More than 80 criminal aliens and gang members were arrested in Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada last week, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In a continuation of recent operations targeting illegal immigrant convicts, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers arrested 87 foreign nationals, whose crimes and affiliations were heinous enough to warrant enforcement under the Obama administration’s immigration “priorities.”
Over the five-day dragnet, which concluded late last week, ERO officers arrested 65 criminal aliens in the Las Vegas area and 22 in Reno.
The arrestees had convictions for drug trafficking, weapons violations, child sex offenses, domestic violence, and re-entry following a deportation. Two were confirmed gang members.
The recent enforcement operations occur as immigration hawks question the Obama administration’s commitment to immigration enforcement — even against criminal aliens. In recent years ICE’s deportation levels have been on the decline, dropping 43 percent from FY 2012 to FY 2015. In that same timeframe ICE removed 41 percent fewer criminals.
Salt Lake City Field Office Director Daniel Bible highlighted the operations Monday as an example of the benefits provided under the administration’s “priorities” for enforcement strategy.
“By taking these individuals off our streets and ultimately removing them from the country, we are making our communities safer for everyone,” Bible said in a statement.
The arrestees’ were from nine different countries, including 65 criminal alien arrestees from Mexico and 10 from El Salvador. Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, the Philippines, and Cuba each had two arrestees. Additionally one of the arrested criminal aliens was from Taiwan and another from Vietnam.
Among those arrested, ICE highlighted:
-A previously deported 55-year-old Mexican national with a prior felony conviction for transporting and selling heroin;
-A 57-year-old Mexican national convicted of lewdness with a child under 14 that resulted in a four to 10-year sentence in state prison; and a
-42-year-old Salvadoran national with multiple prior felony convictions, including one for statutory sexual seduction.
-A 33-year-old Mexican national with past convictions for drug trafficking, domestic battery, and DUI; and a
-A 19-year-old Mexican national gang member with prior convictions for resisting an officer and robbery.
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