While members of Congress were debating immigration reform, officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were busy developing their own policy towards undocumented immigrants.

Discussions primarily revolved around fugitive aliens, some of whom have committed crimes. Figures provided by law enforcement agencies show that the number of fugitive aliens is constantly growing. From 2003 to 2006, the number of fugitive aliens increased by 5,700 per month, for a total of more than 68,000 per year. In the United States, there are currently 632,000 foreign citizens who have ignored deportation orders.

Before the question of immigration reform became practical instead of theoretical, the DHS turned a blind eye to fugitive aliens and illegal immigrants in general. But suddenly, out of nowhere, the Department started paying an unprecedented amount of attention to them.

In 2002, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 485 foreigners during raids on U.S. companies. This number jumped to 3,367 in 2006. And this year, when the immigration reform bill seemed sure to pass, the hunters of illegal immigrants outdid themselves. During simultaneous raids in April, ICE agents in 40 cities in 26 states arrested 1,187 undocumented immigrants in one fell swoop.

Agents involved in operations to catch fugitive aliens have been just as busy. Five hundred thirty-seven people trying to avoid deportation were arrested during raids this June. In early July, right before Independence Day, 175 more people in 13 cities across the country were arrested.

As ICE spokesperson Mark Raimondi announced in June, “For the first time in many years, we have been able to decrease the overall number of fugitive aliens by 500 people from 632,726 to 632,189.”

This year Mr. Raimondi’s colleagues have been especially active in New York, where 1,069 foreigners trying to evade deportation had been arrested by early June. The total number of fugitive aliens arrested for all of 2006 stood at a modest 426.

Immigrants’ rights organizations assert that the unusual level of activity at the DHS is the result not so much of an earnest desire to tackle the problem of illegal immigrants, but a desire to help Secretary Michael Chertoff. They argue that Chertoff needs to convince critics of President Bush that law enforcement agencies are not sitting idly on the sidelines waiting for an immigration reform bill to be passed.

Law professor Marisa Cianciarulo (Chapman University) believes that the increased number of raids this year is not so much due to a new ICE strategy as it is to a desire to pander to the public.

ICE chief Julie Myers, a deputy of Secretary Chertoff’s, disagrees. “We are not guided by public opinion,” she was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal. "Strict measures taken by the ICE have no connection whatsoever to immigration reform."

This is entirely possible. But nevertheless, the ICE does have a new, much stricter strategy.

First of all, DHS spokespeople have announced that operations to arrest illegal immigrants at their places of work and to locate fugitive aliens under the new nationwide initiative, Operation Cross Check, will become more far-reaching. By the end of the year, the ICE will have created 75 fugitive operation teams, which will carry out raids in various states. There are currently 61 active teams. In 2005, there were only 15 such teams.

There are nine permanent fugitive operation teams in the New York area and they almost never take a day off because there are plenty of people for them to chase. Figures from law enforcement agencies show that there are almost 60,000 fugitive aliens in the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut). The ICE claims that most of these “fugitives” have violated the law in the past.

Second of all, the DHS has decided to reject the earlier liberal policy of catch-and-release, whereby undocumented immigrants arrested by the ICE were released until their hearings. Most of them understandably did not show up in court. Now those arrested must await the court's verdict in immigration detention centers, which have undergone significant expansion.

Finally, schools have adopted a new policy for dealing with the children of arrested immigrants. The large-scale raids of the past two years have shown how serious the problem is: Children whose parents are arrested are frequently left to fend for themselves. Teachers and social workers at schools have been assigned the task of helping their pupils accept what has happened to their parents as calmly as possible to avoid psychological trauma.

Some school districts have plans to turn schools into temporary orphanages for children who do not have relatives or family friends willing to look after them.

In the aftermath of raids, it has emerged that it is not that easy to determine exactly who the parents of a particular child are. This is because parents are listed at their work place under the names on their fake Social Security cards, while their children are registered at schools under their parents' real last names.

Naturally, human rights advocates are not happy. According to Eric Gutierrez, a director of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, the ICE’s new tactics mean that these children, many of whom are American citizens, will be separated from their parents for a long time. Mr. Gutierrez believes that American authorities should take the humane step of not pushing for the deportation of illegal immigrants or fugitive aliens who are the sole breadwinners in their families. He believes that these people should be given another chance to appear before an immigration judge.

It is highly unlikely that Mr. Gutierrez’s exhortation will be heard.

So, to all illegal immigrants out there: Watch your backs.