ICE operations nab hundreds of illegal and criminal aliens over 5-day window

Immigration officers apprehended hundreds of foreign nationals over the course of several days in multiple locations and cities throughout the United States, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A series of news releases from the immigration agency describe enforcement operations throughout several areas in the United States that took place between Sept. 21 and 25. According to ICE:

• Agents in Michigan and Ohio apprehended 46 individuals from 10 countries, including a Mexican citizen with a previous sex crime arrest and an Iraqi citizen with multiple drug convictions.
• Agents in New England apprehended 80 "criminal aliens" over the same time period. "Several had prior felony convictions for serious or violent offenses, such as child sex crimes, weapons charges and assault, or had past convictions for significant or multiple misdemeanors," the release said.
• ICE apprehended 82 people for "violating U.S. immigration laws" in New York City, the Hudson Valley and Long Island in New York. "Criminal histories of those arrested during the enforcement effort are as follows," the release stated: "Act in Manner Injure Child, aggravated DWI, Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle, Assault, Criminal Contempt, Criminal Obstruction of Breathing or Blood Circulation, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, Criminal Possession of a Firearm, Criminal Possession of Marijuana, Criminal Possession of a Weapon, Criminal Sex Act, DWI, Endangering the Welfare of a Child; Forcible Touching, Grand Larceny, Harassment, Kidnapping, Petit Larceny, Possessing Sexual Performance by Child, Public Lewdness, Rape, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Course Of Sexual Conduct Against a Child 2nd, Sexual Misconduct, Unlawful Possession of Marijuana, and Unlawful Surveillance."
• In New Jersey, the agency said it apprehended 54 people from 12 different countries in the state during the 5-day time frame. "Even with these arrests, there are still public safety threats in the community," ICE said, naming three wanted immigration fugitives.
• Agents in North Texas and Oklahoma arrested 49 "criminal aliens and immigration violators" during the time period. Thirty-three of those had criminal convictions, including "assault, domestic violence, burglary, larceny, fraud, dangerous drugs, sexually assaulting a child, lewd/lascivious acts with a child, resisting officer/arrest, obstructing police, and driving while intoxicated (DWI)," a release said.
• Philadelphia's ICE field office arrested 45 foreign nationals during the time frame, including a 38-year-old Dominican man who previously pleaded guilty to raping a child, a statement claimed.
• ICE's field office in Denver reported 42 arrests of removable aliens between Colorado and Wyoming during the time frame, according to an email release obtained by Blaze Media.

In total, that brings the number of immigration arrests for the listed operations to 398 in five days. According to two of the statements (Michigan's and Boston's), those not facing federal prosecution will be processed for removal from the United States.

The arrests were carried out by ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations, which focuses on identification, arrest and removal of illegal aliens and those "who present a danger to national security or are a risk to public safety."

"Upholding public safety by focusing on removing criminal aliens is at the heart of what ERO officers do every day," Detroit ERO field office Director Rebecca Adducci said. "These targeted enforcement actions highlight ICE's vital role in keeping our communities safe."

A statement from ICE in Washington said that, over the past week, its officers had been focused on "people who had been released from uncooperative jurisdictions" — colloquially known as sanctuary jurisdictions — and that "Of the nearly 1,300 at-large arrests made this week, ICE officers apprehended 199 people who could have been arrested at a jail if the agency's detainers had been honored."

"As law enforcement professionals, it is frustrating to see senseless acts of violence and other criminal activity happen in our communities, knowing ICE could have prevented them with just a little cooperation," said acting ICE Director Matthew Albence. "To the public, who want to live and raise your families in safe neighborhoods, we ask you to hold your lawmakers accountable before you, or someone you love, is unnecessarily victimized by a criminal ICE could have removed from the country."

According to ICE, "approximately 90 percent" of those arrested by the agency during fiscal year 2019 have either "had a criminal conviction, a pending criminal charge, had illegally re-entered the United States after being previously removed (a felony charge) or were an immigration fugitive subject to a judge's final order of removal."