New York– Officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 225 during a 6-day period, ending Apr. 14 in New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley.
During the operation, ICE’s ERO arrested 225 individuals for violating U.S. immigration laws. Of those arrested, more than 180 were convicted criminals or had criminal charges pending, more than 80 had been issued a final order of removal and failed to depart the United States, or had been previously removed from the United States and returned illegally. 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.
he arrestees include nationals from Albania, Antigua, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burma, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kosovo, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Tajikistan, Trinidad, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela.
More than 60 individuals arrested during this operation were previously released from local law enforcement on an active detainer.
In years past, most of these individuals would have been turned over to ICE by local authorities upon their release from jail based on ICE detainers. Now that many sanctuary cities, including New York City, do not honor ICE detainers, these individuals, who often have significant criminal histories, are released onto the street, presenting a potential public safety threat.