials for the task.

"When you're perpetuating crime and a negative impact to the community, no one is going to stand for that," Mundelein Police Chief Raymond Rose said. "Hopefully that's the message that comes out of this."

More than 5,000 immigrants from 500 gangs have been arrested and targeted for deportation nationwide since the initiative began in 2005. Some of those arrests occurred in the Chicago region, targeting gang members in Aurora, Prospect Heights and Wheeling.

The most recent round-up prompted a prayer vigil in Waukegan, a city already roiled by illegal immigration concerns.

Waukegan became the second town in Illinois to seek to train, equip and deputize local officers in immigration enforcement. Carpentersville was the first. Both towns faced a firestorm of controversy in doing so.

Federal officials contend there is no connection with this week's dragnet. Investigations are rooted in "intelligence and leads," Montenegro said.

More than 100 people were expected to gather in prayer Thursday night outside a Department of Homeland Security fingerprinting facility along Green Bay Road in Waukegan. With candles, crosses and images of Jesus, they will stay through the night, organizer Armando Pena said.

Hardened criminals with violent gang histories should be arrested and deported, said Pena, who settled in Waukegan 14 years ago. Still, he contends some of those detained mended their ways and left behind families.

"We pray for second chances," Pena said, "that they are possible."