(WSVN) - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has announced that nearly 500 illegal immigrants were arrested over a four-day period in various sanctuary cities across the country.
According to a news release from ICE, the Operation ‘Safe City’ raid took 498 individuals into federal custody. ICE says the individuals targeted were those ” who have violated U.S. immigration laws, prioritizing aliens with criminal convictions, pending criminal charges, known gang members and affiliates, immigration fugitives and those who re-entered the U.S. after deportation.”
ICE said individuals with active DACA status were not targeted.
Philadelphia saw the most arrests with 107, followed by Los Angeles with 101 and Denver with 63 arrests.
The release noted that 18 of the 498 people arrested were gang members or have gang affiliations.
According to ICE, among those arrested were an El Salvador citizen charged with attempted murder/conspiracy to commit murder; a Guatemala citizen convicted of felony menacing, six DUIs, child abuse, assault and domestic violence harassment; and a Mexican citizen convicted of felony child cruelty with the possibility of injury or death.
In total, arrests were made from Baltimore, Cook County in Illinois , Denver , Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, Santa Clara County in California, Washington, D.C. and the state of Massachusetts.
Authorities conducted the country-wide raid to focus “on cities and regions where ICE deportation officers are denied access to jails and prisons to interview suspected immigration violators or jurisdictions where ICE detainers are not honored,” the website said.
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