Over 406 Illegal Aliens Arrested During Operation Joint Effort

In May of 2010, Escondido Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) started, “Operation Joint Effort” to identify and deport criminal aliens in our community.

Since the program began, 406 undocumented foreign nationals have been taken into custody by ICE. These are suspects who have either been previously deported, have a criminal history, or are ICE Fugitives at large. The following is a breakdown of the individuals arrested each month:

May, 2010 22 arrested

June. 2010 30 arrested

July, 2010 32 arrested

August, 2010 34 arrested

September, 2010 45 arrested

October, 2010 40 arrested

November, 2010 23 arrested

December, 2010 30 arrested
January, 2011 40 arrested

February, 2011 69 arrested

March 22, 2011 41 arrested


Of the 406 individuals arrested, 319 have been removed multiple times; one in particular had 14 prior removals.

The following three examples are recent arrests as a result of Operation Joint Effort. These individuals would not have otherwise been arrested and deported:

On 3/18/2011, at about 1115, officers responded to the 1200 block of north Broadway regarding an unknown disturbance. Officers on scene detained one individual involved, Pedro Trejo Ramos, 47. An ICE Officer was called to the scene and interviewed Ramos. It was determined that Ramos was in the country illegally, with an extensive criminal history and two prior deportations. Ramos had two arrests for possession of a controlled substance, two arrests for domestic violence, one arrest for welfare fraud and one arrest for terrorist threats.

On 2/17/2011, officers stopped Ivan Fernandez Escalona Gonzalez, 28, for a vehicle code violation. It was later determined that Fernandez had two prior arrests for receiving stolen property, one violation of delaying or resisting a police officer, and two prior deportations.

On 2/03/2011, at about 2120 hours, officers stopped Rosendo Gomez Castillo, 38, for a vehicle code violation. It was later determined that Castillo had a prior arrest for child molestation and has two prior deportations.

Of the 406 arrests, 53 have drug priors, 35 have assault priors, 11 have sexual assault priors, 103 have drunk driving priors, 26 have theft priors and 11 have gang related priors. Fifteen of the 406 have been arrested in Escondido multiple times since Operation Joint Effort started in May of 2010.

Operation Joint Effort has been very effective in removing the criminal element from our community. Individuals that have no criminal history and have not been ordered removed from the country have nothing to fear from this program.