ICE “fugitive” raids across country

The ICE office in Philadelphia announced on Aug. 11 that its local fugitive operations teams had arrested a total of 119 people in 10-day operation in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Of the total 119 people arrested, 75 had failed to comply with deportation orders; 26 of these 75 had criminal records. Another 44 people were arrested for being present in the US without permission; 12 of these 44 people had criminal histories, according to ICE. The operation was carried out by ICE’s Detention and Removal Operations and Office of Investigations in conjunction with the US Border Patrol in Erie, Penn.; the Philadelphia Warrant Squad; and the police departments of Philadelphia, Hatfield, Horsham, Norristown and Altoona. (ICE news release, Aug. 13)

In a five-day operation ending July 1, ICE deportation officers assigned to the New Orleans and Memphis fugitive operations teams arrested 24 immigrants in the Nashville, Tennessee area. All but two of those arrested were “immigration fugitives” who had failed to comply with deportation orders. Of the other two people arrested, one had reentered the US after having been deported and another was an alleged member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang who was found to be present in the US without permission. (ICE news release, July 9)

On June 30 and July 1, ICE agents arrested 42 people in an operation targeting immigration “fugitives” in the Lake Tahoe area of Nevada. Only 21 of those detained had failed to comply with prior deportation orders, according to ICE spokesperson Virginia Kice. Six of those arrested had previous criminal convictions. “The majority of those encountered during the operation have already been repatriated to their native countries,” Kice said. (AP, July 15)

From Immigration News Briefs, Aug. 16

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