WICHITA, Kansas, July 2, 2008 – Wichita police and ICE agents busted scores of gang members by going after their illegal citizenship and having them deported Tuesday.

"We're going to make their lives miserable,” said Chief Norman Williams with the Wichita Police Department in January.

He vowed to crack down on gangs and Tuesday, officers did just that. This time, they arrested Hispanic gang members on immigration charges and will deport them.

Officers were looking for 35 gang members. They arrested 21 and contacted another six that turned out to be in the country legally. They are still looking for the rest.

"This is not an operation throughout the city to target illegal aliens; this was an operation to target gang members who committed crimes in this city that are here illegally,” said Capt. Jeff Easter with the Wichita Police Department.

That mission took police to a north central Wichita neighborhood, where even the neighborhood watch signs aren’t immune from graffiti.

"When we see an increase in gang graffiti we see an increase in violence and that's exactly what we had,” Capt. Easter said.

"You hear lots of stuff, you hear gunshots in the middle of the night and yeah it's a big concern,” said concerned resident Ava Blaenton.

Baenton is moving out of one of the targeted neighborhoods in part because of the gang problem.

"We've had destruction of property and other things going on and raising two small children you want to keep them safe,” Blaenton said.

Police say in the first six months of the year, gangs have been behind 73 violent acts. Out of 25 drive-by shootings, 11 are attributed to gangs. That prompted police to use immigration laws to crack down.

"This is an avenue we can go because it irradiates them from this community,” Capt. Easter said. “Basically you deport them and that takes care of part of the problem."

Wichita police say the tactic worked in the Plainview neighborhood two years ago. They hope to repeat that success now.

"In four years you haven't heard any other issues taking place in Plainview,” said Capt. Easter.

Still, Easter says he isn’t naïve and that many gang members will come back or are already here legally. It’s just one battle of many in the department’s war on gangs.