ImmigrationImmigration raid nets nearly 3,000 illegal immigrants

Arrest made during Operation Cross-Check // Source: directoryfinders.com

On Wednesday, federal immigration authorities announced they had detained nearly 3,000 illegal aliens in the largest nation-wide raid of its kind.

According to DHS officials, the latest arrests prioritize dangerous illegals who have committed crimes rather than law-abiding immigrants struggling to make a living. “These are not the kind of people we want walking our streets,” said John Morton, the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “It’s good law enforcement, it’s good immigration enforcement, and it’s a good use of limited resources.”

Morton added that ICE has the resources to deport roughly 400,000 people a year and the priority should be on criminals.

The ICE director’s comments come after the Obama administration announced last month that it would focus on deporting criminals living in the country illegally.

The seven-day raid, dubbed “Operation Cross Check,” was conducted by more than 1,900 immigration officers as well as local, state, and federal law enforcement officials, and their efforts led to the arrests of more than 1,600 felons convicted of crimes like manslaughter, attempted murder, armed robbery, sex crimes against minors, and drug trafficking.

John Tsoukaris, the director of ICE’s Newark, New Jersey office, said of the roughly 3,000 arrests, forty-two were gang members and 151 were convicted sex offenders. Additionally, many of the arrests were of fugitives who had been ordered to leave the country or had been deported multiple times in the past.

“Anyone we take off the street is one less person committing crimes,” Tsoukaris said. “We have a significant impact in communities.”

In May, a similar operation resulted in the arrests of about 2,400 criminals.