U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Feb. 1 that they had arrested close to 200 illegal immigrants across 25 U.S. cities. Many of the immigrants were wanted for serious crimes, including murder and the sexual assault of minors.
The arrests came as part of a major nationwide operation, which enforcement agents from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) conducted over the course of 11 days.
According to acting ICE director Patrick Lechleitner, the operation was carried out between Jan. 16–28, 2024.
“Over the course of 11 days, our dedicated and committed law enforcement officers zeroed-in on removable, at-large non-citizens who are wanted for or who have already been convicted of horrible, almost unspeakable crimes like assault against children, including sexual assault and murder,” Lechleitner said at a news conference.
“The results of this week-long effort are a testament to ERO’s commitment to protecting the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws,” Mr. Lechleitner said. “Enforcement and Removal Operations personnel are committed to enforcing the nation’s immigration laws humanely, effectively, and with the highest standards of professionalism.”
Some of the immigrants arrested were wanted for a series of heinous crimes, ranging from child molestation, child pornography, rape, and murder. Many of the individuals had been previously convicted for these crimes, such as a 53-year-old El Salvador citizen arrested in Tacoma, Wash., and another 27-year-old from the same country who was taken into ICE custody in Los Angeles, Fox News reported.
Two Mexican citizens that had previously been deported were also arrested, one in Dallas and one in Denver. One of them had a previous conviction for sexually assaulting a child, while the other was previously convicted of first-degree murder.
The number of those arrested during fiscal year 2023 shows a staggering number of illegal immigrants with multiple criminal convictions, ICE data shows.
ERO agents arrested nearly 75,000 individuals who had an average of four charges and convictions for a total of over 290,000 associated charges or convictions, according to officials.
Of those, over 33,000 were for assault, nearly 4,500 for sexual assault, over 7,500 for weapons offenses, and more than 1,500 each for homicide and kidnapping. This comes as the United States has been experiencing record numbers of illegal entries via the Southern border in recent years. Many of these illegal entries remain undetected.
When asked if ICE’s recent announcement that the agency would no longer detain people simply for being present in the country illegally has encouraged more illegal immigrants to enter, Lechleitner responded by saying this was not necessarily the case.
“The reality is we have limited resources. We prioritize within our priorities. National security and public safety threats are those top priorities,” he said.
Nearly 3.5 million encounters were reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in fiscal year 2023. This marks a strong increase of 15 percent from the year before.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
