ICE Teams Arrest 225 Aliens in 4-Day, 6-State Operation
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced this week that its teams of officers that track down criminal and fugitive aliens arrested 225 aliens as part of a four-day, six-state operation that ended Monday. "Fugitive aliens" are illegal aliens who fail to leave the country after having been ordered to do so by a federal immigration judge.
Eleven fugitive operations teams made the 225 arrests in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Wisconsin, and Missouri. ICE's Detroit Fugitive Operations Team alone made 85 arrests, including 66 fugitives and 21 aliens with criminal convictions. The arrests took place throughout Metro Detroit. Those arrested are from the following countries: Albania, Bangladesh, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Jamaica, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Russia, Uzbekistan and Yugoslavia. ICE has established 75 Fugitive Operations Teams nationwide that are specially trained and dedicated solely to identifying, locating and arresting aliens who have absconded after receiving deportation orders.
"Our teams working together across six states today sent a strong message to those who choose to disregard our nation's laws," said Julie L. Myers, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for ICE. "If you ignore a judge's order of removal, ICE will find you, arrest you, and you will be returned to your home country."
ICE has established 75 Fugitive Operations Teams nationwide that are specially trained and dedicated solely to identifying, locating, and arresting aliens who have absconded after receiving deportation orders. ICE established its Fugitive Operations Program in 2003 to eliminate the nation's backlog of immigration fugitives and ensure that deportation orders handed down by immigration judges are enforced. Nationwide, the ICE teams have arrested more than 72,000 illegal aliens since then. There are about 585,000 fugitive aliens in ICE's databases, the agency says. The increased FY 2008 budget allocates funds for the implementation of an additional 29 teams nationally.