American Security Today September Digital Magazine September 2016 | Page 81

Volume 7

September 2016 Edition

ICE Arrests 58 in NY Operation Targeting Convicted Criminals

HSI special agents
preparing for an
enforcement action

Officers
from
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s
(ICE)
Enforcement
and Removal
Operations
(ERO) arrested 58 individuals during an operation
spanning the New York metropolitan area that concluded Aug. 12, targeting criminal aliens and other
enforcement priorities.
During the five-day enforcement action, ERO officers apprehended aliens with criminal convictions,
in addition to others who fall under the agency’s
enforcement priorities. Those arrested had criminal histories with past convictions for rape, kidnapping, robbery, burglary and other serious criminal
offenses.
“Law enforcement operations like this underscore
that ICE is committed to putting public safety first,”
said Raymond Simonse, acting field office director
for ERO New York.
“Our nation has a proud history of immigration, but
we are also a nation governed by laws specifically designed to protect our citizens and residents.
Those who come to the United States to prey upon
our neighbors and communities will be prosecuted for their crimes and ultimately returned to their
home countries.”

(Think you know ICE? Learn More, courtesy of wwwICEgov
and YouTube)

Among those arrested were:

• A 32-year-old Ecuadorian with convictions of
sexual abuse and family neglect. He was arrested in Woodhaven.
• A 51-year-old Salvadoran man with convictions
for DUI and of rape in the 3rd degree. He was
arrested in Central Islip.
• A 35-year-old Mexican man with convictions for
two counts of sexual battery and a DUI. He was
arrested in Brooklyn.
• A 38-year-old previously-removed Dominican
man with a conviction for cocaine trafficking.
He was arrested in the Bronx. He will be prosecuted federally by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for
the Southern District for re-entry after deportation.
The foreign nationals arrested during the operation
include citizens of 17 countries, including Trinidad,
Dominican Republic, Belize, St. Vincent, Guyana,
Philippines, Jamaica, Indonesia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Lebanon, Colombia,
Israel, Romania, and the United Kingdom.

Those who are not being criminally prosecuted 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.
All of those apprehended during last week’s operation were immigration enforcement priorities as outlined in Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Secretary Jeh Johnson’s 2014 memorandum.
Priority 1 targets include threats to national security, criminal street gang members, convicted felons,
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