NEW YORK – Officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 32 convicted sexual predators during a 10-day period, ending Aug. 3 in Long Island in an enforcement effort dubbed “Operation SOAR” (Sex Offender Alien Removal).
In the course of Operation SOAR, ERO officers apprehended 32 individuals with past criminal convictions ranging from sexual abuse to attempted rape. Of those arrested, 12 are registered sexual offenders. Each taken into custody is currently being detained pending the completion of removal proceedings.
Criminal histories of those arrested during the operation are as follows: acting in a manner to injure a child, assault, third degree attempted rape, burglary, attempted sexual abuse, criminal sex act, endangering the welfare of a child, endangering the welfare of a physically disabled person, forcible touching, promoting a sexual performance by a child, public lewdness, first degree rape, second degree rape, third degree rape, reckless endangerment, first degree sexual abuse, second degree sexual abuse, sexual abuse, forcible compulsion, sexual contact with an individual incapable of consent and sexual misconduct.
The arrestees include nationals from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago.
The foreign nationals arrested will be processed administratively for removal from the United States. The arrestees 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 in the near future.
