The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers have arrested “271 aliens as part of an enforcement action targeting immigration violators and those who pose a threat to public safety.”
On Wednesday, ICE said that the enforcement action ran from March 18 – 22. ERO officers made the arrests across the state of Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (USVI).
The Enforcement agency in a released statement posited that the immigrants who were arrested came from 36 countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Anguilla, Bahamas, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Chile, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Israel, Jamaica, Kuwait, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Spain, Turkey and United Kingdom.
Moreover, it was outlined that out of the 271 immigrants “99 had criminal records that included felony convictions for serious or violent offenses, such as 1st degree murder, attempted murder, vehicular manslaughter, rape, aggravated assault, attempted robbery, battery, burglary, child neglect, cruelty toward a child, domestic violence, drugs charges such as possession and trafficking, weapons offenses and abuse of the elderly.”
ICE said the arrests took place in 23 Florida counties, “including 76 in Miami Dade, 65 in Broward, 27 in Duval, 17 in Palm Beach, 14 in Hillsborough, 10 in Orange, seven in Seminole, five in Manatee, five in Lee, four in Pinellas, four in Brevard, three in Polk, three in Indian River, two in Volusia, two in Bay, two in Martin, one in Escambia, one in Gadsden, one in Lake, one in Osceola, one in Sarasota, one in St Lucie, one in Suwannee, 11 in Puerto Rico, and seven in the USVI.”
The agency noted that during the operations, ERO was supported by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.
According to the ICE agency, “arrested individuals who have outstanding orders of deportation, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country. The remaining individuals are in ICE custody awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, or pending travel arrangements for removal.”
Additionally, it was also outlined that the “targeted individuals in this operation were amenable to arrest and removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act.”
