Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials announced on Thursday that they have carried out a nationwide operation, resulting in the arrest of 216 noncitizens who were facing criminal charges and convictions. This operation comes in the aftermath of a tragic incident involving the killing of a Georgia college student, which has brought attention to the issue of “sanctuary cities.”
ICE officials said during a news conference that agents around the country targeted at-large immigration criminals over a 12-day period earlier this month.
According to officials, the operation was part of ICE’s objective to target those in the country unlawfully who constitute a threat to public safety.
ICE’s accusations link all 216 arrested migrants to drug crimes, with over half having previously faced deportation.
“We’re on a mission to protect the American people by containing and removing those who are contributing to this terrible drug crisis,” Acting ICE Director Patrick J. Lechleitner told reporters.
The operation also revealed a gap between the priorities of federal and local law enforcement authorities. As a federal agency, ICE is in charge of implementing the nation’s immigration laws; local law enforcement is not.
As a result, ICE officials stated that some convicted migrants, such as those apprehended this month, have previously been released by local authorities despite being eligible for deportation.
“And to be frank, in some areas, there are laws that affect the ability of state and local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE,” Lechleitner said in a statement. “So we’re trying to make progress in areas that are a little less ICE-friendly.”
These communities, known as “sanctuary cities,” limit connections between local law enforcement and ICE due to migrant and civil rights advocates’ concerns about the abuse of federal deportation and enforcement practices.
Last month, the arrest of Venezuelan national Jose Antonio Ibarra on murder charges for the death of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley at the University of Georgia escalated the issue. Ibarra has not yet entered his plea.
Ibarra entered the United States unlawfully and had previously been arrested on suspicion of an unrelated crime, but was released before ICE could deport him, according to the agency.
“I can’t speak to individual jurisdictions that do this,” Lechleitner stated on Thursday, referring to sanctuary cities. “All we want to say is that we want to talk to them, and we want to try and work through any way we can cooperate with our law enforcement partners.”
As part of the agency’s most recent investigation into the March operation, officers discovered over 400 noncitizens who face arrest.
