EXCLUSIVE: Take a ride-along with ICE agents

When 37-year-old Jose Catellan woke up this morning in San Fernando, he no doubt thought it would be another routine day on the job as a construction worker. Little did he know that a team of Federal ICE agents had been surveilling him and was waiting to arrest him.

This was based on the facts that he is in this country illegally and he had prior criminal convictions for drunk driving and reckless driving. We know this because FOX 11 was invited on what's called a "ride along" with ICE agents.

We started at 4:30am. There were five so-called targets on their list who were arrested and convicted in the past for such things as DUI, possession of a loaded gun, spousal battery, and a sexual offense.

Again all of these people were in the country illegally. An ICE spokesperson said "We want the public to see that we have a job to do and we do it respectfully and professionally."

Under President Trump arrests of illegal aliens are up - though deportations are slightly down compared to the Obama Administration. One reason for that is that the deportation process can be slow and lengthy. Now in Jose's case, the DUI convictions were back in 1999. He has apparently been living a productive crime-free life since then...though, when I spoke with him in his holding cell (he had to sign a consent form first which he agreed to do) admittedly he "has no papers."

So ICE has a job to do and he's eligible for deportation - so he was arrested and processed. Cut and dried to them. You could argue that taking some like Jose off the streets is not really making America any safer, but then again maybe it is.

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