More than 100 additional arrests were made during last week’s Immigration Customs and Enforcement’s operation than previously reported.
The Daily Wire reported Saturday that 443 illegal immigrants, the majority of which had previous criminal histories, were arrested as part of a week-long enforcement action by ICE. The agency has since released new information showing that an additional 154 criminal aliens were arrested during that time throughout the Midwest and in the Washington, D.C. and Virginia areas.
Fifty-seven illegal immigrants were arrested in D.C. and Virginia, including 41 with prior arrests, pending charges, or past convictions for crimes including sexual assault, aggravated assault, driving under the influence and drug-related offenses.
“We focus our resources on those who pose a threat to public safety. The arrests made during this targeted enforcement action required weeks of preparation and research by our officers,” said Lyle Boelens, acting field office director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations office in Washington, D.C. “This is the kind of work our officers do every day to help make our communities safer.”
A press release from the office stated that nationally, “approximately 90% of all people arrested by ICE during fiscal year 2019 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.
The agency emphasized its focus on illegal immigrants who “pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security,” but said it did not exempt those without criminal records who have entered the country illegally.
In the Midwest, 97 criminal aliens and other immigration violators were arrested across six states. Twenty-eight were arrested in Illinois, 14 in Indiana, 22 in Kansas, 12 in Kentucky, 10 in Missouri, and 11 in Wisconsin. The agency said in a press release that more than half of those arrested had prior criminal histories. Those histories included convictions for “assault, battery, domestic violence, child exploitation, sexual assault, driving under the influence (DUI), drug possession, re-entry after deportation, resisting officers, obstruction of justice, hit-and-run and illegally possessing weapons.”
Fifteen of the illegal immigrants arrested were immigration fugitives and another 19 had illegally re-entered the U.S. after a previous deportation.
Offices across the country, from Colorado to New England, had announced the arrests of more than 400 criminal aliens. As with those arrested in the Midwest and D.C., the majority had prior criminal histories that included convictions and charges for sexual assault (including sexual assault of minors), burglary, assault, domestic violence, driving under the influence, and drug-related offenses.
For many ICE offices, local policies regarding illegal immigrants made it difficult for agents to apprehend dangerous criminals. In a statement, acting field office director for ERO Denver, John Fabbricatore, called out Colorado’s policies.
“Our ICE officers still managed to find and detain many dangerous criminals despite the Colorado law that prohibits local law enforcement jurisdictions from cooperating with ICE,” Fabbricatore said. “We continually work to keep our communities safe from Colorado’s misguided priorities of protecting criminal aliens at the expense of its citizens.”