271 Arrested in Florida immigration sweep

Immigration Officals Nab Dozens In Local Arrests

ICE Agents Arrest 51 People In Central Florida

POSTED: 12:03 pm EDT April 2, 2012
UPDATED: 12:18 pm EDT April 2, 2012

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced today it arrested 271 people for illegal immigration in Florida.

Officials said in a six-day sweep 51 of those people were in central Florida.

Twenty-nine of the 51 arrests were from the greater Orlando area, according to officials.

An ICE spokeswoman said the crimes for which the arrests were made range from DUI to murder in the sweep called 'Operation Cross Check'.
Officials said 1,900 ICE agents participated in the operation.

Some of the people arrested were found at home, while officials said they arrested others at their job sites.

Investigators said the people detained in the sweep face immigration proceedings in federal court.

Authorities will hold a news conference Monday afternoon to discuss the arrests.

Immigration Officals Nab Dozens In Local Arrests - Orlando News Story - WESH Orlando

Arrests of illegal immigrants includes 18 in Palm Beach County, 16 in Treasure Coast

ByJohn Lantigua
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 4:51 p.m. Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Posted: 3:27 p.m. Tuesday, April 3, 2012

More than 3,100 illegal immigrants living in the U.S., including 18 in Palm Beach County and 16 on the Treasure Coast, have been arrested during a week-long roundup that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said was its largest in years.

According to ICE, officers participating in Operation Cross Check arrested 2,834 individuals who had prior criminal convictions, many of whom had been released from prison, but not immediately deported. Of that total, 1,477 had felony convictions that included murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, drug trafficking, child abuse, and aggravated assault. Fifty were gang members and 149 were convicted sex offenders, ICE said.

In addition to the number for Palm Beach County, those arrested included three in Martin County, 13 in St. Lucie, 53 in Broward and 70 in Miami-Dade.

Marc Moore, director of the ICE Miami field office, explained many of them may have been undocumented, but they may also have been legal permanent residents or people who entered the country legally with visas before committing a crime.

In the past, such people often were not asked what their immigration status was when they were arrested and convicted. Then, after serving their prison time they were not identified immediately as non-citizens and instead of being deported they were mistakenly released back onto the streets, Moore said.

Included in the total nationwide were 559 who had been deported but had entered again illegally, which is also a felony.

Those arrested came from 116 countries.

Moore said the arrests were designed to send "a clear message: We will find them and we will remove them from the country."

He also said that ICE, through its new emphasis on removing criminal aliens and its use of the Secure Communities program, which allows ICE to collaborate with local law enforcement to identify non-citizens who are arrested, is now doing a better job of ensuring that convicted non-citizens are not returned to the streets.

Arrests of illegal immigrants includes 18 in Palm Beach County, 16 in Treasure Coast